A pontiff (from Latin pontifex) was, in Roman antiquity, 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 a bishop and more particularly to the Bishop of Rome, the Pope or “Roman Pontiff”.
The English term derives through Old French pontif from Latin pontifex, a word commonly held to come from the Latin root words pons (bridge) + facere (to do, to make), and so to have the literal meaning of “bridge-builder”. This may be only a folk etymology, but it may also recall antique tasks and magic rites associated with bridges.
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Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Pontiff, Catholic church, Roman Catholic church, Mariolatry, Marialatry, Worship of Mary, Virgin Mary worshipped, Mary worshipped, Mother of God, Theotokos, Virgin mother, Perpetual Virginity, Perpetual Virginity of Mary, Dormition, Mary Dormition, Immaculate Conception, Immaculate Conception Mary, Bodily Assumption, Bodily Assumption of Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mary Queen of Heaven, Catholicism, Catholic, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Forbidding to marry, Celibacy, Pope, Papal, Papacy, sacrament of penance, penance, indulgences, church of rome, great harlot, great whore, seven mountains, papa, Popedom, Primacy of the papacy, Primacy of the pope, Head of the Catholic church, Leader of the Catholic church, Catholic pope
Bible reference(s): 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Pontiff,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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