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cent use of the duties attached to his privileges. . . .
He is also circumscribed by the spirit and practice of
the Church, by the respect due to General Councils
and to ancient statutes and customs, by the rights of
bishops, by his relation with civil powers, by the tra-
ditional mild tone of government indicated by the aim
of the institution of the papacy — to 'feed' — and
finally by the respect indispensable in a spiritual power
towards the spirit and mind of nations" ("Cath.
Church and Christian State", tr., I, 197).
V. Primacy of Honour: Titles and Insignia. — Certain titles and distinctive marks of honour are assigned to the pope alone; these constitute what is termed his primacy of honour. These prerogatives are not, as are his jurisdictional rights, attached jure divino to his office. They have grown up in the course of history, and are consecrated by the usage of cen- turies; yet they are not incapable of modification.
(1) Titles. — The most noteworthy of the titles are Papa, Suinmus Ponlifex, Ponlifex Maximus, Semis servoruiii Dei. The title pope (papa) was, as has been stated, at one time employed with far more latitude. In the East it has always been used to designate simple priests. In the Western Church, however, it seems from the beginning to have been restricted to bishops (TertulUan, "De Pud.", xiii). It was appar- ently in the fourth century that it began to become a distinctive title of the Roman Pontiff. Pope Siricius (d. 398) seems so to use it (Ep. vi in P. L., XIII, 1164), and Ennodius of Pavia (d. 473) employs it still more clearly in this sense in a letter to Pope Sym- machus (P. L., LXIII, 69). Yet as late as the seventh century St. Gall (d. 640) addresses Desiderius of Cahors as papa (P. L., LXXXVH, 26.5). Gregory VII finally prescribed that it should be confined to the successors of Peter. The terms Ponlifex. Maxi- mus, Suinmus Ponlifex, were doubtless originally em- ployed with reference to the Jewish high-priest, whose place the Christian bishops were regarded as holding, each in his own diocese (I Clem., xl). As regards the title Ponlifex Maximus, especially in its application to the pope, there was further a reminiscence of the dig- nity attached to that title in pagan Rome. TertulUan, as has alreadj' been said, uses the phrase of Pope Callistus. Though his words are ironical, they prob- ably indicate that Cathohcs already applied it to the pope. But here too the terms were once less narrowly restricted in their use. Ponlifex summus was used of the bishop of some notable see in relation to those of less importance. Hilary of Aries (d. 449) is so styled by Eucherius of Lyons (P. L., L, 773), and Lanfranc is termed "primas et pontifex summus" by his biog- rapher, Milo Crispin (P. L., CL, 10). Pope Nicholas I is termed "summus pontifex et universalis papa" by his legate .\rsenius (Hardouin, "Cone", V, 280), and subsequent examples are common. After the eleventh century it appears to be only used of the popes. The phrase Servus serporum Dei is now so entirely a papal title that a Bull in which it should be wanting would be reckoned unauthentic. Yet this designation also was once applied to others. Augustine ("Ep. ccxvii a. d. Vitalem" in P. L., XXXIII, 978) entitles himself "servus Christi et per Ipsum servus servorum Ipsius". Desiderius of Cahors made use of it (Thomassin, "Ecclesite nov. et vet. disc", pt. I, 1. I, c. iv, n. 4): so also did St. Boniface (740), the apostle of Germany (P. L., LXXIX, 700). The first of the popes to adopt it was seemingly Gregory I; he appears to have done so in contrast to the claim put forward by the Patri- arch of Constantinople to the title of universal bishop (P. L., LXXV, 87). The restriction of the term to the pope alone began in the ninth century.
(2) Insignia and Marks of Honour. — The pope is distinguished by the use of the tiara or triple crown (see Tiara). At what date the custom of crowning the pope was introduced is unknown. It was cer- tainly previous to the forged donation of Constantine,
which dates from the commencement of the ninth
century, for mention is there made of the pope's
coronation. The triple crown is of much later origin.
The pope moreover does not, like ordinarj- bishops,
use the bent pastoral staff, but only the erect cross.
This custom was introduced before the reign of In-
nocent III (1198-1216) (cap. un. X de sacra unctione,
I, 15). He further uses the pallium (q. v.) at all
ecclesiastical functions, and not under the same re-
strictions as do the archbishops on whom he has con-
ferred it. The kissing of the pope's foot — the
characteristic act of reverence by which all the faith-
ful do honour to him as the vicar of Christ — is found
as early as the eighth century. We read that Em-
peror Justinian II paid this respect to Pope Constan-
tine (708-16) (.\nastasius Bibl. in P. L., CXXVIII,
949). Even at an earlier date Emperor Justin had
prostrated himself before Pope John I (.523-6; op.
cit., 515), and Justinian I before Agapetus (535-6;
op. cit., 551). The pope, it may be added, ranks as
the first of Christian princes, and in Catholic coun-
tries his ambassadors have precedence over other
members of the diplomatic body.
VI. Election of the Popes. — The supreme head- ship of the Church is, we have seen, annexed to the office of Roman bishop. The pope becomes chief pastor because he is Bishop of Rome : he does not be- come Bishop of Rome because he has been chosen to be head of the universal Church. Thus, an election to the papacy is, properly speaking, primarily an election to the local bishopric. The right to elect their bishop has ever belonged to the members of the Roman Church. They possess the prerogative of giving to the universal Church her chief pastor; they do not receive their bishop in virtue of his election by the universal Church. This is not to say that the election should be by popular vote of the Romans. In ecclesiastical affairs it is always for the hierarchy to guide the decisions of the flock. The choice of a bishop belongs to the clergy: it may be confined to the leading members of the clergy. It is so in the Roman Church at present. The electoral college of cardinals exercise their office because they are the chief of the Roman clergy. Should the college of cardinals ever become extinct, the duty of choosing a supreme pastor would fall, not on the bishops assembled in council, but upon the remaining Roman clergy. At the time of the Council of Trent Pius IV, thinking it possible that in the event of his death the council might lay some claim to the right, insisted on this point in a consistorial allocution (PhiUips, " Kirchenrecht", V, p. ■737 n.). It is thus plain that a pope cannot nominate his successor. History tells us of one pope — Bene- dict II (530) — who meditated adopting this course. But he recognized that it would be a false step, and burnt the document which he had drawn up for the purpose. On the other hand the Church's canon law (10 D. 79) supposes that the pope may make provision for the needs of the Church by suggesting to the car- dinals some one whom he regards as fitted for the office: and we know that Gregorj- VII secured in this way the election of Victor III. Such a step, however, does not in any way fetter the action of the cardinals. The pope can, further, legislate regarding the mode in which the subsequent election shall be carried out, determining the composition of the electoral college, and the conditions requisite for a definitive choice. The method at present followed is the result of a series of enactments on this subject.
A brief historical review will show how the princi- ple of election by the Roman Church has been main- tained through all the vicissitudes of papal elections. St. Cyprian tells us in regard to the election of Pope St. Cornelius (251) that the comprovincial bishops, the clergy, and the people all took part in it: "He was made bishop by the decree of God and of His Church, by the testimony of nearly all the clergj-, by the col-
