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The sacrament does not necessarily mean that the pope is dying. Last rites -- also known as the sacrament of anointing the sick -- are commonly given to people who are seriously ill as well. The pope received the sacrament after he was shot by a would-be assassin in 1981.

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So he could be around for a little while. Given John Paul's many illnesses and that he lost 19 kilos in 5 weeks after his tracheotomy, the end is near, though.

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The Pope was also given the last rites - the Roman Catholic sacrament reserved for the sick and dying, unconfirmed reports say.

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The sacrament does not necessarily mean that the pope is dying. Last rites -- also known as the sacrament of anointing the sick -- are commonly given to people who are seriously ill as well.

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On Thursday night, as his health deteriorated, the pontiff received the Catholic Church's sacrament Anointing of the Sick, formerly known as Last Rites or Extreme Unction -- a ritual of healing, a Vatican source told CNN.

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Doctrinally, the pope is regarded as the successor of St. Peter, leader of the apostles after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is an important factor in the tradition that the pope is believed to have jurisdiction over the entire Christian church in matters of faith, morals and church government. This doctrine is known as papal primacy.

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Pope Boniface VIII, in his Bull Unam Sanctum (1302), spelled out the doctrine of the necessity of the Church for salvation and with it the necessity of submission to the Roman Pontiff. Regarding the primacy of authority of Peter and his successors he stated:

But this authority, although it is given to man and is exercised by man, is not human, but rather divine, and has been given by the divine Word to Peter himself and to his successors in him, whom the Lord acknowledged an established rock, when he said to Peter himself: Whatsoever you shall bind etc. [Matt. 16:19]. Therefore, whosoever resists this power so ordained by God, resists the order of God [cf. Rom. 13:2] ... Furthermore, we declare, say, define, and proclaim to every human creature that they by necessity for salvation are entirely subject to the Roman Pontiff.

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This doctrine of papal primacy was further developed at the First Vatican Council which declared in 1870 that “in the disposition of God the Roman church holds the preeminence of ordinary power over all the other churches.” This was also the same council that approved the dogma of papal infallibility, deciding that the “infallibility” of the Christian community extended to the pope himself, at least when speaking on matters of faith.

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What is the Pope to the Catholic people? She first asked me if they believed he is an incarnation of Christ. I said, "I don't think so.

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I think he is analagous to the president of our church (Mormon)."

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She said, "But don't they think of him as holy? We don't really think of the president as holy, but a man chosen to preside over the church." I said, "I dunno. Do you want me to ask the people on Hatrack?" She said, "Sure!"

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The title pope, once used with far greater latitude (see below, section V), is at present employed solely to denote the Bishop of Rome, who, in virtue of his position as successor of St. Peter, is the chief pastor of the whole Church, the Vicar of Christ upon earth.

Besides the bishopric of the Roman Diocese, certain other dignities are held by the pope as well as the supreme and universal pastorate: he is Archbishop of the Roman Province, Primate of Italy and the adjacent islands, and sole Patriarch of the Western Church.

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Kama summed this up pretty well. The office of Pope is believed to be one instituted by Christ to Peter in the Gospels, possessor of the "keys to the kingdom of heaven," so the office can be considered holy in another sense

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13(O)Now when Jesus came into the district of (P)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that (Q)the Son of Man is?"

14And they said, "Some say (R)John the Baptist; and others, (S)Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."

15He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

16Simon Peter answered, "You are (T)the Christ, (U)the Son of (V)the living God."

17And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, (W)Simon Barjona, because (X)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

18"I also say to you that you are (Y)Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of (Z)Hades will not overpower it.

19"I will give you (AA)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and (AB)whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

20(AC)Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was (AD)the Christ.

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