Papal titles

the chief high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome, open only to patricians until 254 BCE, when a plebeian first occupied this post; gradually became politicized until, beginning with Augustus, it was subsumed into the Imperial office

way of addressing religious figures

thumb | right | Statue of Augustus as Pontifex Maximus In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs. The term pontiff was later applied to any high or chief priest and, in Roman Catholic ecclesiastical usage, to bishops, especially the pope, who is sometimes referred to as the Roman pontiff or the supreme pontiff.

one of the titles of the pope

one of the official titles of the Pope, as the highest authority of the Latin Catholic Church

Christian term

title used for high-ranking church leaders

titles given to the Bishop of Rome