The see of Rome was frequently disputed. The first
the clergy and laity in opposition to Cornelius; the last, Felix V. who was elected in opposition to Eugenius IV. Sometimes the whole Church was for a number of years divided by the rival claims of two popes, and in one instance this division continued for thirty-nine years (1378-1417). See Antii-opes.
The story that at one time, in the 9th century, the papal chair was filled by a woman, the popess Joan, was quite generally credited from the latter part of the 11th until the opening of the 16th century, but it is now ad- mitted by nearly all writers to be a fable. See Joan.
On the several Latin titles given to the popes, see Ducange, Glossarium. On the rights and functions of the popes, see the manuals of ecclesiastical laws, es- pecially those by Richter, Lehrbuck des Kirchenrechts (7th ed., by Dove, Leipsic, 1874); Meier, Lehrbuch des Kirchenrechts (3d ed. (i.itting. 1869); Schulte, Lehrbuch des kath. Kirch nn chts ( 3d ed. Giessen, 1873) ; Phillips, Kirchenrecht (Katisbon, 1845-69, 7 vols.). The princi- pal work on the papal elections is by Zopffel, Die Papst- wahlen (1872). See also Camarda, Synopsis constitutio- num apost.cum ceremoniali Gregoriano de pertinentibus ad electionem Papa (1732); Menschen, Ceremonialia electionis et coronationis Pontif. Rom. (Frankfort, 1732); Adler, Ceremonien und Feierlichkeiten bci der Wahl und Kroimng eines Papstes (Vienna, 1834); Pipping, De triplici corona Pontif. Rom. (Leipsic, 1642) ; Herman- sen, De cor. trip. Pontif. Pom. (Upsala, 1736) ; Krebs, De mutatione nominum Pontif Rom. (Leipsic, 1719); Mayer, De osculo pedum Pontif. Rom. (Wittenberg, 168*7) ; Ffoulkes, Dicis. of Christendom, ii, 556 ; Thump- son, Papacy and the Civil Power (X. Y. 1877, 12mo); Brownsoiis Rev. July and Oct, 1855; North Brit. Jar. vol. xi; Cath. World, Aug. 1870, art. xi; Lond. Quar. Rev. April, 1871 ; Oct. 1870. art. iii ; Princeton Rev. Jan. 1871. art. ix ; Pibl. Sac. Jan. 1871, art. iv ; Edinb. Rev. July, 1871, art. v; July, 1872, art. iv. (A. J. S.)
POPE is the title given in the Russian Church to the secular clergy, and corresponds in import to the (Latin) word curate used in the English Church. We find full information about Russian curates or popes in the earliest times. A passage of Nikon (i, 198) shows plainly that about the year 1094, when Wewolod died, there were priests in Russia. They formed, with the deacons, subdeacons, and the persons belonging to an inferior degree of the ecclesiastic order, what was called the secidar clergy, the highest office of it being that of archpriest or protopope. The verger, the bell- ringer, the lamb-baker, were counted also with the ec- clesiastic order, and formed together a special class, distinguished from the regular and secular clergies as well by their cloth as by their peculiar privileges. The conditions required for admission into the ecclesiastic state had been set down, among others, by the metro- politan Cyrillus (1274) at the Synod of Wladimir on the Klhsma, celebrated in Russian history. It was decreed there: "If the bishops wish to ordain a pope, let them first examine his life from his childhood ; only he who has lived temperately and chastely, who has married a virgin, who is proficient in the art of reading and writing, who is neither a gambler nor a cheat, who is not addicted to drinking, swearing, or cursing, who is not quarrelsome, shall receive the consecration." The right to appoint a pope belonged to the bishop in his diocese, and the community seem to have had orig- inally no share whatever in the choice of their pastor. But it was one of the directions of the Stoglawnik (of the year 1551) that the parishioners should elect their pastors and deacons themselves. As the revenue of the popes accrued either from special properties or from the voluntary gifts of the parishioners, it would seem that in the first case the right of nomination was exercised by the bishop, and in the other case by the people. The pope was chosen from the deacons, the deacons from the subdeacons, and the latter were taken from among the sons of the secular clergy. Ordination was
antipope was Xovatianus, who was chosen by some of I bestowed by the bishop, who received as a compensa-
P<>PE
412
POPE
tion tho so-called ordination money. This practice was opposed in Novgorod and Pskow, and occasioned the formation of the seel called Strigolniks (q. v.). Al the present time the priests are appointed by the bishop, archbishop, or metropolitan to whose eparchj they belong. JTel the righl • >t t lie bishop is not <>f a quite unlimited description: he has t" make sure of the conseul of the church patron, i. e, the proprietor of the ground on which the church stands, or of the colonel, if the pope to be appointed is to officiate in a regiment. The lower servants of the Church are ap- pointed by the priesl or the patron, seldom by the higher dignitaries.
The official duties of the I Ireek popes are the follow- ing I ' >y Sunday and holyday, and al least three times in tin1 week, they officiate mechanically and dis- tribute the Eucharist; they give their blessing to con- fined « i\ es, christen new-born children, administer con- fession, marry betrothed couples, recite their prayers in uninterrupted series before the bodies of the deceased until they are under ground, and visit from time to time their parishioners in their houses for the purpose of be- stowing their b< nedicl ion, etc. Extemporaneous preach- ing is severely prohibited. Once in a while they read for the assembled people after worship a homily of the fathers, or some composition sent to i hem by the bishop. Many liturgical acts cannot be done by the pope alone without the assistance ofthe deacon. Every pope must have married already as subdeacon, and the reputation of his bride must have been unblemished. If his wife