What exactly does the Pope do?

Answer 1

He celebrates the Mass daily. I suspect he would list this as his highest and most important duty.

He hears confessions and of course goes to confession as necessary.

He baptizes, confirms, ordains and performs marriages.

He is the Metropolitan Archbishop for the territory of Rome. He is the Patriarch of the Western Church and serves as the head of the Church of the West. He maintains communion with the other principal leaders of the Catholic Church such as the Patriarch of Antioch or the Ruthenian Metropolitan Archbishop of Pittsburgh.

He is the court of last appeal on all complaints by a Christian.

He is the final reviewer for work done by the Roman curia.

He is the person responsible for all the diplomatic work of the Catholic Church.

He meets with the leaders of the other Christian Churches such as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople of the Pope of Alexandria and works toward reconcilliation.

He meets with the leaders of the various ecclesial communities such as the Methodist Church or the Presbyterian Church.

Answer 2

Well, the previous Pope nearly got murdered; also (many believe) he had a large role in the collapse of Communism at that time.

The Pope is the Head of the Vatican City State and so has many duties that other Heads of State do.

Also, isn't he the Bishop of Rome?

And has some involvement with the College of Cardinals.

And in some ways be a Pastor to pastors?

Answer 3

Since he answers to no man, and only to God, he does just about anything he wants to do.

As the supreme monarch of the Vatican, and the CEO of the largest Church in the universe, he probably has a lot of paperwork to do.

As a priest, he says Mass everyday.

Then there's the state visits, meetings with Catholic bishops from all over the world, declaring saints, teaching, writing, preparing daily radio addresses, and more paperwork.

He travels a bit, too.

How he finds time to give marching orders to all the leaders of the modern world, and assign all those secret missions to the Jesuits, I'll never know.

You know what they say, a Pope's work is never done.

Answer 4

A few tasks of the Pope include:


Talks with political and global leaders worldwide.

Appoints Cardinals and Bishops.

Bishop of the Archdiocese of Rome.

Educates people about Catholicism where he goes.

Presides during the beatification and canonization of saints.

Writes documentation about Catholic's official position on issues.

God bless,
Stanbo

Answer 5

The word pope means father. In ancient Greek it was a child's term of affection for the father of the family, but was borrowed by later Latin as an honorific. Both Greek-speaking Eastern and Latin-speaking Western Catholics then applied it to priests, bishops and patriarchs as heads of their spiritual families. Today, priests of the Orthodox Churches of Greece, Russia and Serbia still call their parish priest pope.

Gradually, however, Latin Christianity began to restrict its usage. At the beginning of the 3rd century, papa was a term of respect for clergy in high positions. By the 5th century, it was applied particularly to the Bishop of Rome, without excluding other usages. After the 8th century, however, as far the West was concerned the title was exclusively used of the Bishop of Rome. Indeed, the great reforming Pope, Gregory VII (1073-1085), officially restricted its use to the Bishop of Rome.

As the Council of Florence affirmed in 1439, defined as a matter of faith by the First Vatican Council in 1870, and endorsed by the Second Vatican Council in 1964, Jesus Christ conferred the position of primacy in the church upon Peter alone. In solemnly defining the Petrine primacy, the First Vatican Council cited the three classical New Testament texts long associated with it: John 1:42, John 21:15 ff., and, above all, Matthew 16:18 ff. The council understood these texts, along with Luke 22:32, to signify that Christ himself constituted Saint Peter as prince of the apostles and visible head of the church, possessed of a primacy of jurisdiction that was to pass down in perpetuity to his papal successors, along with the authority to pronounce infallibly on matters of faith or morals.

The importance of Peter in the Church Christ established is also affirmed by the more numerous mentions of this apostle in the New Testament and the evident authority of Peter on those occasions. At the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), it was Peter who decided what was to be done with Gentile converts and states that choice as a matter of firm policy. Indeed, it was to Peter that God revealed that the gentiles were to be evangelized, even though it would be Paul who would become their most-fervent apostle.

Answer 6

The Pope is SUPPOSE to lead the Catholic Church. He is like the...President of the church, in a manner of speaking.

Answer 7

As the erected leader of the Catholicks, he probably uses his staff to reach out to others.

Answer 8

He's responsible for the spreading of Aids.

Answer 9

He Pontificates.

Answer 10

He tries to impose his archaic views on people of all faiths.