WM697 VICARIUS FILII DEI - SDADefend

Vicarius Filii Dei 

the Official Title of the Pope of Rome 

Vicarius Filii Dei means Vicar (or Vicegerant) of 

the Son of God. The title is applied to the pope of 

Rome, and proclaims that, next to God and Christ, 

he is the third ruler of all things in heaven, on earth, 

and under the earth. 

This title is inscribed on the papal three-tiered 

crown which he wears. It is shaped like three domed 

beehives, in order to give it the appearance of three 

rounded crowns, one on top of another—indicating 

that he wears a triple crown as ruler of heaven, earth, 

and under the earth. 

Although, for long centuries, the official title of the 

pope of Rome has been Vicarius Filii Dei, official Vatican 

authorities currently claim it was never a title of the 

pope. Their problem is that this, the special title of the 

pope for centuries, adds up to 666, which Revelation 

13:18 says is the Number of the Beast. In order to avoid 

that identification, it is said that Vicarius Filii Dei has 

never been his title. 

This present tract has been prepared to prove that 

Vicarius Filii Dei definitely is the official title of the 

pope of Rome, and that it used to be written on his 

crown (also called a mitre). Throughout this tract, all 

bold print is ours. 

DENIAL OF EARLIER ADMISSION 

Our Sunday Visitor has for years been the largest 

Roman Catholic newspaper in America. On November 

15, 1914, it stated on page 3 that “the title of the 

Pope of Rome is Vicarius Filii Dei. This is inscribed 

on his mitre” (see pages 2 and 3 of this tract, where 

that article is quoted in full). 

In its April 18, 1915, issue, Our Sunday Visitor again 

stated that Vicarius Filii Dei was the pope’s title, and 

that it was written on his crown. Here is that two-paragraph 

article. 

“What are the letters supposed to be in the Pope’s 

crown, and what do they signify, if anything? 

“The letters inscribed in the Pope’s mitre are 

these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is the Latin for 

Vicar of the Son of God. Catholics hold that the 

Church which is a visible society must have a visible 

head. Christ, before His ascension into heaven, 

appointed St. Peter to act as His representative. 

Upon the death of Peter the man who succeeded to 

the office of Peter as Bishop of Rome, was recognized 

as the head of the Church. Hence to the 

Bishop of Rome, as head of the Church, was given 

the title ‘Vicar of Christ.’ 

“Enemies of the papacy denounce this title as 

a malicious assumption. But the Bible informs us 

that Christ did not only give His Church authority 

to teach, but also to rule. Laying claim to the authority 

to rule in Christ’s spiritual kingdom, in 

Christ’s stead, is not a whit more malicious than 

laying claim to the authority to teach in Christ’s 

name. And this every Christian minister does.”— 

Our Sunday Visitor, April 18, 1915, p. 3. 

(Contrary to what the above paragraph says, there 

is a great difference between teaching about Christ—and 

ruling as though one were Christ.) 

But then, in its August 3, 1941, issue, the Visitor 

reversed itself and declared that Vicarius Filii Dei is 

not on the pope’s mitre. It is an intriguing fact that this 

changeover was not made in ignorance of the November 

15, 1914, admission for the 1941 denial uses an illustration 

from that 1914 article! (See pp. 2-3 of this tract.) 

Here is the complete statement: 

“A pamphlet has come to me entitled ‘The Mark 

of the Beast.’ It identifies the Pope with this ‘mark’ 

referred to in Revelations XIII, 17, 18. 

“It is too bad that the Seventh Day Adventists, 

who are so sensitive of criticism themselves, should 

circulate a pamphlet so antagonistic to the Catholic 

Church. 

“The question you ask has been answered many 

times, although not in recent years, in this paper. If 

we have recourse to the best Biblical scholars or 

exegetes, we find them applying the test from Revelations 

to Nero, the arch-persecutor of Christianity 

in the first century. To give color to their accusation, 

enemies of the Church publicize something that 

is not at all true, namely that the Pope’s tiara is 

inscribed with the words ‘VICARIUS FILII DEI’, 

and that if letters in that title were translated into 

Roman numerals, the sum would equal 666. 

“As a matter of fact, the tiara of the Pope bears 

no inscription whatsoever. 

“Sometime ago a clergyman by the name of 

Reginald Ernest Hull gave a Latin ending to his two 

Christian names and then figured out what the sum 

total would be if he translated the letters into Roman 

numerals, and 666 eventuated. Your own 

name might spell that number. 

“Here is the manner in which it was done: 

Reginal[d]us Ernestus Hull: From his first name 

four numerals were drawn I L D V; from his second 

name only the letter V was extracted; from his 

surname the three Roman numerals, namely V L 

L. 

“Now the Roman numeral ‘D’ stands for 500;

the L stands for fifty and since there are three ‘L’s’ 

they would effect 150; the three ‘U’s”, which are 

identified with a ‘V’ would mean 15 more, and the 

letter ‘I’ would signify one—the total 666. 

“The first thirty Popes lived in the golden age of 

Christianity and twenty-nine of them died martyrs 

for Christ. Imagine any one of them being designated 

the ‘beast’ of the Apocalypse. Among the 262 

Popes who ruled over the Catholic Church from 

the time of Christ, all but four or five, even according 

to the unwilling admission of unfriendly historians, 

were among the holiest men of their times. 

The few unworthy ones, who were placed on the 

throne of Peter reached that position through the 

intrigue of civil rulers. Only five Popes have ruled 

over the Church during the greater part of the last 

century and every person, unless he be absolutely 

uninformed or ignorant, would rate them among 

the saintliest people. We say ‘unless the person were 

uninformed or ignorant,’ designedly, because the 

lives of these Popes have been written by Protestants 

as well as Catholics. 

“It is very strange that people can regard themselves 

as religious and still engage in an apostolate 

of vituperation and slander.”—Our Sunday Visitor, 

August 3, 1941, issue, p. 7. 

(Contrary to the above statement, many history 

books have been written about the evil pontiffs and the 

fact there were so many of them.) 

The 1941 statement, just above, clearly denies facts 

which the first maintained. Since 1941, the position of 

Rome has been that Vicarius Filii Dei is not, and has 

never been, a title of the pope, nor is it on his crown. 

But history teaches us something far different. Consider 

these facts: 

The Donation of Constantine was one of the most 

important ancient documents drafted by Rome. Although 

a Vatican forgery, it was considered to be an extremely 

important legal document. Written about A.D. 

760, it declared that Constantine had given much of the 

land and rulership of Italy to the pope. The document 

said that the pope’s title was Vicarius Filii Dei. 

“The Donation of Constantine [is] . . the most 

famous forgery in European history. The Donation 

of Constantine (Constitutum Constantini), written 

probably not long after the middle of the eighth 

century, became widely known through its incorporation 

in the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals (about 

847-853). Parts of it were included in most of the 

medieval collections of canon law.”—Christopher 

B. Coleman, The Treatise of Lorenzo Valla on the 

Donation of Constantine, Yale University edition, 

p. 1. 

Here is the actual text of part of this Donation in 

English: 

“The Emperor Constantine the fourth day after 

his baptism conferred this privilege on the Pontiff 

of the Roman church, that in the whole Roman 

world priests should regard him as their head, as 

judges do the king . . As the blessed Peter is seen 

to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God 

[Latin: Vicarius Filii Dei] on the earth, so the Pon- 

tiffs who are the representatives of that same chief 

of the apostles, should obtain from us and our empire 

the power of a supremacy greater than the 

clemency of our earthly imperial serenity is seen 

to have conceded to it.”—Op. cit., p. 11. 

Here is the key sentence in the original Latin text: 

“Sicut B. Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei esse 

videtur constitutus, ita et Pontifices, . .”—Op. cit., 

p. 12. 

Although later unmasked as a forgery (written by 

priests about A.D. 760, and not by the Emperor 

Constantine about A.D. 336), this document carefully 

stated that the pope’s title as vicegerent to God was 

the basis of his authority. 

Here is another Catholic statement on this subject: 

“The highest power in the world, the Vicar of 

the incarnate Son of God . . sat in his tribunal . . 

“[His is] the temporal power of the Vicar of 

Jesus Christ.”—Henry Edward Manning, The 

Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, London: 

Burns and Lambert, 1862, pp. 46, 140. 

It should come as no surprise that the pope is said 

to be next to God in power and authority, for he is frequently 

said to possess the authority of God. 

“The pope is of so great authority and power 

that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine 

laws . . Petrus de Ancharano [d. 1416] very 

clearly asserts this in Consil. 373, no. 3 verso: 

“ ‘The pope can modify divine law, since his 

power is not of man, but of God, and he acts in 

the place of God upon earth, with the fullest power 

of binding and loosing his sheep.”—Lucius Ferraris, 

“Papa,” art 2, in his Prompta Bibliotheca [Handy 

Library], Vol. 6, Venice: Gaspar Storti, 1772, p. 29 

[translated from the Latin]. 

“Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, 

as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower 

regions [infernorum].”—Op. cit., p. 26. 

“We define that the Holy Apostolic See and the 

Roman Pontiff holds the primacy over the whole 

world, and that the Roman Pontiff himself is [1] 

the successor of the blessed Peter, prince of the 

apostles; and [2] the true vicar of Christ, [3] the 

head of the whole church, and [4] the father and 

doctor of all Christians; and that to him, in the 

blessed Peter, was given, by our Lord Jesus Christ, 

full power to feed, rule, and govern the universal 

church, as is contained also in the acts of the ecumenical 

councils, and in the sacred canons.”— 

Council of Florence, Session XXV, July 6, 1439, 

Definitio, in J.D. Mansi, ed., Sacrorum Conciliorum 

[Holy Councils], Vol. 31, Col. 1031 [translated from 

the Latin]. 

“We [the pope] hold upon this earth the place of 

God Almighty.”—Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter 

“The Reunion of Christendom,” dated June 20, 

1894, translated in The Great Encyclical Letters 

of Pope Leo XIII, New York: Benziger, 1903, p. 304. 

TRAIL TRAIL GUIDES 

GUIDES 

BOX 300 - ALTAMONT, TN 37301 USA

WM697 VICARIUS FILII DEI - SDADefend

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?