THE POPES

Pope Benedict XVI is the 264th Head of Christ's Church on earth.  You can trace the succession of Popes back to Saint Peter who was given the Keys to 'Heaven' (the Church) in Matt 16:18 and passed on the papacy down the centuries to the present day.  Like the history of God's people in the Old Testament that foreshadow and lead to Christ, the line of Pontiffs are an important history of the Christian church for the past 2000 years.  Why did Michaelangelo paint 24 Pope's on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling?  He didn't.  The roof in English Martyrs Church is wider than that of the Chapel in the Vatican so Gary undertook the task of painting the Popes and windows that are beneath Michaelangelo's Ceiling for correct persepctive.  These early heads of the Christian Church are a welcome and blessed addition to the artwork.  The series does not run along the one wall, but they alternate with the opposte wall. 

Some Examples of the Papal Figures on the Ceiling.  Click the Thumbnails for a Larger Image

Pope Sixtus I AD 116-125