Head of the Church is a title given in the New Testament to Jesus. Roman Catholic theology will commonly distinguish between Visible Head and Invisible Head in order to allow the term to apply to human leadership in the Church.
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It is found for example in Colossians 1.18, Colossians 2.19, Ephesians 4.15 and Ephesians 5.23.
In Roman Catholic ecclesiology, Jesus is called the Invisible Head, while the Pope is called the Visible Head. Therefore, the Pope is often called the Vicar of Christ. There is a close collaboration between christology and ecclesiology.
At the time of the English Reformation, Henry VIII took for himself the title of Supreme Head of the Church of England, which was theologically problematic; his daughter Elizabeth I changed this to Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
In fundamentalist Evangelical literature, this Roman Catholic distinction between Visible Head and Invisible Head is often attacked ferociously, with the Pope sometimes being labeled the Antichrist. In part, this points to issues and conflicts within Evangelical christology and ecclesiology.