Pope

=== Supreme pontiff ===
[[File:Benedictus XVI Pont Max Pontif I.jpg|thumb|Entrance to [[Vatican City]], with inscription "Benedictus XVI Pont(ifex) Max(imus) Anno Domini MMV Pont(ificatus) I.", i.e., "[[Benedict XVI]], Pontifex Maximus, in the year of Our Lord 2005, the first year of his pontificate."]]
The term "[[pontiff]]" is derived from the {{lang-la|pontifex}}, which literally means "bridge builder" (''pons'' + ''facere'') and which designated a member of the [[College of Pontiffs|principal college of priests]] in pagan Rome.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year= 2013|title= Pontifex|encyclopedia= [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica Online|access-date= 14 April 2013|url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/469745/pontifex|archive-date= 13 June 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130613003622/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/469745/pontifex|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>The bridge making has been interpreted in terms of "one who smoothes the way for the gods and to the gods" (Van Haeperen, Françoise, 2002. ''Le collège pontifical: 3ème s. a. C. – 4ème s. p.&nbsp;C.'' in series '' Études de Philologie, d'Archéologie et d'Histoire Anciennes'', no. 39. (Brussels: Brepols) {{ISBN|90-74461-49-2}}, reviewed in [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2003/2003-10-16.html Bryn Mawr Classical review, 2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031107152321/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2003/2003-10-16.html |date=7 November 2003 }})</ref> The Latin word was translated into ancient Greek variously: as {{lang-grc|ἱεροδιδάσκαλος}}, {{lang-grc|ἱερονόμος|link=no}}, {{lang-grc|ἱεροφύλαξ|link=no}}, {{lang-grc|ἱεροφάντης|link=no}} ([[hierophant]]),<ref name="smithpontifex">{{cite encyclopedia |year= 1875|title =Pontifex |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities]] |publisher=J. Murray |location=London |editor-first=William |editor-last=Smith |editor-link=William Smith (lexicographer)|pages=939–942|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Pontifex.html }}</ref> or {{lang-grc|ἀρχιερεύς|link=no}} ([[archiereus]], [[high priest]])<ref name=L&S>{{cite book |url=http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.8:10:135.LSJ |editor-first=Henry George |editor-last=Liddell |editor-first2=Robert |editor-last2=Scott |title=A Greek English Lexicon |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=18 February 2013 |via=perseus.uchicago.edu |archive-date=21 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521153349/http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.8:10:135.LSJ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[[Polybius]] 23.1.2 and 32.22.5; ''Corpus Inscriptionum Atticarum'' 3.43, 3.428 und 3.458</ref> The head of the college was known as the {{lang-la|Pontifex Maximus|link=no}} (the greatest pontiff).<ref>Translated literally into Greek as {{lang-grc|ἀρχιερεὺς μέγιστος}} (greatest high priest) in ''Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum'' 2.2696 and 3.346; [[Plutarch]] ''Numa'' 9.4 – [http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.8:10:135.LSJ Liddell and Scott: ἀρχιερεύς] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521153349/http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.8:10:135.LSJ |date=21 May 2013 }}</ref>

In Christian use, ''pontifex'' appears in the [[Vulgate]] translation of the [[New Testament]] to indicate the [[High Priest of Israel]] (in the original [[Koine Greek]], {{lang|grc-x-koine|ἀρχιερεύς}}).<ref>There are 35 instances of the use of this term in the Vulgate: {{bibleverse||Mark|15:11}}; {{bibleverse||John|7:45}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|11:47}},{{bibleverse-nb||John|11:49}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|11:51}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|11:57}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|18:3}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|18:10}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|18:13}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|18:15–16}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|18:22}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|18:24}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|18:26}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|18:35}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|19:6}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|19:15}}, {{bibleverse-nb||John|19:21}}; {{bibleverse||Hebrews|2:17}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|3:1}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|4:14–15}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|5:1}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|5:5}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|5:10}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|6:20}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|7:26}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|8:1}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|8:3}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|9:7}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|9:11}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|9:25}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Hebrews|13:11}}</ref> The term came to be applied to any Christian bishop,<ref name="New Advent – Pope">{{cathEncy|wstitle=Pope|author=Joyce, G. H.}}</ref> but since the 11th century commonly refers specifically to the bishop of Rome,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Pontiff |title=Dictionary definition |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-date=22 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122162728/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pontiff |url-status=live }}</ref> who is more strictly called the "Roman Pontiff". The use of the term to refer to bishops in general is reflected in the terms "[[Roman Pontifical]]" (a book containing rites reserved for bishops, such as [[confirmation]] and [[ordination]]), and "pontificals" (the insignia of bishops).<ref>{{cite web |title=pontifical |url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/pontifical |work=Oxford Dictionaries |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=15 April 2013 |archive-date=27 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427091618/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/pontifical |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The ''Annuario Pontificio'' lists as one of the official titles of the pope that of "Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church" ({{lang-la|Summus Pontifex Ecclesiae Universalis|link=no}}).<ref>Annuario Pontificio 2008 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana {{ISBN|978-88-209-8021-4}}), p. 23*</ref> He is also commonly called the supreme pontiff or the sovereign pontiff ({{lang-la|summus pontifex|link=no}}).<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/worlddictionaryo00adel_0 | url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/worlddictionaryo00adel_0/page/375 375] |title=World Dictionary of Foreign Expressions: A Resource for Readers and Writers| publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers | isbn=978-0-86516-423-9| last1=Adeleye| first1=Gabriel| last2=Acquah-Dadzie| first2=Kofi| authorlink2=Kofi Acquah-Dadzie| date= 1999}}</ref>

''Pontifex Maximus'', similar in meaning to ''Summus Pontifex'', is a title commonly found in inscriptions on papal buildings, paintings, statues and coins, usually abbreviated as "Pont. Max" or "P.M." The office of Pontifex Maximus, or head of the College of Pontiffs, was held by [[Julius Caesar]] and thereafter, by the Roman emperors, until [[Gratian]] (375–383) relinquished it.<ref name="smithpontifex" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Gratian|year=2013|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/242251/Gratian|access-date=14 April 2013|archive-date=18 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318124237/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/242251/Gratian|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.livius.org/pn-po/pontifex/maximus.html Pontifex Maximus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303013139/http://www.livius.org/pn-po/pontifex/maximus.html |date=3 March 2013 }} Livius.org article by Jona Lendering retrieved 15 August 2006</ref> Tertullian, when he had become a [[Montanist]], used the title derisively of either the pope or the [[bishop of Carthage]].<ref name=ODCC:PM /> The popes began to use this title regularly only in the 15th century.<ref name=ODCC:PM>''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' (Oxford University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-19-280290-3}}), article ''Pontifex Maximus''</ref>