Approaching the West — Page 67
A pproaching the West—67 wrote his last letter before his death to his protégé Timothy, he mentioned the name of Linus and his father Claudian as sending greetings to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:21). St. Linus is considered to be the second pope after Peter, being the bishop of Rome. As such, one of his main duties was to maintain the unity of the rapidly expanding Church. His Khil ā fat lasted for 12 years–from 66 CE to 78 CE. St. Anacletus (78 CE—91 CE), who was of a very humble origin, was the third successor to Jesus. He probably belonged to a slave family. He initiated some organizational structure in the early Roman Christian communities, and sub-divided Roman Church into twenty-five parishes. It was like establishing small Jam ā ‘ats among an expanding community of believers in a big city and its vicinities. The “church” meetings were conducted in private houses. The list of succession of Christian leadership that followed is long, and, at times, some of the popes have been controversial figures. The Roman Catholics tradition keeps a record of all the popes. There has been a long chain, and presently, Benedict XVI is the 265th Pope by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome. He was elected on 24 April 2005 after the demise of John Paul II who had led the worldwide Roman Catholic Christians for 27 years. The Roman Catholic Church considers the pope to be the Vicar of Peter, who carries on Peter’s ministry by keeping alive the Christian faith. A pope is also called the Vicar of Jesus Christ. The title ‘Vicar’ can be understood to mean as a “substitute. ” In other words, the popes stand in for Peter and Jesus, but do not replace them. Originally, all those who were appointed as “bishops” to oversee a Christian