A pontiff (from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the

Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...

, the

College of Pontiffs The College of Pontiffs ( la, Collegium Pontificum; see '' collegium'') was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the '' pontifex maximus'' and the other ' ...

."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007William 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 A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, especially the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, who is sometimes referred to as the Roman Pontiff or the Supreme Pontiff.''Pontiff'', The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
/ref>

Etymology

The English term derives through Old French ''pontif'' 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. The role of bridges in ancient religions, associated with

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whi ...

, redemption and the

Judgement Day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

is already well known. Uncertainty prevailing, this may be only a folk etymology, but it may also recall ancient tasks and magic rites associated with bridges.Encyclopædia Britannica, article ''Roman religion''
/ref> The term may also be an allusion to Ancient Roman Religious rituals for placating the gods and spirits associated with the

Tiber River The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

, for instance. Also, Varro cites this position as meaning "able to do".

Ancient Rome

There were four chief

colleges A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

of priests in ancient Rome, the most illustrious of which was that of the ''pontifices''. The others were those of the '' augures'', the ''

quindecimviri sacris faciundis In ancient Rome, the were the fifteen () members of a college (''collegium'') with priestly duties. They guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate. This ''collegium'' also oversaw t ...

'', and the ''

epulones The (Latin for "feasters"; sing. ''epulo'') arranged feasts and public banquets at festivals and games ''(ludi)''. They constituted one of the four great religious corporations (''quattuor amplissima collegia'') of ancient Roman priests. Estab ...

''. The same person could be a member of more than one of these groups. Including the '' pontifex maximus'', who was president of the college, there were originally three or five ''pontifices'', but the number increased over the centuries, finally becoming 16 under

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

. By the third century BC the pontiffs had assumed control of the state religious system.

Biblical usage

Inspiration for the Christian (Catholic) use of the name "pontiff" for a bishop comes from the use of the same word (in Latin, ''pontifex'', not "pontifex maximus") for the Jewish High Priest in the original Latin translation of the Bible, the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels us ...

, where it appears 59 times. For example at , "pontifices" (plural) is the Latin term used for "The Chief Priests". And in the Vulgate version of Paul's

Letter to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews ( grc, Πρὸς Ἑβραίους, Pros Hebraious, to the Hebrews) is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Most ...

, "pontifex" (singular) is repeatedly used with reference to the then still extant High Priesthood in Judaism, and analogously suggesting Jesus as the ultimate high priest.

Catholicism

The word "pontiff", though now most often used in relation to a

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, technically refers to any

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bishop. The phrase "Roman Pontiff" is therefore not tautological, but means "Bishop of Rome". In the same way, a

Pontifical Mass A Pontifical High Mass, also called Solemn Pontifical Mass, is a Solemn or High Mass celebrated by a bishop using certain prescribed ceremonies. Although in modern English the word "pontifical" is almost exclusively associated with the pope, an ...

is a

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

celebrated by a bishop, not necessarily a pope. Note also "the Pontifical" (the liturgical book containing the prayers and ceremonies for rites used by a bishop) and "

pontificals Pontifical vestments, also referred to as episcopal vestments or pontificals, are the liturgical vestments worn by bishops (and by concession some other prelates) in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran ...

", the insignia of his order that a bishop uses when celebrating Pontifical Mass.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ), article ''pontificals'' 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).

Other religions

The word has been employed in English also for

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

s (

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

) and

swami Swami ( ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to a male or female ascetic who has chosen the path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas. It is used eit ...

s and

jagadguru , literally meaning " of the universe", is a title used in . Traditionally, it has been bestowed upon or used for belonging to the school (among the six traditional schools of thought in Hinduism) who have written Sanskrit commentaries on the ...

s ( Hinduism).

References