‍Calling the pope “Holy Father” is blasphemous.

  Gary Hoge  ·  November  6, 2026

‍Jesus addressed God as “Holy Father” (John 17:11). So isn’t it blasphemous for Catholics to address the pope by the same title? Aren’t they giving a mere man a title that belongs to God alone?

‍Not at all. The objection assumes that calling someone “holy” or “father” means we’re attributing to him something that belongs exclusively to God. But Scripture itself uses both words to describe human beings.

‍What about “holy”?

‍The Bible repeatedly calls Christians holy. Paul addresses the Christians in Philippi as “all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:1). Peter tells Christians, “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).

‍Of course, God’s holiness is infinitely greater than ours. God is holy by his very nature. Human beings are holy only because they share in the holiness God gives them.

‍But that doesn’t mean we can’t call a human being holy. Scripture does it all the time.

‍What about “father”?

‍Jesus did say, “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9).

‍But Jesus wasn’t prohibiting the use of the word father for human beings, even in a spiritual sense. Paul himself told the Corinthians:

‍Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel (1 Corinthians 4:15).

‍Paul clearly didn’t think that calling someone a spiritual father was an infringement on God’s fatherhood.

‍Putting the two together

‍If Scripture can call human beings holy, and Scripture can call human beings father, why would putting the two words together suddenly become blasphemous?

‍Catholics call the pope “Holy Father” because he occupies an office of spiritual fatherhood in the Church, an office that calls him to holiness. The title is one of respect, not a declaration that the pope is sinless, divine, or even personally holier than other Christians.

‍The same words can be used of God and human beings without implying equality between them. Jesus is our Teacher, yet Scripture recognizes human teachers (Ephesians 4:11). God is our Father, yet Paul describes himself as a spiritual father. God is holy, yet he commands us to be holy.

‍The important question isn’t whether the same words are used, but whether they’re being used in the same sense.

‍When Catholics address the pope as “Holy Father,” they’re honoring his spiritual office, not attributing divinity to him.

‍There’s nothing blasphemous about that.