Vicarius Filii Dei

Vicarius Filii Dei, Vicar of the Son of God in Latin, is a title mentioned in the forged Donation of Constantine as belonging to Saint Peter. Seventh-day Adventists claim that it is a title possessed by the Pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church. However the Roman Catholic Church categorically denies this.

When numerised (see below), the words Vicarius Filii Dei produces the total of 666, a number described as the 'number of the beast' (ie, Antichrist in the Book of Revelations). Seventh-day Adventists claim this proves that the pope is the Antichrist. They also claim such a title is written on the Papal Tiara, the papal crown, based on assertions by witnesses in the 1830s and 1840s in Rome. They finally claim the existence of a photo taken in either 1903 or 1914 showing a tiara containing these words and refer to an article confirming the existence of the title in a September 1914 edition of an American Roman Catholic magazine, Our Catholic Visitor.

Independent evidence, however, casts doubt on the claims.

1. The witnesses in 1845 described seeing Pope Gregory XVI wear the Tiara with the words Vicarius Filii Dei during an Easter Pontifical High Mass. However Papal tiaras were never worn during religious ceremonies, in particular never during Mass.

• No such title exists on any of the eleven papal tiaras in existence, as attested to by thousands of people who have seen papal tiaras on public display in the Vatican, in the United States or elsewhere on tour. All eleven have been seen publicly. Records show that no other tiaras have existed since Napoleon's troops smashed up the ancient tiaras in 1798 other than the eleven, including one sole survivor from before 1798.

• The claim that the one papal tiara possessing these words is used in all papal coronations is factually incorrect; different tiaras were used by different popes at their coronation.

• The claim that the tiara with the words in question was used at the papal coronation of Pope Pius XII in 1939 is demonstrably inaccurate on two counts. Firstly, that tiara was manufactured in 1877 and so could not have been the supposed tiara allegedly seen in the 1830s and 1840s. Secondly that particular coronation was the most photographed papal coronation in history, with photographers within a few feet of Pope Pius. Of the hundreds of photographs taken at all angles by photographers from all faiths, no one saw let alone photographed the supposed words. It was also filmed and that record also showed no such decoration.

• The supposed photograph of a tiara possessing the words, though regularly talked about, have never been found even after a century of searching. Not has been ever been clarified as to who took it or where it was initially published.

• The claim in Our Catholic Visitor about the existence of the title was subsequently withdrawn twice, with a statement that the author was mistaken.

• Other than in the Donation of Constantine, no mention has been found about the supposed papal title, while the words of that document showed that it was intended to refer to St. Peter, not subsequent popes.

• When no evidence was ever found about the existence of Vicarius Filii Dei on a papal tiara, it was suggested that maybe it existed on a triple tiered mitre[?]. Mitres are never triple tiered. Only the papal tiara is triple tiered.

The claim about the existence of a papal tiara with the words Vicarius Fill Dei is generally seen as an anti-catholic urban myth.

Numerising Vicarius Filii Dei

The following is the basis of claim that Vicarius Filii Dei, when numerised, produces the total of 666. It is based on the roman numeral value of certain letters.

• V      --      5
• I        --    1
• C       --   100
• A
• R
• I        --    1
• U      --     5
• S
• F
• I      --      1
• L     --     50
• I      --      1
• I      --      1
• D      --    500
• E      
• I       --       1
• TOTAL -- 666

See Papal Tiara.