papal of or relating to a pope or to the papacy; recorded from late Middle English, the word comes via Old French and medieval Latin from eccclesiastical Latin papa ‘bishop of Rome’.
Papal States the temporal dominions belonging to the Pope, especially in central Italy, over which he exercised sovereignty from the 7th to the 19th centuries.
papal tiara an ornate cap with three coronets, used in the coronation of the Pope and as a symbol of the Pope's authority.

pa·pal / ˈpāpəl/ • adj. of or relating to a pope or to the papacy.DERIVATIVES: pa·pal·ly adv.