This essay provides a brief overview of major developments in the role of the papacy between the early Church and the present day. It will cover four aspects. The development of the papacy as a temporal ruler, the papal elections, the Curia and the development of the "missionary role" of the papacy. It will explore how the papacy grew from an organization that had the influence to appoint kings and organize state borders to an organization with a billion followers. These followers view the papacy as being responsible for the administration, pastoral and spiritual care of their members. The development of the papacy as a temporal ruler. Temporal power concerns the relationships of the popes of the Roman Catholic Church within government, state and politics. business. This secular power is exercised here and now rather than in eternity. It is distinguished by its distinction with the pastoral and spiritual action of the pope, which is often called the eternal power. The beginning of this temporal power dates back to Pope Zacharis who ordered that Pepin be crowned king of the Franks. . In 751, Pepin was crowned king. It was the first time that a secular king had been crowned sovereign by a pope. This led to an alliance between the Franks and the Church, which would last over 500 years. This agreement offered military protection to the papacy. Not only did the early popes have the power to appoint kings and rulers, but they acted as lay administrators, which looked after things such as education and welfare. In this regard, the main objective of the Western Papacy was to accumulate land but also to obtain sovereign independence from the Empire of Constantinople. The development of papal elections. the world. The pope is the final arbiter of administrative and doctrinal matters. The papacy can no longer rule nations or appoint kings, but with so many supporters it still has great influence over world affairs. Bibliography. Barraclough, G., The Medieval Papacy, (London: Thames and Hudson, 1968) .Bossy, J., Rome and the Elizabethan Catholics: a Question of Geography, Historical Journal, vol 6, 1964.Cameron, E., The European Reformation, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991).Fenlon, D., The Origins of Modern Catholicism, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, vol 43, 1992.Heyer, F., The Catholic Church from 1648 to 1870, (London: Adam & Charles Blac, 1969).Morris, C., The Papal Monarchy, the Church of the West from 1050 to 1250, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989). Ullmann, W., A Brief History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages, (London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1972).