Bishop of Rome

The Bishop of Rome is the bishop of the Holy See, more often referred to as the Pope. The first Bishop of Rome to bear the title of "Pope" was Boniface III in 607, the first to assume the title of "Universal Bishop" by decree of Emperor Phocas. Earlier Bishops of Rome are customarily extended the title Pope as a courtesy, except in strict historical discourse. The title "Bishop of Rome" is also used in preference to Pope by some members of Eastern Orthodox and Protestant denominations, to reflect their rejection of papal authority over the Christian community.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

The Pope (from Latin: papa, father; from Greek  (papas) = father - originally written (pappas), as in Homer's Odyssey, book VI, line 57) is the Bishop of Rome, the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. Faith communities which recognize Apostolic Succession acknowledge the Bishop of Rome as successor of St Peter. As such, Catholics believe the pope to be the Vicar of Christ, while the other faith communities disacknowledge Petrine primacy among the bishops. The office of the pope is called the "papacy"; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the "Holy See" (Sancta Sedes in Latin) or "Apostolic See" (this latter, on the basis that both St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred at Rome). Early bishops occupying the See of Rome were designated "Vicar of Peter"; for later popes the more authoritative Vicar of Christ was substituted; this designation was first used by the Roman Synod of 495 to refer to Pope Gelasius I, an advocate of papal supremacy among the patriarchs. Marcellinus (d. 304) is the first Bishop of Rome whom sources show used the title of pope. In the 11th century, after the East-West Schism, Gregory VII declared the term "Pope" to be reserved for the Bishop of Rome. The current (265th) pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in papal conclave.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
1. the head of the Roman Catholic Church
(synonym) Pope, Catholic Pope, Roman Catholic Pope, Pontiff, Holy Father, Vicar of Christ
(hypernym) spiritual leader
(hyponym) Alexander VI, Pope Alexander VI, Borgia, Rodrigo Borgia
(member-holonym) papacy, pontificate