Pope

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The Pope is the head of Catholic Church. The current Pope is Benedict XVI; he was born in Germany. The previous Pope, John Paul II died on April 2, 2005; he was from Poland.

Popes are elected by Cardinals of the Catholic Church. Once they are elected they hold the position until they die or they resign. Usually they don't resign, though; the last pope who resigned was Pope Gregory XII in 1415. After a Pope is elected, the pope chooses a different name. Everyone is told the new name when the Habemus Papam is read out. The current pope (Benedict XVI) was called Joseph Ratzinger before he became a pope.

In the Middle Ages, the Pope had a lot of political power. This is no longer the case.

The name Pope comes from the Greek word pappas, "father". Catholics believe that when making statements ex cathedra, that is official statements teaching about faith and moral, the Pope is infallible - which means God will not allow his followers to be misled by allowing their leader to make a wrong statement. Only two of any Pope's statements have been ex cathedra<ref>Apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus, written by Pope Pius XII, 1 November 1950 {{

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}}; Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, written by Pope Pius IX, 8 December 1854.</ref>

The Pope is also the head of state of the Vatican City, a tiny country in the city of Rome in Italy whose only purpose is to run the Catholic Church. Popes today travel to many countries around the world preaching. The Pope is the only person in the world who is the leader of a political state and a religion at the same time.

The Pope wears a big hat called a mitre and holds a staff called a crosier.