# The Pope is a prophet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323 "2015-09-23T17:39:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/21 "2015-09-24T16:50:56Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I believe you’ll find that the Roman Catholic Church deems him a prophet by virtue of his office. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Do you have a cite for that? No, and it appears that’s not correct. I am not Roman Catholic, but I thought the pope was considered to be more directly in touch with God than laymen, and that the basic definition of “prophet” would apply to him. While that may be a reasonable assertion, it seems it is not official doctrine. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/22 "2015-09-24T17:02:16Z")
Well neither is it official doctrine that he’s a politician, but he’s still referred to that based on the dictionary definition. So even if the Roman Catholic Church doesn’t regard him as an official capital-P Prophet, he can still be regarded as one, based on the dictionary definition of a prophet. > [@](#): > > a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God. Enough people believe he, by virtue of his title, is an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God to qualify him. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/23 "2015-09-24T17:35:31Z")
I don’t think we need to get hung up on the “predicting the future” part. No one expects the Pope to do that. But the dictionary definition isn’t the one that really matters here, it’s the Catholic Church’s definition that matters. Does anyone know if such a definition exists? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/24 "2015-09-24T17:52:42Z")
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: > [@](#): > > **Participation in Christ’s prophetic office** > > 904 "Christ . . . fulfills this prophetic office, not only by the hierarchy . . . but also by the laity. He accordingly both establishes them as witnesses and provides them with the sense of the faith [sensus fidei] and the grace of the word"438 > > To teach in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each believer.439 > 905 Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, “that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life.” For lay people, “this evangelization . . . acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world.” Not sure if that’s what you’re looking for, but the Catechism is probably the best place to look for an answer. Also, the pope may or not be the Biblical definition of a prophet, but the [NT does talk about different gifts of the Spirit, prophecy being one of them](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12%3A6-8&version=NIV). So who knows, maybe he’s got that gift? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/25 "2015-09-24T17:56:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Benedict is not the first to be referred to this way. > > [Pope Saint John Paul II: Prophet AND Poet](http://aleteia.org/2014/10/22/pope-saint-john-paul-ii-prophet-and-poet/) 😕 Benedict? How did the discussion come to be about HIM? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/26 "2015-09-25T02:27:00Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Made me think of another job description: Joker, smoker, midnight toker. Pope Frances. He’s been a puppet, a pirate, a poet, a [prophet](http://www.vox.com/2014/9/5/6109905/frank-sinatras-1963-interview-with-playboy-shows-he-was-spiritual-not), a pawn and a king. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/27 "2015-09-25T13:53:00Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > Pope Frances. He’s been a puppet, a pirate, a poet, a [prophet](http://www.vox.com/2014/9/5/6109905/frank-sinatras-1963-interview-with-playboy-shows-he-was-spiritual-not), a pawn and a king. Has he also been up and down and over and out? And are his words written on the subway walls and tenement halls? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/28 "2015-09-25T20:08:54Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > :rolleyes: > > Except for the fact that you can open pretty much any Prophetical book at random and have a good chance of finding something that deals with the future. Note that a lot of the “prophecies” predicting the future people find in the OT are later interpretations. Some OT passages that are interpreted by some as foretelling Christ are taken as comments on current events of the day by others. Even the Book of Revelation was widely [seen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preterism) as mostly a contemporary commentary in the earliest days of the church. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/29 "2015-09-26T03:19:39Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And when they tried to get really specific and particular with future predictions, they didn’t always get it right either. They didn’t even get the Messiah’s name right. > > (Emanuel who?) Right. Yeshua of Galilee was never called Immanuel (or Emanuel). The latter mean “God with us” which is not even the same derivation as “Jesus” (in whatever form) which means “YHVH saves”. But the fundies have an out. They can always claim that he will be called that when on an Earthly throne after the 2nd Coming. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/30 "2015-09-26T03:42:46Z")
It may be of interest here what I’ve gathered the Eastern Orthodox consensus (?) is on the modern prophetic role. NO ONE since the Apostolic qualifies as a prophet in the sense that Isaiah and others in the so-called Old Testament did. Christ was surely a Prophet, speaking for “the Father” – but not usually referred to as such. Because he was so much more. Only the E. O. Church as a whole has that role in the post-Apostolic Age. (Not sure what they would have said about the original Apostles.) That means the “Church” in all its national branches although, especially since the 1920’s, there have been caveats by some authorities as to which branches are still canon-abiding, hence “truly Orthodox”. There has [del]traditionally[/del] long been a “democratic” sentiment. When some started calling the Patriarch of Constantinople the head (leader? or some similar term) of the entire Church, it did not sit well with everyone. The feeling expressed was that this could lead to Orthodoxy becoming a late parallel to “Papism”. An unacceptable danger, they said. I remember being told that even little old ladies in the Church had the right to confront a Priest/Presbyter, a Bishop, an Archbishop, even a Patriarch if they felt they were drifting into heresy. You can’t get any more “democratic” than that! ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/31 "2015-09-26T11:27:31Z")
Think Kahlil Gibran. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323/32 "2015-09-26T11:42:42Z")
1. Elect a Pope 2. ??? 3. Prophet!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-is-a-prophet/732323.md?page=1)