How to Use the papacy in a Sentence

the papacy

noun
  • But those who knew him as a younger man say his path to the papacy has prepared him.
    — Chris Kenning, USA Today, 11 May 2025
  • Accepting the papacy was a very big thing for him.
    — Belinda Luscombe, Time, 29 Apr. 2026
  • But those who knew him as a younger man say his path to the papacy has equipped him well for the challenges ahead.
    — Chris Kenning, USA Today, 11 May 2025
  • This financial strain is a sharp contrast to his path to the papacy.
    — Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 May 2025
  • Francis’ choice was in keeping with his simple taste and disdain for the pomp of the papacy.
    — ABC News, 14 Mar. 2026
  • Major events which rely on the convening power of the papacy are put on hold.
    — Christopher Lamb, CNN, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Some even suggest that this trend marks a new era of personal holiness in those elected to the papacy.
    — Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 25 Jan. 2023
  • Clearly, the pope is currently able to fulfill the most important duties of the papacy.
    — The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 June 2022
  • That is the great counterfactual of the papacy in this century.
    — Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2025
  • The general thinking has long been America already has too much power in the world, and should not have the papacy.
    — Katie Primm, NBC news, 9 May 2025
  • However, the 10th and early 11th centuries were a dark time for the papacy.
    — Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 15 Jan. 2025
  • The result is a highly entertaining, highly blasphemous tale about the men who want the papacy.
    — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 20 Sep. 2024
  • And the concept of the girls fighting over the papacy is inherently kind of hilarious.
    — James Factora, Them, 27 Sep. 2024
  • The smoke tradition is not nearly as old as the papacy itself or even the Sistine Chapel, where the voting takes place.
    — Rachel Raposas, People.com, 7 May 2025
  • At the time, many said this could set a new modern precedent for papal succession where the papacy typically isn’t served until death.
    — William Skipworth, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023
  • Pope Francis put to bed any rumors of an upcoming resignation from the papacy.
    — Fox News, 22 June 2022
  • The pope had been based in Avignon since 1309, as the French king sought greater influence over the papacy.
    — Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 25 Oct. 2024
  • Last month, Pope Francis put to bed any rumors of an upcoming resignation from the papacy.
    — Fox News, 1 July 2022
  • The selection surprised the Roman Catholic world as Leo was not viewed a frontrunner for the papacy.
    — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 9 May 2025
  • Francis, who assumed the papacy in 2013, has been viewed as friendly toward exorcism.
    — Joseph P. Laycock, The Conversation, 24 May 2022
  • Robert Bellarmine and other defenders of the papacy held that the Church was Christ’s kingdom on earth, and the pope his vice-regent.
    — Nathaniel Peters, National Review, 17 Feb. 2022
  • Pius was a man of liberal and patriotic views, influenced by Gioberti’s conception of the role of the papacy.
    — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Everyone, no matter what their religion, was proud that Chicago could produce a man who was elevated to the papacy.
    — Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 2025
  • Colbert said of the quote Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the papacy, had given to Reuters.
    — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Apr. 2026
  • The popes of the Renaissance encouraged reform, but never reform that extended to the papacy.
    — Massimo Faggioli, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2018
  • By electing Prevost, the cardinals have ensured the papacy is a prophetic voice on the world stage that could serve as a counterweight to Trumpism.
    — Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 11 May 2025
  • Yet, the Pope himself may have told the world something significant about his vision and philosophy for the papacy through the simple act of choosing a name.
    — Time, 29 May 2025
  • Then and now, the institutional church, specifically the papacy, had pushed back against key reform proposals in the decades before the crisis broke.
    — Massimo Faggioli, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2018
  • But the papacy was swift to declare this doctrine, known as conciliarism, incompatible with Catholicism.
    — Massimo Faggioli, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2018
  • The position is similar in prominence to a Roman Catholic pope but without the universal power of the papacy.
    — Angie Leventis Lourgos, chicagotribune.com, 28 Oct. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the papacy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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