I came across the following as a footnote on page 133 of The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware:
In Orthodoxy the title 'Pope' is not limited to the Bishop of Rome, but is also borne by the Patriarch of Alexandria. Among his other honorary titles are 'Shepherd of Shepherds', 'Thirteenth Apostle', and 'Judge of the Universe'.
And in The Catholic Encyclopedia under the entry for Pope, I found the following:
[The Pope] is addressed as His Holiness the Pope. By title and right he is: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman province, and Sovereign of the State of Vatican City.
Also, according to the Wikipedia page on the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople the official title of the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople is, "His Most Godly All-Holiness the Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch."
It seems strange to me that men who are supposed to be extremely spiritual (as is made clear in the title of the Ecumenical Patriarch, Most Godly All-Holiness) would take such titles for themselves. I find that the closer I get to God the more ashamed I am of my inadequacies and the smaller I want to make myself. I would not want to stand before God on the Day of Judgment and have myself declared Judge of the Universe or Prince of the Apostles. Would you want to have yourself declared Prince of the Apostles with any of the actual Apostles in the room? How remarkably embarrassing that would be! And what if you were asked by Paul, "Were you really the Thirteenth Apostle?" What would you say?
It seems even worse when looked at, for example, where Paul says:
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (1 Corinthians 15:9)
These are not the words of a man who is seeking to be Judge of the Universe or to call himself "Most Godly All-Holiness." These things bring up the question of what Jesus was talking about when he said:
And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. (Mark 10:42-44)
Given that when this passage occurs in Matthew and Mark it is after the request by the mother of John and James for them to sit at Jesus' right and left hands in his glory it seems that Jesus is trying to teach us something about the thirst for power and what power means in the Kingdom of God. The pattern of Jesus' preaching about humility and the inversion of authority occurring directly after arguments among his disciples about who was the greatest does not seem to be accidental:
An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great." (Luke 9:46-48)
And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." (Mark 9:33-35)
A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27)
Notice how in the last passage Jesus points out that he is "among you as the one who serves." If the Son of God who is God came among us as "the one who serves" then how is it possible for any mere human to decide that he is among us as the "one who reclines at table"?
