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. None of the photographs of the 1958 coronation show ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' or any other writing on the tiara. (''For a close-up of this tiara, see this website '' )]] ORIGINS OF THE CONTROVERSY The earliest extant record of a Protestant writer on this subject is that of Professor Andreas Helwig in 1612. In his work ''Antichristus Romanus'' he took fifteen titles in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin and computed their numerical equivalents in those languages, arriving at the number 666 mentioned in the Book Of Revelation . Out of all these titles, he preferred to single out ''Vicarius Filii Dei'', for the reason that it met "all the conditions which {Link without Title} Bellarmine had thus far demanded." Besides being in Latin, the title was "not offensive or vile," but rather was "honorable to this very one." Helwig suggested that the supposed title was an expansion of the historical title ''Vicarius Christi'', rather than an official title used by the popes themselves. Additionally, he said nothing about the title appearing on tiaras or mitres. Helwig's interpretation did not become a common one until about the time of the French Revolution. Some later Protestant figures directly claimed that ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' was an official title of the Roman Catholic pope, some claimed that this title appeared on the Papal Tiara and/or a Mitre . Chief among these was the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Uriah Smith , who wrote The pope wears upon his pontifical crown in jeweled letters, this title, VICARIOUS FILII DEI, viceregent of the Son of God. The most plausible supposition we have seen on this point is that here we find the number in question. It is the number of the beast, the papacy; it is the number of a man, for he adopts it as his distinctive title; it is the number of a man, for he who bears it is the 'man of sin. To promote the claim in the mid 20th Century , some Seventh-day Adventists doctored pictures of papal tiaras to make it look as though the words did exist on them. According to LeRoy Fromm, a Seventh-day Adventist Church historian, . . . in attempting to re-illustrate one of the standard books on the prophecies, took this genuine photograph of a plain tiara and lettered upon it the three words Vicarius, Filii, and Dei-one on each of the three crowns-on the premise that such was the name the pope bore, and if were not actually on the tiara, it might well be by way of illustration. One of our leading publishing houses, and the General Conference, to whom the altered photograph was submitted, emphatically rejected it as misleading and deceptive, and refused to allow its use. Regrettably, some of our evangelists who do not have all the facts, and to whom the appeal of the moment has sometimes outweighed the ethics of the case, and who perhaps have not thought through the fraudulent character of such plausible but specious evidence, have occasionally continued to use this or similar fabrication. A small number of Catholic figures referred to the supposed existence of the title in books. In ''The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ'', a book by British Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Henry Edward Cardinal Manning three references were made in English to the pope as the "Vicar of the Son of God.". Writing on behalf of James Cardinal Gibbons in 1904, William F. Russell said that the title was "used by the Cardinal who imposes the tiara at the coronation of a Pope," though he couldn't say with certainty whether it appeared on the pope's tiara. In a signed statement from the early 1940's, Dr. J. Quasten of Catholic University wrote, "The title Vicarius Filii Dei as well as the title Vicarius Christi is very common as the title for the pope." The statements are however rare and regarded by scholars as based on factual errors. Russell's claim, for example, that the term was used in the papal coronation is demonstrably false. The actual wording at the moment never contained the words ''Vicarius Filii Dei''. The Cardinal deacon who crowned the Pope actually said: Accipe thiaram tribus coronis ornatam, et scias te esse Patrem Principum et Regum, Rectorem Orbis, in terra Vicarium Salvatoris Nostri Jesu Christi, cui est honor et gloria in sæcula sæculorum. :(Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the World, Vicar of Our Savior Jesus Christ on earth, to him be the honor and glory forever and ever.) Other than the forged Donation of Constantine no primary source evidence exists to suggest the existence of such a title. When no such evidence could be proved in primary documentation as opposed to isolated references in rare secondary sources, the Catholic Church was accused by promoters of the claim that such evidence exists of suppressing or destroying the evidence, specifically tiaras or mitres that supposedly contained the words on them. Critics accuse promoters of the claim of resorting to Conspiracy Theories without evidence to explain their own failure after centuries of searching to stand up their claims to independent verification of its existence. Though there are thousands of images dating back a millennium of papal tiaras (busts, paintings, drawings, photographs, design plans, etc) none shows any tiara with any writing spelling out words in diamonds, much less ''Vicarius Filii Dei''. Only handful possessed any writing at all, and in those cases it was different words spelt out on the individual tiaras, not on the body of the Papal Tiara, which is the claim regularly made by proposers of the claim. THE PAPAL TIARA CLAIM Promoters of the claim that popes hold the title ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' in past alleged that the proof could be found on the Papal Tiara , the papal crown, on which they claimed the words could clearly be seen spelt out in Jewel s. Some Protestant groups in the past claimed that it is a title possessed by the Roman Catholic Church Pope . The claim was particularly strongly made by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Central to the claim that ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' is a papal title is the statement that when numerised in a certain way (see below), the words produce the total of 666, a number described as the 'number of the beast' (i.e., the Antichrist or False Prophet in the Book Of Revelation ), proof according to some groups that the Roman Catholic pope is the Antichrist . The conviction that the Pope is the Antichrist was once a core belief of Protestantism. Most mainstream Protestant faiths have disassociated themselves from modern belief in the claim, but it is still central to the beliefs of some Protestant groups, such as the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod). The ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' claims are just one of a series of items cited by some as "evidence". The Roman Catholic Church has consistently denied the existence of such a title for popes and labelled it an "anti-Catholic myth". Critics of the claim argue that whether or not the numerised total of the letters in ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' produce the total '666' is irrelevant because the existence of such a title has never been independently verified. Protestant and Catholic academics have failed to find evidence of the existence of the title other than its mention for Saint Peter in the Donation of Constantine, a forged Mediaeval document. The only remotely similar titles independently verified as existing are '' Vicarius Christi '' — ''representative (vicar) of Christ '' and until mediaeval times ''Vicarius Petrii'' — ''representative (vicar) of Peter''. (''Vicarius Christi'' numerates to 214.) THE EVIDENCE Sources for the claims Proponents of the claim usually base themselves on the following sources: # In a 1832 book Miss Emmons reported that a gentleman had seen the pope wearing a miter with "VICARIUS FILII DEI" upon it in "full, blazing letters". Though this book referts to a miter, the reference is often given as evidence for such a writing on a tiara. # Pope Gregory XVI had supposedly worn a papal tiara with these words clearly visible on it at a Pontifical High Mass during the Easter rite in 1845, according to Presbyterian minister and former Catholic; # The 'existence' of a photograph of a papal funeral at the start of the twentieth century (which probably means the funeral of Pope Leo XIII in 1903 but could possibly be Pope Pius X 's in 1914) showing the words on a papal tiara. # The tiara (with the words mentioned) is ''always'' used to crown popes, but specifically was used in 1939 to crown Eugenio Pacelli as Pope Pius XII . None of these claims have been substantiated. Multiple tiaras, not one See Also: List of papal tiaras in existence While the claims speak of ''the'' papal tiara, in reality there is not one tiara but many. All but one of the ancient papal tiaras were destroyed by invading French troops in 1798. The sole surviving pre-19th century tiara ''(image 1)'' has no writing. Starting in 1800, a new tiaras were periodically created. A number of 19th century popes, notably popes Gregory XVI , Pius IX and Leo XIII received a number of tiaras during their reign, from among other sources their previous cardinalate sees, religious orders, the Palatine Guard , the women of the Belgian Court and heads of state such as the Catholic Queen Isabella Of Spain and the Protestant Kaiser Wilhelm I Of Germany . Gregory XVI received three tiaras, Pius IX six and Leo XIII four. Many were either never worn or worn rarely. In the twentieth century a number of tiaras were given to various popes up to and including Pope Paul VI in 1963. Though the number of tiaras grew, only a small number were normally worn, principally the Palatine Tiara given to Pius IX in 1877, which was used by among others Popes Pius XII and John XXIII for their coronations. Pope Pius XI 's tiara was also worn by Pope John, while his own tiara, given by the people of Venice in 1959, was worn also. The decision on which tiara to wear was usually decided by issues such as papal headsize, age of the tiara (older ones tended to be treated as museum pieces), sturdyness of construction (wear and tear can lead to damage and constant repair), comfort of individual popes and papal age (older popes due to their age and infirmity wore lighter tiaras towards the end of their reigns). The claim by proponents of the ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' story frequently stated stated that there was just one tiara and that it was always used in coronations. That is demonstrably false. As the image shows, it does not contain writing.]] No evidence of writing on tiaras existing in 1832 In 1832 when it was claimed Gregory XVI was seen wearing a tiara with ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' on it, only four tiaras existed; one from the eighteenth century ''(image 1)'', an 1800 Papier-mâché tiara manufactured during the papal exile that resulted from the occupation of Rome by French troops ''(image 2)'' the one given by Emperor Napoleon I to Pope Pius VII in 1804 and the 1820 tiara of Pope Pius VIII . No pope has ever worn the 1804 tiara. It was deliberately designed on Napoleon's orders to be too small to fit on a head and far too heavy to wear. Popes also refused to wear it on principle because it was made up from parts of older tiaras broken up and stolen from the Vatican in 1798. So Gregory XVI could only have been wearing one of three tiaras; the 18th century tiara or the tiaras from 1800 or 1820. All three exist, are on public display and none contain writing. Nor do the records of their manufacture and maintenance contain any evidence that it might at any stage have contained writing. Tiaras never worn during Mass Popes never wore papal tiaras while celebrating Mass, as tiaras were never seen as ecclesiastical (Papal States), when being carried in state on the Sedia Gestatoria (portable throne) ''(see image below)'' or when giving the '' Urbi Et Orbi ''. None of these ceremonies took place at the Altar and so could not potentially be confused with a celebration of Mass at the High Altar in St. Peter's. The only time tiaras had any association with an altar was when, prior to the start of a Pontifical High Mass, the Pope might place the tiara to one side on the special platform on the altar to symbolise Christ's reign over the Church. (To wear a secular symbol such as a crown while celebrating Mass was seen as disrespectful to Christ and the Eucharist being celebrated.) Hoffman's claims about 1845 By 1845 the pope had received up to three new tiaras ''(image 3)''. That one tiara which it is definitely known had been given to him by Easter 1845, had been donated in 1834. It does not contain any writing. Nor, given the large size of the three crowns on it, is there space between them to place letters in jewels in a way could be seen. Only two tiara have any major writing at all. The Belgian tiara of 1871 ''(Image 4)'' does not feature ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' or words even remotely similar. It reads ''CHRISTI VICARIO – IN TERRA – REGUM'', with the words spread out in the three crowns. Only one word of the alleged writing appears in the actual words on the 1871 tiara, and even there the word is in a different grammatical case. (''For pictures of popes wearing these tiaras, see Papal Tiara .'') Writing also appears on the 1903 Gold Tiara given to Pope Leo XIII but which due to its considerable weight has rarely been worn. Leo, who was in his nineties when he received it, was too ill to wear a heavy tiara (he opted for lightweight tiaras given to Gregory XVI and Pius IX) while later popes, having considered wearing it also declined to do so due to its weight. (Pius X's tiara and that of John XXIII were both made lightweight at the request of both popes because they found the main tiaras too uncomfortable and heavy.) The source of the claim about 1845 was B. Hoffman, a retired Presbyterian pastor, who claimed to be a former student Catholic priest who had witnessed Pope Gregory XVI celebrating the "Easter service" wearing a tiara contained the words ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' written in three rows. Critics have noted inconsistencies in his claims:
No images from any sources of supposed Vicarius Filii Dei tiara All of the tiaras in existence at the time of the creation of photography and hence in the timeframe for the mysterious 'photographic evidence' still exist and seem to have been accounted for, through receipts, repair records, valuations, etc. Given the bureaucracy associated with the use of state items such as crowns in all states and the value of each tiara (some have a modern value of millions of euro), each occasion where such items are worn are formally recorded in files (listing what crown was worn where and for how long, with its removal and return to the location where it was stored formally recorded), and their wearing witnessed by staff, diplomats, the media and the public if the ceremony if occurring in public in St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square , the Basilica Of St. John Lateran or elsewhere. No records exist either in newspapers, media coverage, paintings, photographs, state records or in the Vatican suggesting the existence of any tiaras since 1800 other than those existing at present. Though the evidence supposedly 'exists' in the form of a photograph, in nearly one hundred years no-one has been able to produce the photograph, or even give definitive evidence of its existence, such as stating where exactly it was published. Technical limitations to photography in 1903 and 1914 Even if, contrary to all the known evidence a triple tiara with those words on it did exist and had been photographed (presumably placed on the coffin of the late pope), in the absence of modern photographic technology or even zoom lens, with constant movement during the funeral ceremony and slow shutter speeds, the chances a camera being able from a distance (and given the restrictions imposed on photographers during a papal funeral, it would have to have been at a distance) to capture lettering on a tiara are remote in the extreme. (One of the websites 'claiming' such a photograph exists shows a photograph of a papal tiara placed on top of the glass-sided coffin of Pius X at his canonisation. Even in the 1950s when that picture was taken, the photographic technology was such that neither the pope's remains nor the tiara could be clearly seen.) Tiaras on public display While 'promoters' of the story constantly demand that the tiaras be 'released so that they can be inspected', the tiaras are all on open display. Many of the most prominent papal tiaras are displayed as part of the '' Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes '' exhibition which travels the world; it visited the United States in 2005. Among the tiaras in this exhibition is the 1877 Palatine Tiara which some claim possesses ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' on it. The eighteenth century tiara is on public display in St. Peter's basilica itself on 29 June every year, where it is placed on the head of a statue of St. Peter. All the tiaras owned by the Vatican displayed either separately or in groups, not just within the Vatican but even in the United States, where the 'story' first originated. They have also been displayed around Europe. A minority of tiaras are no longer owned by the Vatican, but were given to churches or cathedrals, where they are on display. One of Pius IX's tiaras is on display in a church in Rome while Paul VI's tiara is on permanent display in Washington DC . Having been seen by large numbers, no-one, whether member of the public, critic or journalist has reported seeing the words ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' on the side of a papal tiara, as is the claim. Tiara used in 1939 coronation only manufactured in 1877 The papal tiara used in the coronation of Pope Pius XII, which was explicitly stated in one website as being ''the'' tiara with the ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' words spelt out in jewellery and diamonds was in fact manufactured in 1877 and so could not have been the tiara with those words supposedly seen in 1832 or 1845. As Pope Pius XII's coronation was filmed and shown in cinemas around the world, had his papal tiara contained such words, they would have been captured by the camera and seen by millions worldwide in cinemas. Even if the actual placing of the crown on Pius's head was not seen clearly from a distance by film cameras, photographers were allowed access, being able to photograph the coronation from within a few feet of the Supreme Pontiff. Pius as a result was pictured from different angles up close. If lettering existed on Pius's exterior crown, it could not but have been seen and pictured. Pius also posed for a series of photographs wearing the tiara. None show lettering on it. During his reign, Pius was photographed wearing the tiara from all angles. No writing was seen either on the front, back or sides of the tiara. No evidence on mitres In the absence of any hard evidence of ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' on any papal crown, it has been suggested that it exists on a papal Mitre . The Vatican has an extensive collection of papal mitres covering three categories: the ''Golden Mitre'' (''mitra auriphrygiata''), the ''Precious Mitre'' (''mitra pretiosa'') and the ''Simplex Mitre'' (''mitra simplex''). Only one, the ''mitra pretiosa'' was jewelled and so had the potential for lettering. The other two were plain in colour: one gold, one plain white silk. Images of popes wearing mitres have existed for centuries, whether as paintings, drawings or in more modern times photographs. No independent source unconnected with the religions promoting the ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' claims have reported seeing those words on a mitre. Whereas tiaras as secular symbols of papal power may occasionally have been worn where only small groups were present (eg, meetings with members of the Diplomatic Corp) as well as large gatherings, mitres were unambiguously liturgical in nature and so were worn at religious ceremonies with groups or large congregations in attendance. No independently verified reports exist, however, of a pope wearing a mitre with the words ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' on them. Many of the Vatican's mitres, but most expecially the ''mitra pretiosa'', given their jewelled decoration, are displayed as part of the ''Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes'' exhibition, in particular the ''mitra pretiosa'' of popes Leo XIII and Paul VI. Other papal mitres, like papal tiaras, are permanently displayed in the Vatican. MODERN ORIGINS OF THE CLAIMS The story seems to owe its ''modern'' origins to a written answer to a question published in an American Roman Catholic magazine, ''Our Sunday Visitor'' of 15 November 1914 , in which a contributor, a priest, referred to the mythical title. The author who repeated the claim later in April 1915 then withdrew it. Among the errors he said he made was to mix up tiaras (about which the question was concerned) and mitres (the word he used in the answer). Though the magazine itself discussed the topic again in September 1917 and August 1941, it never denied the claim of the 1915 article that the title had appeared on the miter. Critics of the Seventh-day Adventist interpretation of the comment have argued that, firstly, if there was some secret Catholic title that the Church was denying, it would have been unlikely then to publish the "secret" is a widely available magazine read by people from all faiths. Secondly, they argue that if it was such a secret, and the questioner was asking about papal tiaras, why then would the priest-author have proceded to answer a question he wasn't asked, about supposedly secret mitres. When questioned, the magazine wrote to the Seventh-day Adventist Church to inform them that the contributing priest had gotten his facts wrong. The Seventh-day Adventist Church no longer regards the magazine article as anything other than an error and no longer promotes belief in the claim that ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' is a papal title. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH ABANDONS CLAIM The Seventh-day Adventist Church abandoned the search for the 'evidence' after years of searching. However, some minority groups within the church still hold on to the belief that such a tiara with such a title existed. The search was resurrected by a minority of individual members when a member of the Church reproduced the original ''Our Sunday Visitor'' article, the article itself being treated as evidence that efforts of the Roman Catholic Church to 'suppress' the truth had failed. (Because the magazine's claim was being used by anti-Catholic campaigners in the United States as proof that the pope was the antichrist, the magazine removed that particular issue from its archives, leading to further accusations of a Catholic conspiracy to supress the 'truth'.) Though no other evidence apart from one article in one magazine in 1914, repeated in 1915, which subsequently stated twice that it had got its facts wrong, has ever been produced, and photographic evidence disproves claims about the 1939 papal coronation using a tiara with the words emblazoned on it, some groups, both within and outside of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, continue trying to prove both existence of such a papal title and of a tiara bearing the title. CLAIM ABOUT POPE JOHN PAUL'S BOOK AND THE TITLE DEBUNKED Additional claims have been made that the words ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' exist in Church documents, including supposedly in a book by Pope John Paul II . However every "quote" produced from the book has been shown to be a mistranslation of the original text. The phrase "who represents the Son of God" from John Paul's book ''Crossing the Threshhold of Hope'' was described by some promoters of the claim as translating into Latin as "Vicarius filii Dei". Its actual translation is " Filium Dei Repraesentat" (the error was caused when the verb ''represents'' was mistranslated as the noun ''representative''.) INTERNET REVIVAL OF THE CLAIM Few mainstream religious faiths subscribe to the ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' claims, with many disowning them completely. The claim did however undergo a revival with the appearance of the Internet , with a number of fundamentalist websites promoting the claim, albeit while asking visitors to the site to supply them with physical evidence that proves the website's claim. DISMISSED AS ANTI-CATHOLIC 'URBAN MYTH' Due to the failure to provide any evidence for the existence of the title over the two-thousand year history of the Roman Catholic Church, other than a forged mediaeval document and a mention in a minor magazine, subsequently disowned, and the failure of any of those promoting the claim to provide photographic evidence (while claiming a photograph exists) historians, academics and religious leaders view the story as a classic anti-Catholic Urban Myth , a story for which not the slightest shred of evidence has been found. NUMERISING VICARIUS FILII DEI The following is the basis of claim that Vicarius Filii Dei, when numerised, produces the total of 666. It is based on the roman numeral value of certain letters. V – 5 I – 1 C – 100 A R I – 1 U – 5 (note that the Romans rendered U as V) S F I – 1 L – 50 I – 1 I – 1 D – 500 E I – 1 TOTAL – 666 SEE ALSO FOOTNOTES |
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