View source for Pontiff

{{Short description|Generic term for a religious office}}
{{redirect|Pontifex}}

In [[Roman antiquity]], a '''pontiff''' ({{ety|la|pontifex}}) was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman religion]], the [[College of Pontiffs]].<ref name=OED>"Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007</ref><ref name=Smith>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Pontifex.html William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, article ''Pontifex'', pp. 939-942]</ref> The term ''pontiff'' was later applied to any high or chief priest and, in [[Roman Catholic]] ecclesiastical usage, to [[Bishops in the Catholic Church|bishops]], especially the [[pope]], who is sometimes referred to as the Roman pontiff or the [[Pope#Supreme pontiff|supreme pontiff]].<ref name=Heritage>{{Cite web|title=Pontiff &#124; Dictionary.com|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/pontiff|access-date=2023-02-17|website=www.dictionary.com|language=en}}</ref>
{{wikitionary|pontiff}}

==Etymology==
The English term derives through Old [[French language|French]] ''pontif''<ref name=Heritage/><ref>In modern French the corresponding term is ''pontife''</ref> from Latin ''pontifex'', a word commonly held to come from the Latin root words ''pons'', ''pont-'' (bridge) + ''facere'' (to do, to make), and so to have the literal meaning of "bridge-builder", presumably between mankind and the deity/deities. Uncertainty prevailing, this may be only a [[folk etymology]],<ref name=OED/> but it may also recall ancient tasks and magic rites associated with bridges.<ref name=Britannica>{{Cite web|title=Roman religion|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-religion|access-date=2023-02-17|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> The term may also be an allusion to Ancient Roman Religious rituals for placating the gods and spirits associated with the [[Tiber River]], for instance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/7Cnuma.asp |title=Internet History Sourcebooks |website=fordham.edu}}</ref> Also, Varro cites this position as meaning "able to do".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQd82l39KX4C&pg=PA195|title=Religions of Rome: Volume 2, A Sourcebook |first1=Mary |last1=Beard |first2=John |last2=North |first3=Simon|last3=Price |date=June 28, 1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521456463 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Ancient Rome==
{{main|College of Pontiffs}}
There were four chief [[Collegium (ancient Rome)|colleges]] of priests in ancient Rome, the most illustrious of which was that of the ''pontifices''.<ref name=Smith/> The others were those of the ''[[augures]]'', the ''[[quindecimviri sacris faciundis]]'', and the ''[[epulones]]''.<ref name=Britannica/> The same person could be a member of more than one of these groups.<ref name=Smith/> Including the ''[[pontifex maximus]]'', who was president of the college, there were originally three<ref name=Britannica/> or five<ref name=Smith/> ''pontifices'', but the number increased over the centuries, finally becoming 16 under [[Julius Caesar]].<ref name=Smith/><ref name=Britannica/> By the third century BC the pontiffs had assumed control of the state religious system.<ref name=Britannica/>

== Biblical usage ==
Inspiration for the Catholic use of the name ''pontiff'' for a bishop comes from the use of the same word for the Jewish High Priest in the original Latin translation of the Bible, the [[Vulgate]], where it appears 59 times. For example at {{bibleverse||Mark|15:11}}, "pontifices" (plural) is the Latin term used for "The Chief Priests".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marcus 15:11|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Marcus%252015%253A11&version=VULGATE|access-date=2023-02-17|website=Bible Gateway|language=en}}</ref> And in the Vulgate version of the [[Letter to the Hebrews]], "pontifex" (singular) is repeatedly used with reference to the then still extant High Priesthood in Judaism, and analogously suggesting [[Jesus Christ]] as the ultimate high priest.

==Catholicism==
{{see also|Pontificate}}
The word "pontiff", though now most often used in relation to a [[pope]], technically refers to any [[Catholic]] bishop. The phrase "Roman pontiff" is therefore not tautological, but means "Bishop of Rome".<ref name=OED/> In the same way, a [[Pontifical Mass]] is a [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]] celebrated by a bishop, not necessarily a pope. Note also the ''[[Roman Pontifical]]'' (the liturgical book containing the prayers and ceremonies for rites used by a bishop)<ref>The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-19-280290-3}}), article ''Pontifical''</ref> and "[[pontificals]]", the insignia of his order that a bishop uses when celebrating Pontifical Mass.<ref>The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-19-280290-3}}), article ''pontificals''</ref> While the pontificals primarily belong to bishops, they have also been granted by papal favour or legally established Church custom to certain presbyters (e.g., abbots).{{cn|date=January 2023}}

==Other religions==
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The word has been employed in English also for [[caliph]]s ([[Islam]]) and [[swami]]s and [[jagadguru]]s ([[Hinduism]]).<ref name="OED" />

== See also ==
* [[Papal titles]]
* [[Shaman]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Ancient Roman titles]]
[[Category:Religious leadership roles]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Catholic ecclesiastical titles]]
[[Category:Papal titles]]