My 7 year old just ask, "What's a pope?" Anyone? I'm not Catholic

[JimmyJazz]

so I don't really know. Thanks.

[hippiepunk]

1. Religious leader

of Catholics. Can make decisions on aspects of the faith and morals of catholics.

[rzemanfl]

2. How about "the tooth fairy for grown-ups." n/t

[WI_DEM]

3. The Head of the Roman Catholic Church

Isn't he considered all powerful or something?

[JohnKleeb]

4. head of the catholic church before you get distorted stuff

Christ, I have a feeling the next few days aint gonna be much fun, I got a bad feelin.

[bleedingheart]

5. He is God/Jesus's representative on Earth..

he is the heir to St. Peter...in essence...an Apostle...

[annabanana]

10. (If you're a Roman Catholic)..........eom

[JimmyJazz]

12. Where does *that* come from?

[bleedingheart]

23. Have you never heard the phrase...

"You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). "...a quote from Jesus...

The popes are God's representative on earth...what they say is law...so says the Roman Catholic Church.

That is what I learned in CCD as well, I am not saying it is true but that is what I was taught.

[Pacifist Patriot]

6. Roman Catholicism is hierarchical in polity...

as opposed to congregational, presbyterian or episcopal for example.

Priests report to Bishops who report to Archbishops who report to Cardinals who report to the Pope. More or less.

The Pope is the highest ranking Catholic clergy and is considered the spiritual leader of all Roman Catholics. He sets policy. More or less.

Hope that helps.

[annabanana]

7. The boss of the Roman Catholic Church....no more, no less.....n/t

[John Q. Citizen]

8. Head of the Catholic Church and Leader of the Vatican City State

Head of church and state.

[artfan]

9. LOL

sort of like the president of the catholic church only he has the job for life and only his peers ie cardinals are allowed to vote for him.

He is god's represenative on earth and is the closest person on earth to god/jesus

[JimmyJazz]

15. How does one human being get to be closer to God than another?

It seems to me that in terms of "sin" a pope would be closer to OJ than to GOD - relatively speaking of course.

[El Supremo]

27. That is for God to decide.

Not for some bunch of sinful men to select.

[thinkingwoman]

11. a 7-year old I know...

defined the pope as "king of the catholics"...which seemed fairly accurate to me.

[alcuno]

13. The pope is the head of the Catholic Church.

We believe that the foundation comes through Peter who Jesus called his "rock" and said that upon Peter's shoulders he would build his Church.

For a seven year old, the pope is like a combination of our father on Earth and our father in Heaven. We call our priests "father" but we call the pope the Holy Father. We believe that the pope CAN be inspired by the Holy Spirit and give us God's guidance.

[alcuno]

18. Tp Post #12-Matthew 16:18: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build

my church."

[bushisanidiot]

14. The leader of the Catholic church. That's about it.

you could tell your kid there are many different religions and denominations in the world and they all have leaders. the pope is the leader of one denomination of the christian religion.

[JimmyJazz]

16. Thank you. That's a good answer.

[thoughtanarchist]

17. "a radical cleric"

[zoeb]

31. lol laughing to hard on this!n/t

[delete_bush]

19. the Capo Di Tutti Capi,

the Top Banana, the Big Salami, the Head Cheese

[JimmyJazz]

22. But, we aren't Catholic....so calling him a Cheese Head... I dunno.

[da_chimperor]

20. The big cheese of the Catholic church. And he's got a funny hat. n/t

[Endangered Specie]

21. The 'direct' descendent of Peter, who was picked by Jesus...

and the absolute leader of the Catholic Church and in a sense the "representative of Christ" on Earth.

The Bishop of Rome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope

[mmonk]

24. Bishop of Rome

[LostinVA]

26. Thank you -- just beat me to it -- he's the Bishop of Rome

I told someone today that "Pope" is technically not a "real" term -- it's the Bishop of Rome. Even alot of RC's don't seem to know that.

[El Supremo]

25. Just one more person between Catholics and God.

I guess the most important one. Then you got the Archbishops, Bishops, Monsignors and Priests.

[DARE to HOPE]

28. The Italian and Latin word for "pope" is "papa"

As the early church grew, roles also emerged. Bishops grew over the local priests. And the Bishop of Rome emerged as pre-eminent because it was the largest city.

But "Papa" is still the idea, especially in the modern era, that the Pope is the father of all the people, priests and bishops. I am not a Roman Catholic. As a Lutheran, I have found married priests and women clergy to be really blessed by God's Spirit. But many of us found this last "Papa" a beacon of love and challenge to the materialist lonely world. We will miss him, and pray for his successor.

[liberalitch]

29. Tell the kid that he's a religious leader....

And say the religion he leads is Roman Catholicism (this can lead to all sorts of art project involving the cool stuff in the vatican) and that lots of people all over the world are Roman Catholic and that's is what makes him a very important religious leader.

[mandyky]

30. My 8 year old just asked the same thing

and I am not Catholic either. I just told him he was the head of the Catholic church and lives in the Vatican in Italy.