Papal supremacy refers to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered:Paragraph 882 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that, in brief, "the Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls."Paragraph 937 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church [http://www.