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Roman Catholic Pope

Roman Catholic Pope

3.9
A person who leads the Roman Catholic Church and is the Bishop of Rome
  • noun
  • /ˈroʊmən ˈkæθlɪk poʊp/
translation icon : Papa católico
  • The Roman Catholic Pope called for an end to violence in his weekly address.

Examples

  • On the 16th of this month, Roman Catholic Pope Benedict voiced his deep concern over the persecution of Christians worldwide, but saved his strongest words for Europe, where he said that the church is under assault by national governments and European institutions.

    Blog text (2)
  • During the ceremony, the Roman Catholic Pope blessed the gathered congregation.

  • As the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope plays a significant role in global religious matters.

Synonyms

Pope
vsRoman Catholic Pope
  • Formal
239 3.2

A religious leader in Rome who leads the Roman Catholic Church worldwide

is the longer official title that names the church affiliation explicitly
pontiff
vsRoman Catholic Pope
17 8.2

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church

is the standard official designation rather than this alternative label
Holy Father
vsRoman Catholic Pope
  • Formal
12 5.6

A title for the Pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church

is the formal institutional title rather than a reverent informal name
Bishop of Rome
vsRoman Catholic Pope
2 6.0

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church

is the full formal title rather than this shorter office name
Vicar of Christ
vsRoman Catholic Pope
  • Formal
1 8.4

A title for the Pope meaning he represents Christ on earth and leads the Roman Catholic Church

is the usual institutional title focusing on leadership rather than representational theology

Surface Forms

Morphology

Roman + Catholic + Pope

The phrase is fully compositional: 'Roman Catholic' specifies the denomination and 'Pope' denotes the head of that church, so the combined meaning ('the head of the Roman Catholic Church') follows directly from the constituents. This denomination + title pattern is cross-linguistically common and therefore immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows the individual words.

Etymology

Roman Catholic Pope names the Bishop of Rome who became the church leader. The word pope comes from an old word for 'father', Roman points to Rome and Catholic means 'for all Christians'. That's why it means the head of the Roman Catholic Church.