SHOCKING CATHOLIC BELIEFS - The Pope's Crown Bears This Inscription

Question. "What are the letters supposed to be in the Pope's crown, and what do they signify if anything?
Answer. "The letters inscribed in the Pope's mitre are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is the Latin for Vicar of the Son of God. Catholics hold that the Church which is a visible society must have a visible head. Christ, before His ascension into heaven, appointed St. Peter to act as His representative. Upon the death of Peter the man who succeeded to the office of Peter as Bishop of Rome, was recognized as the head of the Church. Hence to the Bishop of Rome, as head of the Church, was given the title 'Vicar of Christ.'
"Enemies of the Papacy denounce this title as a malicious assumption. But the Bible informs us that Christ did not only give His Church authority to teach, but also to rule. Laying claim to the authority to rule in Christ's spiritual kingdom, in Christ's stead, is not a whit more malicious than laying claim to the authority to teach in Christ's name. And this every Christian minister does." Our Sunday Visitor, (Catholic Weekly), April 18, 1915, thirteenth question under "Bureau of Information," p. 3, (on page 2 appears "sanctions for the editor" from Pope Pius X, dated May 17, 1914; from the Apostolic Delegate, John Bonzano, dated April 27, 1913; and from J. H. Alerding, Bishop of Fort Wayne, Ind., dated March 29, 1912).

"Ut sicut Beatus Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei fuit constitutus, ita et Pontifices eius successores in terris principatus potestatem amplius, quam terrenae imperialis nostrae seremitatis mansuetudo habere videtur." Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica, Juridica, Moralis, Theologica, Ascetica, Polemica, Rubristica, Historica, by Lucius Ferraris, Volume V, article on "Papa, Article II", titled "Concerning the extent of Papal dignity, authority, or dominion and infallibility", point #20, column 1828, published in Petit-Montrouge (Paris) by J. P. Migne, 1858 edition. To see a copy of this document, please click here.
(Translated into English it reads: "As the blessed Peter was constituted Vicar of the Son of God on earth, so it is seen that the Pontiffs, his successors, hold from us and our empire the power of a supremacy on the earth greater than the clemency of our earthly imperial serenity.")

"Beatus Petrus in terris Vicarius filii Dei videtur esse constitutus." Decretum Gratiani, prima pars, dist. xcvi, col. 472, (first published at Bologna about 1148, and reprinted in 1555. Translation by Christopher B. Coleman, Ph. D., in "The Treatise of Lorenzo Vallo on the Donation of Constantine," p. 13. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1922).
(Translated into the English this reads: "Blessed Peter is seen to have been constituted vicar of the son of God on the earth.")

"Beatus Petrus in terris Vicarius filii Dei esse videtur constitutus." Corpus Juris Canonici Emendatum et Notis Illustratum Gregorii XIII. Pont. Max., Lvgdvn., MDCXXII, col. 295.

"Beatus Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei esse videtur constitutus." Corpus Juris Canonici, Gregorii XIII, Pontif. Max., Auctoritate, Distinctio 96, Column 286, Canon Constantinus 14, Magdeburg, 1747.

The title given to the Pope is "Vicarius Filii Dei." Sacrosancta concilia ad regitionem exacta, by Philippe Labbe, SJ., Vol. I, p 1534: Paris, 1671.

"The temporal power in the hands of St. Gregory I was a fatherly and patriarchal rule over nations not as yet reduced to civil order. In the hands of St. Leo III it became a power of creating empires. In the hands of St. Gregory VII it was a scourge to chasten them. In the hands of Alexander III it was a dynasty, ruling supremely, in the name of God, over the powers of the world....So that I may say there never was a time when the temporal power of the Vicar of the Son of God, though assailed as we see it, was more firmly rooted throughout the whole unity of the Catholic Church.

"It was a dignified obedience to bow to the Vicar of the Son of God, and to remit the arbitration of their griefs to one whom all wills consented to obey." The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, by Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, pp. 231-232, second edition, London: Burns and Lambert, 1862.