Editing Pope Siricius (section)

===Papal titles===
Siricius is sometimes said to be the first bishop of Rome to style himself pope,<ref>{{cite book|title= Documents of the Christian Church|first1= Henry|last1=Bettenson |first2=Chris|last2=Maunder|page=88|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|isbn=9780199568987}}</ref> but other authorities say the title pope was from the early 3rd century an honorific designation used for any bishop in the West.<ref name=ODCC:Pope>Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church ([[Oxford University Press]] 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-19-280290-3}}), article ''Pope''</ref> In the East it was used only for the [[patriarch of Alexandria]].<ref name=ODCC:Pope/> [[Pope Marcellinus|Marcellinus]] (d. 304) is the first bishop of Rome shown in sources to have had the title pope used of him. From the 6th century, the imperial chancery of [[Constantinople]] normally reserved this designation for the bishop of Rome.<ref name=ODCC:Pope/> From the early 6th century, it began to be confined in the West to the bishop of Rome, a practice that was firmly in place by the 11th century.<ref name=ODCC:Pope/>

Siricius is also one of the popes presented in various sources as having been the first to bear the title ''[[pontifex maximus]]''. Others that are said to have been the first to bear the title are [[Callistus I]], [[Damasus I]], [[Pope Leo I|Leo I]], and [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory I]]. The ''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' indicates instead that it was in the fifteenth century (when the [[Renaissance]] stirred up new interest in ancient Rome) that ''pontifex maximus'' became a regular title of honour for popes.<ref>Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-19-280290-3}}), article ''Pontifex Maximus''</ref>