FERULA. – In the Middle Ages it was the bishop’s pastoral staff, of which there is evidence from the 3rd century (PL 132, 970; 136, 907).
It constituted the symbol of the spiritual and temporal authority of the pope (signum regiminis et coercitionis, Ordo Romanus, XIV, chap. 44; PL 78, 1143). It was handed to him together with the keys when, after his coronation and taking possession of the Lateran Basilica, he proceeded to the church of S. Silvestro. It resembled the sceptra imperialia, which were due to the popes after the so-called Donation of Constantine.
At present it is a staff surmounted by a Cross with equal arms, which the pope uses principally in the ceremony of opening and closing the Holy Door.