What year did papal rule begin?

What year did papal rule begin?

• A. 538 AD
• B. 313 AD
• C. 476 AD
• D. 1054 AD

Answer: (A)

The main idea is when the papacy began to exercise political, or temporal, authority in Western Europe, not just spiritual leadership. Around 538 AD, the pope’s office started ruling over territories in Italy, effectively making the pope a civil ruler within the former Western Roman Empire and laying the groundwork for the Papal States. This moment is often cited in Adventist history as the start of papal rule, sometimes tied to the period of papal supremacy (538–1798). The other dates don’t mark this transition: 313 AD legalized Christianity but did not grant secular rule to the pope; 476 AD is the fall of the Western Empire without papal sovereignty being established; 1054 AD is the Great Schism between East and West.

The main idea is when the papacy began to exercise political, or temporal, authority in Western Europe, not just spiritual leadership. Around 538 AD, the pope’s office started ruling over territories in Italy, effectively making the pope a civil ruler within the former Western Roman Empire and laying the groundwork for the Papal States. This moment is often cited in Adventist history as the start of papal rule, sometimes tied to the period of papal supremacy (538–1798). The other dates don’t mark this transition: 313 AD legalized Christianity but did not grant secular rule to the pope; 476 AD is the fall of the Western Empire without papal sovereignty being established; 1054 AD is the Great Schism between East and West.