A misunderstanding over one of Pope Francis’
titles, published in the 2013 Pontifical Yearbook, caused a media frenzy last Monday morning.
The Bishop of Rome, Francis and the Pope Emeritus,
Ratzinger, both appear in the 2013 edition of the yearbook which was
presented in the Vatican.
It seemed initially as though
Bergoglio had renounced the title of “Sovereign of the Vatican City
State”.
But a message on the popular Papa Ratzinger Blog read:
“later on, however, the Vatican Press Office confirmed he will be
keeping the title. It was hard to imagine the Vatican transforming
itself from a constitutional monarchy into a Parliamentary Republic.”
The reference to Rome in the papal title on the
front page of the 2013 Papal Yearbook which was presented to the Pope is new.
Part of it reads: “See of the Vicar of Jesus
Christ, Successor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles”.
The yearbook
attributes the title of pontiff to two individuals: Francis “Bishop of
Rome and Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy and
Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province” and Benedict XVI
“Supreme Pontiff Emeritus”, setting the record straight on an issue that
has caused a great deal of dispute over the past three months.
Both names appear on the yearbook’s Diocese of
Rome page.
After the reference to Pope Francis, the yearbook specifies:
“The spiritual leadership of the Diocese of Rome is entrusted to His
Eminence Cardinal Agostino Vallini, His Holiness’s Vicar General; the
Vatican City is entrusted to His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Comastri, pro
tempore Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, Vicar General of His
Holiness for Vatican City State. Benedict XVI’s title “Supreme Pontiff
Emeritus” is accompanied by a biographical note which ends: “Resigned
February 28th, 2013”.
Ratzinger’s name has also been included in the
list of Supreme Pontiffs, above John Paul II. His election and
resignation dates appear next to his name. A footnote has been added to
the latter, specifying that it refers to the date of Ratzinger’s
resignation (28/II/2013).
Francis’ name appears after Benedict XVI in
the list, along with his election date. The Vatican Press Office
stressed that Pope Francis is still “Sovereign of the Vatican City
State”.
The Press Office had initially distributed a photocopy of page 1
of the Pontifical Yearbook, which contained an abbreviated version of the
Pope’s title: Bishop of Rome, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church,
Primate of Italy, Archbishop of the Province of Rome. Benedict XVI’s
official title (Supreme Pontiff Emeritus) also appears on the same page,
hence why the Vatican Press Office sent out a copy of the page.
The deputy editor of the Vatican Press
Office, Fr. Ciro Benedettini, later showed journalists the page with the
complete list of Francis’ papal titles, which is no different to the
list of titles given to Benedict XVI in the 2012 edition, when he was
still Pope.
So Pope Francis’ titles are: Vicar of Jesus Christ,
Successor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Servant of the Servants
of God and Sovereign of the Vatican City State.
The titles given to
Francis and Benedict XVI appear on the Pontifical Yearbook’s Diocese of
Rome page.