Vicar of Christ
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of Vicar of Christ
First recorded in 1475–85
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Gelasius I is widely recognised as the first pope to officially be called the "Vicar of Christ", a term that signifies the Pope's role as Christ's representative on Earth.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2025
Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, a supporter of Francis, countered by Tweeting: “He’s making sure that they engage with him, not treat him like a sacred relic. He’s the Vicar of Christ, not a Roman emperor.”
From Reuters ● Mar. 26, 2019
In 1965, when Pope Paul VI became the first Vicar of Christ to visit New York, the police used gray wooden sawhorses to line the papal route through the city’s streets.
From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2015
The Vicar of Christ and the leader of the Roman will then emerge and give his first traditional “Urbi et Orbi”—the Papal blessing saluting and praying for the city of Rome and the wider world.
From Time ● Mar. 12, 2013
Anselme answered, that this was to be referred to the iudgement of a Councell, whether it bee a breach of allegiance to a terrene Prince, if a man appeale to the Vicar of Christ.
From The Lives of the III Normans, Kings of England: William the First, William the Second, Henrie the First by John Hayward
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
