Habemus Papam: The Great Mystical Meaning Behind the Figure of the Pope

What does the Pope represent?

Right where the Vatican stands today, for example, there was once a temple of Attis, and the main priest of that cult was called papas in Greek, and the priest who still rules there in the ancient place is the pope; papa is the Latin form. —Carl Jung (Seminar Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Volume I, Session I, Winter Quarter 1934).

White smoke rose from the Vatican and the American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was chosen as the new pope, and his name will be Leo XIV. This is a good opportunity to analyze the symbolism and psychological meaning behind the figure of the pope, since he embodies an aura of mystery, curiosity, and even a mystical–esoteric atmosphere.

We will learn a lot from it, and the first question we’ll ask ourselves is:

What is the pope, symbolically speaking?

The "Habemus Papam" of the Council of Constance in 1414 - 1418. Source: Wikimedia Commons

The pope is the highest authority of the church. Practically all religions have an authority figure. But Jungian psychoanalysis teaches us that behind every religious figure there lies a subtle symbolic meaning related to our own unconscious, since we project elements, dramas, values, etc. from our own psyche onto those figures.

Fortunately, we have the help of Carl Jung, who said about the pope:

And the pope, as the head of the church, would be the living imitation of the Logos, and the church would be the body of Christ. He stands in the place of Peter, who would be the representative of Christ, endowed with the apostolic blessing, the grace or the manna that has emanated from the Lord himself. —Seminar on Nietzsche’s Zarathustra, Session X, Fall Quarter 1934.

The pope is not just a religious leader, but he represents something greater: a figure that symbolizes the connection of our consciousness with the divine.

Let’s also remember that Logos is an ancient Greek word meaning “word,” “reason,” or “divine principle.” It is associated with our thinking, reason, and logic (light). To say that the pope is a “living imitation of the Logos” means that he represents on Earth a living image of that divine wisdom.

The pope acts in the name of Christ, who according to Jungian psychoanalysis is the symbol of the wholeness of what we are, or the Self.

So we see how the pope is a symbol of our Logos (consciousness) placed in service of our psychic totality — a lived image of spiritual elevation.

Thus, the pope embodies divine reason, the organizing principle of the spirit, in contrast to Eros or the Anima (the principle of the soul, the irrational, instinctive, receptive, and dark).

The Pope as the Wise Old Man

The Pope as the embodiment of the "wise old man" archetype.

This is how symbols work: the meaning of each one can be so vast that it could fill several books. Let us also remember that a symbol helps us to assimilate something within ourselves of which we are not conscious. Hence the mystical effect of religious symbols on the masses.

It is also likely that the symbol represents several “things at once,” and this is the case with the pope, who would represent the archetype of the wise old man. Jung explains:

The pope is the wise old man par excellence, he is supposed to be infallible, which means he is capable of deciding on absolute truth. Hence every archbishop or bishop is a repetition of that archetype, and numerous doctoral authorities supposedly know everything and say wonderful things, even being skilled in black magic. —Zarathustra Seminar, Session of May 9, 1934.

The wise old man is a kind of instinctive wisdom that (according to Jung) tends to appear after the midpoint of life.

P.S.: Let us remember that archetypes are psychic structures present in all humans, and they appear in myths, dreams, religions, and art throughout history.

The pope very well represents that archetype that embodies higher knowledge and authority based on wisdom, not on force.

Sometimes, the wise old man even has supernatural powers (like magicians, prophets, gurus, and healers).

For Jung, Nietzsche’s prophet Zarathustra represents the philosopher’s own archetype of the wise old man, so his wisdom did not come from his consciousness but from an unconscious figure that eventually possessed him. That would be the true Zarathustra.

The Meaning of the Fisherman’s Ring

The Fisherman’s Ring is a ring worn by the Pope that symbolizes his authority. It has an image of Saint Peter fishing engraved on it. Remember that according to the Gospel, Peter was a fisherman before becoming an apostle, and Jesus said to him: “I will make you a fisher of men.”

Jung said on the matter:

The symbolism is expressed in the ring of his fisherman, an ancient gem that represents the fishing of fish, for the pope is the great fisherman, the Fisher King. —Nietzsche’s Zarathustra Seminar, Volume II, Session VII, June 16, 1937.

In the Holy Grail legend (as in Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach), the Fisher King is a wounded monarch who cannot heal or properly rule his kingdom until someone asks him the right question (a kind of act of compassion and awareness). Jung associates the pope with this king because, symbolically, the pope presides over a spiritually wounded world and at the same time represents the possibility of healing.

Engraving found on the Fisherman’s Ring

Moreover, the fish (ichthys in Greek) is a very early Christian symbol, and also a symbol of unconscious contents in many myths. Fishing for fish here is not just about gathering people or souls, but about drawing contents from the unconscious and bringing them into consciousness. In Jungian psychology, that is exactly what the process of individuation does: it brings to light what is hidden in the depths of our psyche.

The pope embodies the mythical figure who fishes the truths of the soul and guides people from the darkness of the unconscious into the light of consciousness.

That is the work of the wise old man, of the Logos in service of the Self, of the elevation of our consciousness.

We could continue, but Jung’s quotes have already given us plenty of light and understanding about something as deep as the religion that has shaped our history for two centuries. Until next time!

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Remember: I’ve committed myself to deeply studying all of Jung’s work and also to freely sharing what I learn, so my content will always be free. But if you’d like to support my project, I’d gladly accept a coffee:

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I also recommend that you read my following publications:

• The wise and powerful sovereign behind what we are and do

• Why should men turn to an intelligent woman according to Jung?

• The Symbolic Treasure Behind Holy Week