also: きょうおう
noun
Refers specifically to the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
ローマ教皇はバチカンに住んでいる。
The Pope lives in the Vatican.
新しい教皇が選ばれた。
A new Pope has been elected.
Standard kanji spelling for the Pope.
Alternate reading; less common than きょうこう.
法王 is sometimes used interchangeably with 教皇, but 教皇 is the more precise term for the Pope in Catholic contexts. 法王 can also refer to high-ranking Buddhist priests.
From Chinese 教皇 (jiàohuáng), meaning 'religious emperor' or 'teaching sovereign'. The term was adopted into Japanese to refer to the Pope.