Christ made Peter his vicar and pastor with the responsibility to feed his flock (i.e. the Church) in his own place. However, the use of the title to refer to the popes in the early Church was unstable, and several variants of the use of Vicar were used for the Pope, as "Vicar of Peter", indicating that they were the successors of St. Peter, "Vicar of the Prince of the Apostles" or "Vicar of the Apostolic See", among other variants. This title is used by the Roman Missal in their prayers for a dead pope, and the oath of allegiance to St. Boniface to Pope Gregory II. Since 1200, Popes have consistently used this title, although Pope Francis recently moved this title to a different section of the 2021 Annuario Pontificio. Insisting that he — and he alone—had the right to remove bishops from office, Pope Innocent III appealed to the title of Vicar of Christ. Occasionally, Popes like Nicholas III used "Vicar of God" as an equivalent title The 2012 edition of the Annuario Pontificio gives "Vicar of Jesus Christ" as the second official title of the Pope (the first being "Bishop of Rome"). Use in caesaropapism Another use of the title, with a different meaning, appeared in the Eastern Churches between the fifth and sixth centuries. The term was used to refer to the Byzantine emperor, showing the apex of caesaropapism. Though decisions on doctrine, liturgy and spirituality were left to the bishops (most notably in Church Councils, where the Emperor often played a key role since the time of Constantine the Great), the Emperor constantly had tremendous influence on the Church, which was increasingly charged with tasks in the service of the crown, such as supervising temporal authorities. See also Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the closest Anglican equivalent Vicarius Filii Dei, exclusively for Saint Peter Papal titles Notes References Catholic ecclesiastical titles Papal titles Christian terminology