Vicarius Filii Dei

666 and the Pope, a translated response by a Catholic apologist (not my own)

One of the doctrines which are mostly present in many Protestant sects is the belief that the Pope of the Catholic Church is the Antichrist which they always refer with the number of 666.
This doctrine is present in many Protestant circles and mostly believed by Seventh day Adventist, Iglesia ni Cristo and Jehovah's Witness. I’m not very good in Math at school, but even I can follow this argument and run the numbers well enough to show it's bogus.

Besides answering this accusation is apologetically fun; the charge of the Protestant sects on the Pope as the 666 in the Bible starts with a specific verse from the Bible from Revelation 13.

The accusation of some Anti-catholic specifically from the Seventh-day Adventist realm, that the title of the Pope is VICARIUS FILII DEI (Vicar Son of God) and this title is written in the Pope Crown or “Tiara”. According to them this title has some sinister meaning and conclusion. Vicarius Filii Dei is not just a mere title it has a specific number that when we calculate the result would be 666.

Here how it works. Like many ancient Languages, the title was in Latin and the basic numerical calculations at that time is calculated through the use of Roman Numerals (Always Remember that Latin Letters is also used as number: I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500 and M = 1000) the letter U in the Latin alphabet is always written as V and the letter W that doesn’t exist in the Latin alphabet is spelled as VV; so the title on Latin is VICARIVS FLII DEI.

In the case of VICARIVS FILII DEI when we use the Roman Numerals. Isolate the numbers and this is what you get: 5 (v) + 1 (i) + 100 (c) + 1 (i) + 5 (V) + 1 (i) + 50 (L) + 1 (i) + 1 (i) + 500 (d) + 1 (i) = 666.

This was profoundly accepted by many Protestant denomination and most of them add this doctrine to their tenets of belief, the Seventh-day Adventist release this teaching through their prophetess Ellen G. White (Ellen Gould White) in her book “The great Controversy”:

“The pope is the beast spoken of in Revelation 13. Verse 1 says that he wears crowns and has "blasphemous names" written on his head. Verse 18 says that the numerical value of his name adds up to 666. The pope's official title in Latin is Vicarius Filii Dei (Vicar Son of God). If you add that up using Roman numerals, you get 666. The pope's tiara is emblazoned with this title, formed by diamonds and other jewels.boxes.”

But there are problems with this. The first problem is that VICARIVS FLII DEI is not now, not even, nor has it ever been a title of the Bishop of Rome. And the greatest deceit that this Protestant denomination gave to the Catholic church is the confusion that this title is a part of the Catholic doctrine, but it has never been.

The second problem with this, it is actually a “Fabrication” of this so called Churches, it is a literal no one, including many unsuspecting lay Catholics, knows that this papal title is fake. To an unlearned Catholic this will sound as a official title of the Pope, but the official title of the Pope is “Vicarius Christi” (Vicar of Christ). Vicar the Son of God has never been a title of the Pope, the Pope is called with many titles, He is called as Vicarius Christi (Vicar of Christ), Servus Servorum Dei (Servant of the Servants of God), Pontifex Maximus (Supreme Pontiff), or Successor Petri (Successor of Peter); the so called title invented by Protestant was never or it doesn’t exist with the Church since time immemorial. This is a true fabrication of the Protestants to accuse the Catholic Church.

If the person making this claim disputes these facts, ask him to furnish even one example of a papal decree, ecclesiastical letter, conciliar statement, or any other official Catholic document in which the pope calls himself or is referred to as the "Vicar of the Son of God." He won't be able to find one, because none exist. Vicarius Filii Dei has never been a title of the pope. That part was easy, but some people, especially Seventh-Day Adventists and Iglesia ni Cristo, will ignore the evidence (or lack of it) and hold tenaciously to the notion that "Vicar of the Son of God" is an official papal title and therefore identifies the pope as the Beast of Revelation. What else can be said in response?

If we use the same calculations in the name of Ellen Gould White it also adds up to 666 in Latin. (L + L + V +D + V + V + I = 666). Then ask if this proves that she is the Beast. I can assure you the answer won't be "yes." If the answer is "no," ask how this numbers game could possibly prove the pope or anyone else is the Beast. If you're answered with silence, it's a good bet that you've made some progress with the person.

But there is a part of the Verse that says the Beast because he wears a crown, and Revelation 13:1 says the Beast wears crowns and has "blasphemous names" written on his head. This part of the accusation according to them is the key clue to the truth of their claims. This needs also to be answer.

Since about the year 708, many popes have worn at non-liturgical ceremonial events a special papal crown called a tiara, but the stylized beehive-shaped papal crown of three diadems that we have come to know as a tiara emerged only in the early 14th century. Although it was customary for tiaras to be encrusted with jewels and precious ornaments, there is no evidence — no statue, bust, painting, drawing or even written description of any of the many tiaras that were crafted — that any papal tiara ever had the name or title of a pope emblazoned on it.

This is significant, because there have been medieval and Renaissance popes whose extravagant vanity prodded them to have lavishly ornamented, jewel-encrusted tiaras made for themselves. And we possess paintings and statues and other representations of them produced during their lifetimes that show these tiaras (we even possess some of the actual tiaras). If any popes in history would have been tempted to succumb to the bad taste of spelling out "Vicarius Filii Dei" in diamonds across the front of their tiaras, these men would have — but they didn't. No pope did. One particular anti-Catholic tract I've seen shows a plain metal tiara with Vicarius Filii Dei written in diamonds across it. But it was a drawing — not a photograph of a museum piece or even a photo of a painting of a tiara.

It had to be drawn that the existence of this accusation is purely fabricated and made out of desperate move of the Protestant sects spreading lies and damnation to the People of God, of course, because the "666 papal crown"— as with all the other pope fictions—has only ever existed in the minds of those who perpetuate this fantasy. This fantasy is the product of the imaginative and heretical teachings of this fallen away Christians, and every Catholics should be informed that this teaching is purely a product and a move of desperation to lead people astray.