Pope, The Father Figure

St. Peter

Sometimes we get asked the question, who is a role model for you? My answer is: the Pope is a role model for me. I can’t say much about the meaning of role models that will be new to the readers, so I will just reiterate the definition of what a role model is, it is someone who one looks up to, to aspire to, in terms of character. The word pope comes from the Latin word papa, or father. And it is this definition that gives Catholics and non-Catholics the feeling that there is a father figure somewhere on earth. In fact, the Pope is sometimes referred to as the Holy Father and the Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the Pope as the Supreme Pontiff. Not only as a father figure, as one who holds the rules strict, but also one of openness, full of compassion, understanding, and a loving person.


By: Vincent

What the relationship is between the Pope and Jesus one could question. I questioned the same thing once too. To start off, the Pope IS NOT the successor of Jesus. No, no, that isn’t right. Instead the Pope IS the successor of Peter, the first Pope. Jesus was the teacher, Peter was an apostle, defined as a messenger or he that is sent.

Yes, Peter was the first Pope, the second was Linus, the third was Anacletus, and so on until our present day Pope Benedict XVI (16th) since 2005. Simply put, the lineage of the papacy can be traced back from present day to the time Peter was around. This papacy along with the College of Cardinals in the Magisterium is the one that have been keeping the faith of Sacred Tradition and the Bible. In Luke 22:31-32 Jesus says the following to Simon Peter “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.” Jesus prayed for Peter, imagine that. And this gives strength to the successor of Peter, the Pope. I have often asked for prayers to my brothers and sisters in faith and the result is that I was given strength to overcome the obstacle that I had.

So what is the purpose of a Pope? Well for one thing he is a fatherly figure, mentioned earlier. The Catechism (a book giving a brief summary of the basic principles of Christianity in question-and-answer form) of the Catholic Church says the following about the Pope in entry 883 “The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and the whole company of the faithful.” This means the Pope is a visual representation of all of us as Catholics because we are the “whole company of the faithful” as mentioned.

I think that we too, as the faithful, have an image as Catholics to uphold. Not an image of a stuck-up person or an elitist, but similarly like the Pope, an image of a person full of compassion, openness, kindness, and loving. And also one that is strict. Strict, not in the sense that we follow rules to the dot, but strict in the sense that we are disciplined to uphold the teaching of the Church when we are called upon to do so, whether it be in abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, pre-marital sex, contraception, Mary, the Saints, the Eucharist, the Sacraments and the like. First we educate ourselves to be nowledgeable on the reasons why we are strict about certain things, and then we share it when appropriate. And so, we uphold the strictness with love and kindness so that others will benefit from us, who are one in the Catholic Church, from the time of Jesus to the present day in 2008, led by the Pope. Amen.

By: Vincent Setiono