papacy

noun4

1. •
   The office of a pope.
2. •
   The office of the pope of Rome, who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

   • The Vatican defends the primacy of the papacy.
3. •
   The period of a particular pope's reign.

   • The papacy of John Paul II ended in 2005, after the pope's long battle with illness ended.
4. •
   (offensive) Roman Catholicism generally: synonym of popery.