Pope
Head of Catholicism
The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, regarded by Catholics as the successor of Saint Peter and the highest religious authority on earth.
The title comes from a word meaning "father." A pope is elected by cardinals and serves for life.
Figuratively, a pope of any field is its supreme authority: the pope of avant-garde cinema. (Lowercase pope refers to the office; capitalized Pope precedes a name: Pope Francis.)
Supreme Catholic leader
- VaticanPapal city-state
- CatholicPapal church adherent
- bishopDiocesan clergy head
- cardinalOf foremost importance
Holy See · encyclical · apostolic · diocese · clergy · vestments · mitre · crosier
Vatican election success indicator
- Swiss GuardPapal security force
- ringClosed curve shape
- audienceGathered viewers collectively
- pilgrimageReligious journey to shrine
balcony · blessing · Christmas · Easter · address · visit · tour · media
Italy's capital city
- medievalOf the Middle Ages
- crusadesAggressive advocacy campaigns
- schismFormal organizational fracture
- reformationProcess of improving institutions
Avignon · Renaissance · Borgia · Medici · indulgences · tiara · temporal · coronation
Masculine given name
- BenedictMale name, blessed
- LeoFifth zodiac sign
- GregoryMale name, "watchful"
- InnocentChristian personal name
Alexander · Paul · Adrian · Nicholas · Julius · resignation · election · Polish
Writer of verse
- satiristOne who mocks through wit
- coupletTwo successive verse lines
- AugustanOf Rome's founding emperor
- neoclassicalReviving ancient aesthetic principles
wit · epigram · translation · Homer · Iliad · epistles · Twickenham · eighteenth-century
pontiff
Supreme Catholic leader
cardinal · Holy See · encyclical · apostolic · diocese · clergy · vestments · mitre · crosier · conclave
white smoke
Vatican election success indicator
- Swiss GuardPapal security force
- ringClosed curve shape
- audienceGathered viewers collectively
pilgrimage · balcony · blessing · Christmas · Easter · address · visit · tour · media · celebrity
Rome
Italy's capital city
reformation · Avignon · Renaissance · Borgia · Medici · indulgences · tiara · temporal · coronation · succession
Francis
Masculine given name
Innocent · Alexander · Paul · Adrian · Nicholas · Julius · resignation · election · Polish · German
poet
Writer of verse
- satiristOne who mocks through wit
- coupletTwo successive verse lines
- AugustanOf Rome's founding emperor
neoclassical · wit · epigram · translation · Homer · Iliad · epistles · Twickenham · eighteenth-century · English
- CatholicismVatican, cardinals, Holy Communion, Roman Catholicism, Holy See
- papacypontiff, Holy See, Vatican, conclave, curia
- Catholic historyVatican, dioceses, Catholic Church, cardinals, parishes
- Classic AuthorsShakespeare, Dante, Homer, Chaucer, Milton
- 18th Century WritersVoltaire, Defoe, Swift, Richardson, Goldsmith
- Latin scholarsCicero, Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Seneca
Popelayperson
Non-specialist or unordained person
laity · parishioner · congregant · unbaptized · rank and file
PopeMartin Luther
Protestant Reformation founder
John Calvin · Archbishop of Canterbury · Protestant minister · Lutheran pastor · Baptist preacher
Popeking
Male crowned ruler
Caesar · head of state · president · prime minister · dictator
- Pope FrancisCurrent head of Catholicism
- Pope John Paul II
- Pope Benedict XVISixteenth pope named Benedict
- Pope BenedictCatholic spiritual leader
- Alexander PopeGeorgian era versifier
- pope's noseFowl's tail tip