[ noun ] the government of the Roman Catholic Church <noun.group>
Papacy \Pa"pa*cy\, n. [LL. papatia, fr. L. papa a father, bishop. See {Pope}.] 1. The office and dignity of the pope, or pontiff, of Rome; papal jurisdiction.
2. The popes, collectively; the succession of popes.
3. The Roman Catholic religion; -- commonly used by the opponents of the Roman Catholics in disparagement or in an opprobrious sense.
"Since we are celebrating the presence of the papacy on American shores, every object has been commissioned by or given to the pope," said Robert Bergman, director of the public museum.
In 1978 the College of Cardinals snapped the 456-year-old Italian monopoly on the papacy by electing Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland as Pope John Paul II.
The Renaissance brought renewed interest in classical antiquity and spawned a new breed of rich and passionate collectors and patrons like the papacy, the Medicis, and Lorenzo the Magnificent.
The latter is identified with the conservative Catholic movement, Opus Dei, much in favour with the papacy. This is the first time since the war that the Catholic vote has been faced with a split.
The Asian trip, the 44th foreign pilgrimage of John Paul's 11-year papacy, raises several politically sensitive topics for the pope.
John Paul's return to Poland in June 1979, eight months after his election to the papacy, helped spark demands for democracy that led to the formation of Solidarity, the first non-Communist labor movement in the Soviet bloc.
The pontiff's trip is his third to Spain and the 43rd foreign voyage of his 11-year papacy.
A group of traditionalist priests and seminarians have broken with renegade Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and are setting up their own organization loyal to the papacy, according to a Roman Catholic magazine.
With this visit to Paraguay, John Paul has now toured every Latin American country except Cuba in his nearly 10-year-old papacy.
Concurring statements came in 1970 on Holy Communion, or the eucharist, and on ministry, and in 1978 on church teaching authority, affirming that "Christ preserves the church in truth" and in which Lutherans recognize value in a modified papacy.
The pope's tour is his ninth to Latin America in his nine-year-old papacy, reflecting the Vatican's interest in the region.
"His being a political candidate is about as absurd as electing me to the papacy," said John Charnock, Charleston city attorney and a close friend of Roark's.
Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, the archbishop of Genoa and a perennial candidate for the papacy, died at home Tuesday evening of a heart ailment, an official at the diocesan chancellery said.
The trip will be the 46th foreign tour of John Paul's papacy. Trips by John Paul to Poland and Hungary are scheduled next year.