Pope Research Articles

Il papa e l’emerito. Sulla convivenza di Bergoglio e Ratzinger

From 13 March 2013 to 31 December 2022, Pope Francis served as Bishop of Rome while his predecessor was still alive and living in the Vatican. Both Bergoglio and Ratzinger were clear about their respective roles from the outset, but Pope Francis wanted the former pope not to withdraw into silence and even encouraged him to continue offering advice. While the pastoral direction of the new pontificate was unfolding, in part diverging from that of previous decades, Bergoglio’s opponents tried on several occasions to involve Ratzinger in opposition to the new pope, as if Benedict XVI were the authentic guardian of a Tradition that Bergoglio was undermining. Ratzinger rejected these attempts – partly facilitated by his own private secretary – and eventually chose to withdraw into silence to avoid further instrumentalisation. Despite the difficulties that arose during this papal cohabitation, this experience nonetheless set a precedent, the value and limits of which can only be fully appreciated with the passage of time.

Show and slow codes: A historical analysis of clinicians' adaptations to ethical overreach.

After briefly reviewing the historical development and ethical regulation of resuscitative technologies, this study probes why clinicians engage in the morally problematic practice of show and slow coding and why hospitals tolerate it? Studies conducted in 1995 and 2020 indicate that conscientious clinicians engage in these practices to protect their patients from abusive or futile resuscitation. And hospitals' clinical cultures tolerate these practices to protect conscientious clinicians from censure, dismissal, delicensing, or legal prosecution for withholding or withdrawing abusive or futile resuscitative technologies without prior patient or surrogate consent. Show and slow coding evolved in American clinical cultures in the second half of the 20th century when closed-chest cardiac massage, defibrillators, ventilators, and other resuscitative technologies raised seemingly novel ethical questions. To address these questions, bioethics commissions, healthcare societies, lawmakers, and a Roman Catholic Pope developed ethics standards requiring clinicians to obtain patient or surrogate consent before withholding or withdrawing resuscitative technologies. They thus conferred on patients an implicit right of resuscitation even if it was abusive and/or futile. Conscientious clinicians circumvented this implicit right by show and slow coding to protect patients from abusive resuscitation. Recognizing clinicians' benign intent, hospitals' clinical cultures tolerate show and slow coding as acts of conscience, akin to civil disobedience. Thus, rescinding ethics standards and laws requiring prior patient/surrogate consent for non-resuscitation or for cessation of resuscitative technologies decisions should end show/slow coding. Such a reform should also recognize clinicians' right of conscientious refusal to perform CPR.

Priests and their Wigs in Eighteenth-Century Rome

Abstract The wig was the quintessential accessory of eighteenth-century European culture, but the wearing of wigs by clerics became a subject of heated controversy across Catholic societies. Critics of clerical wig-wearing pointed to its inherent vanity, to Paul's proscription against men covering their heads in Church in 1 Corinthians 11, and to its apparent denial of the tonsure's importance as the visible outward sign of clerical status. However, defenders pointed to arguments about the need to cover up imperfections in the priest's body and avoid scandal. Various bishops moved to restrict the use of wigs amongst their diocesan clergy. However, no bishop was more active in legislating than the bishops of Rome themselves. Popes from Clement IX (r. 1667–69) to Pius VI (r. 1775–99) all issued instructions about clerical wig-wearing and their legislation betrays shifting attitudes and approaches. The most zealous rules from the 1720s gradually gave way to more pragmatic ones which attest to the persistent desire of Roman clerics to engage in male status competition and to the growing difficulty that the Church's leadership had in persuading them of the intrinsic superiority of their clerical status.

Pastoral Rules: Pomerius, Gregory the Great and the Making of Patristic Tradition

Scholars have debated how the themes discussed by Pomerius in his De vita contemplativa found ample resonance across Gregory the Great's work, and reflect similar concerns. While it is impossible to determine whether the Roman bishop read the treatise authored by the North African rhetor, their parallel authority on the matter was recognised by Carolingian copyists, who often reported their works alongside each other. The discovery of a glossa sourced from Gregory's literary production in Pomerius’ manuscript tradition might both substantiate this claim and shed some light on the networks of medieval scriptoria.

Detection of archaeological structure on the slope ground using geophysical methods: The case of the Castle of Canossa

Canossa Castle is located in the municipality of Canossa 18 km South of Reggio Emilia (North Italy). It was constructed in 940 by Adalberto Atto, son of Sigifredo of Lucca. Lombard chieftains needed this strategic hill to defend their lands against intrusions of other barbarian tribes. Subsequent improvements made the stronghold one of the best-defended castles in the country. Canossa Castle became particularly famous as a site of reconciliation between King Henry IV and Roman Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy in 1077.To redevelop the area and create an easy tourist route, the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Bologna and the Provinces of Modena, Reggio Emilia and Ferrara planned excavations in the area close to the Castle. To get precise information on where to carry out excavations geophysical surveys were undertaken in the spring of 2021. The castle stands on a rock with a steep slope and dense vegetation and this makes it very difficult to carry out geophysical prospecting. This guided the choice of geophysical methodologies to be used. For this reason, electrical resistivity tomography was used along the steep slope, while in the narrow flatter area, the ground penetrating radar methodology was used. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the chosen geophysical methodologies.

The Papacy as an Ecclesiastical Institution in the history of Early Christianity: aspects in the study of the issue

This article is dedicated to the Institute of the Roman Episcopate. When studying this topic, it often takes on tendentiousness and ideological shades, which contradicts the principles of scientific objectivity. At the same time, the period in the history of the Roman episcopate before the ecclesiastical schism of 1054 often remains without due attention. Meanwhile, this period is very diverse and filled with the spiritual exploits and large-scale intellectual work of the Roman bishops, some of whom are revered as saints in both Orthodoxy and Catholicism. The most famous of them (but far from the only ones) are Leo I Great and Gregory I Dvoeslov. Let us emphasize that before the Edict of Milan in 313, almost all Roman bishops suffered martyrdom due to the persecution of Christians that unfolded in the Roman Empire in the first three centuries of our era. At the same time, the bishops of Rome, in addition to the issues of the physical survival of the community, had to resist heresies, schismatic tendencies, maintain the correctness of worship and promote the growth of the moral consciousness of Christians. There are very few written sources about the life of the Roman bishops in the history of early Christianity, which complicates the study of this topic and leaves many blank spots, nevertheless it gives a special flavor to this scientific study.

Kriege kommen und gehen, die internationale Gesellschaft ändert sich und Religionen überdauern: Narrative religiöser Akteure zum Ukraine-Krieg

AbstractIn the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reactions by religious leaders have differed greatly, with the Shia Ayatollah blaming the United States for the war, the Catholic Pope calling the United Nations “impotent,” and the Dalai Lama stating that “war is outdated.” But has there been a change in any of these religious narratives when it comes to war? Does the Ukraine war signify a turning point, or can we observe more of the same? Embedded in an English School framework, this article conducts a narrative analysis to better understand whether and how the primary institutions of war and international law are being (re)interpreted. The article analyses these three religious actors’ narratives on the Ukraine war and compares them to their respective past war narratives. The article examines how these narratives reflect a strengthening and even an expansion or an undermining and thus weakening of international society, with a particular emphasis on the primary institutions of war and international law as well as the secondary institution of the United Nations. The article argues that at least for religious actors in international politics, the Ukraine war does not pose a formative event in global security policy. Instead, these actors may have missed a critical juncture for strengthening or even upholding international law.

The Bishop of Rome: Primacy and Synodality in the Ecumenical Dialogues and in the Responses to the Encyclical Ut Unum Sint

The Bishop of Rome: Primacy and Synodality in the Ecumenical Dialogues and in the Responses to the Encyclical <i>Ut Unum Sint</i>

The Bishop of Rome as the Supreme Legislator in the Church. A Theological and Legal Analysis of Pope Francis’ Legislation

The Bishop of Rome as the Supreme Legislator in the Church. A Theological and Legal Analysis of Pope Francis’ Legislation

Moscow-the Third Rome Concept and the Russian Orthodox Church

Russians in 988, under the leadership of Kinyaz Viladimer, they accepted Christianity through the Patriarchate of Constantinople and entered a new phase in their history. With Christianity, the Russians were introduced to writing and, most importantly, to religious texts. At the same time, this change of religion also led to the acceptance of the belief of chosenness, which had spread to Christianity from Judaism. Nestor, a Russian priest who lived in the 12th century, wrote in his work that although Russians were the last community to accept Christianity, they would undertake important missions in the future. He also attributed a mission to the Russian society by referring to the biblical passage that the feet will be the head and the head will be the feet. However, in the mentioned centuries, the Eastern Roman Empire was still the centre of Orthodoxy. For this reason, the Russian Orthodox Church would remain for many years as a Metropolitanate under the Patriarchate of Constantinople. However, the increasing Ottoman pressure on Constantinople from the 1400s onwards created several historical opportunities for the Russians. In particular, the Byzantine agreement with the Pope of Rome in Florence in 1439 mobilised the Russian Church. Using this agreement as a pretext, Moscow severed its relations with Constantinople. In 1453, the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, the centre of the Orthodox world, opened a new page in Russian Theo-politics. Russian priests believed that Nestor's prophecy had been fulfilled and Moscow developed the concept of the Third Rome. Appearing in the 16th century, the Moscow-Third Rome concept soon became the ideological basis for the formation of the Moscow kingdom. In this article, the concept of Moscow Third Rome, which is one of the important turning points in Russian history, is analysed through an analytical method. The background of the concept, the conditions that led to its emergence, its historical development and its reflections on the present day are emphasised.

Between the king and the emperor: the epistles of the popes to the bishops of Arles during the Three Chapters Controversy

The discussion surrounding the posthumous condemnation of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus and Iva of Edessa occupies an important place in the church history of the VI century. The attempt at reconciliation with the Monophysites, undertaken by Justinian, not only failed to achieve its original goal, but also led to a new schism. To support his initiative, the emperor turned to the Roman bishops, which put them in a difficult situation: on the one hand, Justinian demanded from the popes support for the condemnation of the Three Chapters, on the other – the churches of the western provinces reacted to this initiative with condemnation and distrust, seeing in it the undermining of the authority of the Roman Church and the entire institution of ecumenical councils. One of the episcopal sees closely associated with Rome was Arles (Arelate), an important ecclesiastical center of Gaul. An analysis of the papal epistles to the bishops of Arles, as well as to the Frankish kings, allows us to conclude that the Gallic clergy were rather poorly aware of the essence of the contradictions that developed around the condemnation of the Three Chapters: the popes repeatedly sent messages confirming their adherence to the canons, but without touching on the very essence of the differences. Such a streamlined position also testifies to the difficult position of the Roman see, which was forced to take into account the position of both Justinian and the Western churches. To convey their point of view to the Gallic clergy, the popes used the bishops of Arles, who had serious regional influence, which Vigilius and Pelagius further strengthened by granting them the status of papal vicars. The appointment and activities of the vicar were actively discussed with the secular authorities – the Byzantine ruling couple, as well as the Frankish kings – which also indicates the weakness of the papal positions during this period

Urgenza climatica e ambientale, usurocrazia e debito dei paesi poveri

Climate and environmental urgency, usurocracy and poor countries' debt ABSTRACT: This contribution, like other previous ones on the subject, is moved by the intent to acquaint readers of this informed scientific magazine with debates and updates intended for contexts other than canon law and state ecclesiastical law, but undoubtedly close in content and method of inquiry. These are the battles of civilization against the international imperialism of money, condemned by the Roman Pontiffs and in even more incisive tones by Pope Francis, to whom the following paper is dedicated on the occasion of his 87th birthday. Its remote origins are to be found in the struggles against usury of the Roman plebs, embraced by Simon Bolivar and his epigones. The author of the paper, Advocate of the Holy See for the Canonical and Civil Forum, reconnects with the great tradition in question when he returns to the subject of the foreign debt of poor countries, closely connected in our days with that of climate and environmental urgency. This is a new element, which enriches the acquisitions on the failures of debt and the financialization of the world economy with a deepening, from a legal point of view, of the holistic dimension of nature and the reality that surrounds us. SOMMARIO: 1. I quattro NO di Papa Francesco - 2. Dall’Italia al Burkina Faso al Sudafrica - 3. Il ruolo della Santa Sede: in particolare, Francesco e il Nord del mondo - 4. L’Enciclica Laudato si’ e l’Esortazione apostolica Laudate Deum.

Pacem in Terris: Are Papal Visits Good News for Human Rights?

We analyze the effect of state visits by the Catholic pope on human rights in the host country to understand how a small theocracy like the Vatican can exert disproportionate political influence in international politics. Our theory of the strategic interaction between the Catholic Church and host governments describes how the pope’s use of conditional approval and criticism incentivizes governments to refrain from human rights violations. Drawing on a new dataset of papal state visits outside Italy and a novel identification strategy, we test for the first time whether governments react in anticipation of a papal visit by improving their human rights protection. Our empirical analysis offers robust evidence for this causal effect, which is supported by qualitative evidence.

Social Networks and the Origenist Controversy: The Case of Anastasius I of Rome, Jerome, and Paulinus of Nola

Abstract: Attention to the complexities of social networks at the time of the first Origenist controversy at the end of the fourth century reveals that while both Jerome and Anastasius I, bishop of Rome, were anti-Origenist, they had differing attitudes towards Paulinus of Nola. Jerome was suspicious of him because of Origenist associates, while Anastasius seems to have held him in high regard. It is argued here that it is too simplistic to divide participants in this controversy into pro- and anti-Origenist camps and to expect that those within each camp all shared the same outlook and evaluation of others. Personal attitudes towards others usually are shaped by more than one issue, and different issues hold different significance for different people. In the case of Anastasius, it would appear that he was unaware of potential Origenist sympathies held by Paulinus, did not place the same importance on his network of contacts as Jerome did, and/or was more influenced by his social standing as a member of the elite than by suspicion about possible Origenist affinity.

The Evolution of a Disaster

This essay explores how Gregory I (bishop of Rome, 590–604) depicted two Lombard sieges of Rome, traditionally dated to 592 and 593. These events, when they are discussed, are typically presented in a litany of disasters that befell Rome at the end of the sixth century. Plague, famine, flooding, and ultimately the “swords of the Lombards” were the depressing context of Gregory’s pontificate. However, a close examination of Gregory’s letters, the principal source for Rome in this period, reveals that the bishop’s presentation of these Lombard attacks evolved considerably between 591 and 595. Indeed, it was only in response to several controversies with the East, including criticisms by the exarch Romanus and especially the use of the title universalis episcopus (typically translated into English as ecumenical patriarch) by Patriarch John IV of Constantinople (582–95), that Gregory came to recast the Lombard campaigns as disasters for Rome and the causes of great suffering. Rome’s suffering then served as a rhetorical foil against which Gregory contrasted what he saw as the callous neglect of imperial officials and especially John’s prideful asceticism performed in the safety of Constantinople.

Программа росписей Пинтуриккьо в апартаментах Борджиа в Ватикане: библейские образы в политической репрезентации римских пап

Researchers cannot agree on the interpretation of the programme of the murals in the Borgia apartments executed by Pinturicchio in the 90s of the 15th century. Egyptian sub-jects, Turkish motifs, the theme of the salvific role of the Church, the Aragonese origin of the customer, etc., are on a display in the interior of the apartments in the Apostolic Palace. The frescoes were commissioned by Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), one of the most odious Popes of the Renaissance. This paper focuses on the political aspect of the frescoes, particularly on the theme of the triumph of the Church as an institution. Pinturicchio’s painting was used to visualize the public image of Rodrigo Borgia with dominant motifs of Pope’s leadership in the Christian world. The pontificate of Alexander VI, the ‘warrior of Christ’, in whose hands both spiritual and secular powers were united, was glorified in the church history, and it is presented here as Borgia’s triumph. Such a public image was in line with other representa-tions of Roman pontiffs and secular rulers of Western Europe. It was created in the context of political confrontation of the Holy See with powerful royal houses of Italy, French kings, etc. We can thus talk not only about the visual programme of the apartments per se, but also about its connection with other imagery presenting Popes as political figures and created for Alexander VI’s predecessors as well as for his successors.

Multidimensional Relations Between Sultan ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd II and Pope Leo XIII and the Reflections of These Relations in the Ottoman Empire and Rome

The last quarter of the 19th century was a period of good relations between Rome and Istanbul, with the Ottoman Sultan ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd II (1876-1909) on the one side and the Roman Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) on the other. The many Catholics living in the Ottoman Empire were an important factor in their cooperation. The correspondence between the Pope and the Sultan intensified during this period. The two parties were not indifferent to each other’s important days and provided mutual gifts. This study predominantly references the Ottoman Archive Documents and news from Istanbul and the European press at that time in addition to basic sources. Methodologically, descriptive and comparative approaches are extensively used.

Religious Controversy in Vasyl Surazhsky’s «Book in Six Chapters»: New Motives and Old Prejudices

The study of «The Book in Six Chapters» in the context of texts and phenomena of the Renaissance, Reformation, and Counter-Reformation shows that it was dependent on the atmosphere of changes that prevailed at the time. The Jesuit authors’ historical excursions into the Church’s past and the course of the councils seem to have a broader connotation. The appeal to the grievances and the influence of the Roman pontiffs during the councils testified to the growing importance of public debate and the revival of political life. At the same time, the importance of documents and legal practices, which were also evident in the testimonies of past events, increased. Vasyl Surazhsky tried to respond to such challenges by looking for counter-arguments and sources to counter his Catholic and Protestant opponents. The most significant was his creation of the concept of Jerusalem as the centre of Christendom, the source of faith, and faith. Jerusalem was designated as the symbolic centre of Christianity in the face of the decline of Constantinople. Surazhsky developed the criticisms of the Latins, accusing them of Jewish influences. The influence of the Reformation on the religious controversy by Surazhsky is also researched. The use of iconographic materials to study the treatises of Ukrainian authors, which reflects the peculiarities of the Orthodox doctrine, seems fruitful.

Оговорка папы, или О соблюдении соборных правил в средневековом Крыму

Introduction. In the papal bulls concerning the establishing of the bishopric of Cherson and the metropolis of Vosporo in 1333, a specific point is made on erecting these towns from the status of locus to that of civitas and metropolis, contravening their status in the hierarchy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Methods and materials. In order to understand what had formed the legal basis for establishing the Catholic hierarchy, documents of the Constantinople Patriarchate are attracted. Analysis. The Greek archbishoprics of Cherson and Vosporo are mentioned in the lists of bishoprics of Notitiae episcopatuum and in the acts of the Constantinople Patriarchate. However, by 1333, both of the archbishoprics suffered difficulties: an archbishop of Cherson had not been mentioned in the acts since 1280, as his archbishopric dropped out of the main list of the Notitiae episcopatuum under the reign of the emperor Andronicus II Palaiologos. The metropolis of Vosporo had not been mentioned in documents since the middle of the 13th century. Thus, Pope John XXII chose the right time to substitute vacant sees by Latin bishops. The pope, however, paid much attention to observing the canonical borders of the Patriarchate of Constantinople as set by Rule 28 of the Chalcedonian Council. Results. The attention paid by the Roman pontiffs to observing council rules helps us to correct the perception of parallel church hierarchies coexisting in the Black Sea Region in the 14th – 15th centuries. The presenting of bishops with the same titles, even of different confessions, was not considered normal and was understood as a schism to be overcome. Similar game rules may be traced to the examples of other sees of the North Pontic Region, as Sugdaia and Phoulloi, Solchat and Zichia.

The Hungarian Royal Family and the Delegated Papal Jurisdiction from the Mongol Invasion to the late Thirteenth Century

This paper is a short contribution to the history of the relations between the Roman pontiffs and the Hungarian rulers, or in a broader sense, the royal family. The focus of the research is on the second half of the thirteenth century, starting with the events after the Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1241–1242 and ending with the death of the last Árpádian king, Andrew III. The main question is: how did the members of the royal family get in touch with papal judges-delegate in the realm of St. Stephen? In which cases did they turn to the papacy in order benefit from the system, and under what circumstances did they appear as participants of a procedure? One of the most interesting sources regarding the attitude towards the papal delegated jurisdiction is a petition of King Béla IV. In his response, Pope Innocent IV forbade – with certain exceptions – the citation of the subjects of the king outside of the realm. The initiative of the Hungarian ruler is clear evidence for his awareness of the extension and the significance of the system of delegated jurisdiction in his kingdom.