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In this module, we will be borrowing some terminology from the study of political systems to explains how religious organisations are ruled.

When religions form organisations and institutions these can be governed by several types of organisational structures. They can include structures in which power lies with one person ( monarchies ), with several persons ( oligarchies or aristocracies ), with many persons ( democracies ), or they can have a division of power between central and local organisations. When we use terms like democracy, monarchy and so on, we are basically borrowing these terms from the study of politics and statecraft.

Monarchy

This refers to the rule by a single person and is usually applied to states where the rule is vested in one person who is the permanent head of the state. The best known monarchy in the world today is probably the constitutional monarchy of Great Britain. However, Britain is also a democracy, with a parliament and a cabinet of ministers, since the power of the king or queen of Britain is not what it used to be. Absolute monarchies are rare these days: in most monarchies, even the king or queen has to obey the law. But a few absolute monarchies do still exist. At the time of writing, King Mswati III of Swaziland rules absolutely.

In religious governance the organisation that comes closest to this type of organisation is the (Roman) Catholic Church. It has at the top of the hierarchical structure the Bishop of Rome, better known as the Pope. Catholics look to him for authentic interpretation of the Christian teaching but he is also the full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church. The body of officials that assist him in the governance of the Church is known as the Roman curia.

Pope Francis (c) Edgar Jiménez/Wikimedia CC BY-SA 2.0, 2013.

The Pope is elected by Cardinals (priests who are senior even to bishops and archbishops) from all over the world, but only those who are less than 80 years old. They are isolated from all outside contact (traditionally in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican) and they stay until at least two–thirds of them can agree on whom to choose. The ballot papers are burned in a fireplace, and depending on whether white or black smoke comes out of the chimney, the crowds waiting outside will know whether a new Pope has been chosen.

Under certain circumstances, such as when the Pope solemnly and officially as the pastor of the (Roman) Catholic Church defines a matter of faith or morals,he is considered to be infallible (no possibility of being wrong exists). This is called speaking ex cathedra (from the cathedral). Normally this will, however, involve previous discussions and debates with the Bishops of the Church – not every chance remark a pope makes is infallible! Pope John Paul II made such a declaration in his work Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, in which he determined that women would not be allowed to become Catholic priests. Only another pope can now overturn this decision, and until then it is binding on all Catholics.

Questions & Answers

A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
Aislinn Reply
cm
tijani
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John Reply
what is physics
Siyaka Reply
A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
Jude Reply
Can you compute that for me. Ty
Jude
what is the dimension formula of energy?
David Reply
what is viscosity?
David
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emma Reply
what is chemistry
Youesf Reply
what is inorganic
emma
Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
Adjei
please, I'm a physics student and I need help in physics
Adjanou
chemistry could also be understood like the sexual attraction/repulsion of the male and female elements. the reaction varies depending on the energy differences of each given gender. + masculine -female.
Pedro
A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity
Krampah Reply
2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
Sahid Reply
you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s
Samuel Reply
can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Joseph Reply
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
Ryan
what's motion
Maurice Reply
what are the types of wave
Maurice
answer
Magreth
progressive wave
Magreth
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Muhammad Reply
fine, how about you?
Mohammed
hi
Mujahid
A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
yasuo Reply
Who can show me the full solution in this problem?
Reofrir Reply
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Source:  OpenStax, Learning about religion. OpenStax CNX. Apr 18, 2015 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11780/1.1
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