Stockholm Anti-Papacy Open to Applicants

[More blog entries about , , , ; , , , .]

i-2e15b7700d75c1fa179875175f6068c4-romanbridge_spain.gif

The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm is advertising a position as lecturer on the subject of bridge-building, in other words, a Pope.

One of the most ancient honorary titles of the Supreme Pontiff is Pontifex Maximus, literally "Greatest Bridge-maker". Explains Wikipedia:

"The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the Ancient Roman College of Pontiffs. This was the most important position in the Ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians, until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post. A distinctly religious office under the early Roman Republic, it gradually became politicized until, beginning with Augustus, it was subsumed into the Imperial office. It was last held by the Christian Roman Emperor Gratian until the title passed over to the Bishop of Rome.

Today, 'Pontifex Maximus' is one of the titles of the Bishop of Rome as Pope of the Catholic Church.

[...]

The term pontifex literally means 'bridge-builder' (pons + facere); maximus literally means 'the greatest', i.e. the highest. This was perhaps originally meant in a literal sense: the position of bridge-builder was indeed an important one in Rome, where the major bridges were over the Tiber, the holy river (and a deity, at the same time); only prestigious authorities, with sacral functions, could be allowed to 'disturb' it with mechanical additions. However, it was always understood in its symbolic sense as well: the pontifices were the ones who smoothened the bridge between gods and men [...]"

Who will become the Anti-Pope of Stockholm?

More like this

Town life in Sweden started small in the later 8th century with Birka. The country's capital, Stockholm, is a late town by Swedish standards, having been founded only in the mid-13th century. One of the oldest extant buildings there is the great church beside the royal castle, Storkyrkan. Here,…
Reading a good paper by Sten Tesch (in Situne Dei 2007) about porphyrite tiles scavenged from Roman ruins and re-used as portable altar slabs in 11th century Scandinavia, I was reminded of St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgins. It's a really good story about relics, up there with the cross of Jesus…
How long ago was the time of Emperor Augustus? Most educated people, including professional historians and archaeologists, will reply "about 2000 years" if you ask them. But a considerable number of amateur dendrochronologists say "about 1800 years". And because of an unfortunate peculiarity in how…
The always-brilliant "Peak Oil Hausfrau" Christine Patton has a wonderful piece addressing the calm and reasoned Roman response to the recent "Foreign Barbarian Invasions: Impacts, Mitigation and Risk Management" report. Proponents of the so-called "barbarian invasion" theory today warned of the…

ah...the Pontifix...

....gonna send an email to Benedict, and tell him to go to a job interview in Stockholm

The ritual manual that a bishop uses is called a 'pontificale', literally a manual of bridging.

The title of the bishop, though, was (and is) episcopus, which means somebody who watches all over the place (er, or from above - ok, I'm stretching it a bit there).

On a side note, the building of bridges (and roads) was considered a good christian deed in Early Middle Age Scandinavia.

But then again, people have always loved people who keep the roads and bridges working...

The idea of Ratzi joining my old alma mater certainly triggers some interesting thoughts (such as "How long would he last at a good student-faculty party?", "How many drinking songs does he know?" and "Would he agitate against all the fun that goes on at Osqvik (the student union's cabin)?").

Reading (well, quote-mining, if you want to be picky about it) the job description, it is evident that some of his experience might fit in quite well:

...etiska avväganden och risker... ("ethical judgments and risks")

...utvärdering av laster... ("evaluation of vices" or "evaluation of loads" - which one do you think they mean?)