Priest
The term Pfaffe ( originated from the High German sound shift from the Latin papa , “father”, or the ancient Greek παπᾶς papás ) was, in contrast to the layman and lay brother, a term for a secular or religious priest . The word was originally used for Roman Catholic priests in an honorable sense, often also in general for a person who lives according to a spiritual rule.
A secondary derivation of the term "Pfaffe" from Latin Pastor fidelis animarum fidelium , [Breviloquence: pfaf], that is, faithful shepherd of believing souls , can be found in the General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts ... ,
Since the Reformation of Martin Luther , but also before that in view of the large number of clerics secured with benefices and not very committed to pastoral care, “Pfaffe” has increasingly become a derogatory term.
The subject is dealt with somewhat tongue-in-cheek in the coat of arms of Pfaffenhofen (Württemberg) .
See also
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Individual evidence
- ^ Dictionary of the Brothers Grimm Volume 13, Column 1584
- ↑ This theory is incompatible with the findings of the linguistic development of the word from papa or παπᾶς to the Old High German “phafo, phaffo, pfaffo” and the Middle High German “phaffe, pfaffe, paffe”, Low German also “pape”, zu Pfaffe . (The cited documents are taken from the German dictionary mentioned above .)
- ↑ FA Brockhaus, 1840, p. 200 and in Ludwig Anzengruber: Calendar Stories - Chapter 5: Zu fromm, Eine Geschichte , 1879, Verlag der JG Cotta'schen Buchhandlung Successor, 1897.