The Catholic Church claims that the first pope, the apostle Peter, received power from the hands of Jesus Christ himself. Since then, continuously, eighteen days after the death of the previous one, the next earthly governor of God is elected. Pope in Catholicism is considered the head of the whole church. He is elected by the conclave - a meeting of cardinals - for life. He is given high honors. Before the pope ascends to the throne, a bloodless sacrifice is made. Then he puts on a special hat - tiara. This is no longer the usual bishop's miter, but a crown consisting of three teeth, in a sign that the pope is now gaining power in the world beyond the grave, earthly and church. Church tradition justifies its special status by inheritance of power from the Apostle Peter, and therefore from Christ. In addition, the pope is also the head of the Vatican - a state that occupies a small area (44 ha) on the territory of Rome and enters into diplomatic relations with almost all countries of the world. This was facilitated by the independence of Western bishops (as opposed to Eastern ones) from secular authorities.
The idea that only the church can hand over power to state rulers began to form after the western territory of the Roman Empire fell . Each regular pope pursued his own policy. Under the noble pretext - the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher - he organized and led military campaigns. And in the 10th century, Pope John VIII supplemented the right of the Catholic Church to decide on the permission or prohibition of the coronation of rulers with the right to take away their crown.
The discrepancies between the two churches (eastern and western) increased every year. The VII Ecumenical Council, convened in 787, only intensified friction. And they were connected not only with issues of ideology and church dogmas, as most uninitiated thinks, but also with political reasons. The fact is that at that time the Byzantine Empire carried out successful expansion on the Apennine Peninsula. Naturally, the rulers of Rome strongly opposed this. The starting point was the conflict provoked in 862-870 by Michael III. He deposed Ignatius, the patriarch of Constantinople, and in his place put Photius, a secular man who has nothing to do with the church world. This did not please Nicholas I, the pope. Subsequently, this conflict did not spill over into a long confrontation, but it also did not completely subside. The aggravation of contradictions occurred in 1054. It ended with the official and final separation of the two churches of the Christian world.
Since then, the papacy has a flip side. Along with the growth of his prestige and influence on politics, the behind-the-scenes struggle and the intrigues between cardinals interested in who will be in power also grew. There was also such a period in the life of the church when the priesthood was received only in order to have an influence on politics, on secular rulers. Dads came to replace each other, not even waiting for the death of their predecessor. Often a candidate who was previously overthrown managed to regain his throne. A case in point is when Pope Benedict IX in the XI century restored his right to office more than once. Moreover, he himself sold the throne to the next candidate.
Over the next centuries, the papacy was revived many times and fell into decay, it committed both mistakes and good deeds. About the crimes of the Catholic Church, much became known only after the conquest of European countries by Napoleon: in these territories he abolished the Inquisition.
And only in our days, John Paul II publicly apologized for the crimes committed by the Catholic Church in the history of its existence. It was this pope who reformed the structure of the church, developed a modern version of the functions and social role of the church. He repeatedly called on clergy not to participate in the activities of politicians. John Paul II saw the main mission of the church in the liberation of the world from conflicts, but not by political methods, but with the help of the gospel ministry to all mankind, in spiritual shepherding.