Actually, Gordo, Benedict has moved in the opposite direction. He has renounced the title Patriarch of the West and retained all the titles associated with universal papal jurisdiction.
Fr. J.
Padre,
I recall reading that the rationale for removing the title had to do with the difficulty of defining "the West" in our contemporary situation. No issue was expressed with the notion of the Pope as a Patriarch. A simple solution would be to refer to him as the Patriarch of the Roman or Latin Church.
God bless,
Gordo
G'Morning, Gordo,
I hope we are all in better spirit and that the sun has set on yesterday's mood!
There has been some speculation on Benedict's dropping of the PotW title, but no public official explanation that I am aware of. It just disappeared. As he did not modify the Patriarchal title, but dropped it, it reads to me as an assertion of the papal role. However, some things Benedict has written actually point in the other direction.
Fr. J.
