noun
papacy
Refers to the office, authority, or jurisdiction of the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church.
中世ヨーロッパでは法王権が強力だった。
In medieval Europe, the papacy was powerful.
法王 refers to the Pope himself, while 法王権 refers to the papacy as an institution or authority.
Compound of 法王 (ほうおう, 'Pope') and 権 (けん, 'authority, right'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is used in discussions of the Catholic Church's institutional power.