De locis theologicis

IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT THE ROMAN BISHOP IS THE ONE WHO SUCCEEDS PETER BY DIVINE RIGHT BOTH IN FIRMNESS OF FAITH AND IN SETTLING RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSIES

It follows that we must show that the Roman See is the place where Peter’s firmness and authority have been established by God. Since not only heretics but also some Catholics have shamelessly and imprudently denied this, we must strengthen the point with the greatest care. It is not easy to overthrow an opinion that has been so carefully—and though less truly, still carefully—founded and built up, if it can even be called an opinion, since it is refuted by arguments so certain. Although Cajetan said much about this subject both here and elsewhere, especially in libello De Romanae Ecclesiae primatu, we must discuss the same things again. Perhaps we shall explain them somewhat briefly, since there is little room here for an abundant style. Yet whatever is said clearly about matters of great importance and difficulty is said excellently and admirably. As we set out to explain a difficult passage, we shall first do so by witnesses whose testimony leaves no room for doubt. I do not want to burden the reader with as many testimonies as possible, but shall cite only the strongest and clearest. I shall begin with the Supreme Pontiffs themselves, whose judgments on this matter are clear and certain. I shall cite them directly, so as not to keep interrupting with “he says” and “he adds.” Anacletus, in Epist. 1 de oppressione episcoporum, says: “More difficult questions and greater cases are to be referred to the Apostolic See, because the apostles established this by the command of the Savior: greater and more difficult questions are always to be brought to the Apostolic See, upon which Christ built the whole Church, when he said to the blessed prince of the apostles, ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.’” In epist. 3 de patriarchis et primatibus, he explains what he understood by the Apostolic See in these words: “This most holy Roman and Apostolic Church obtained its primacy not from the apostles but from the Lord himself, our Savior, and acquired preeminence of power over all the Churches and the whole flock of the Christian people, just as he said to blessed Peter the apostle: ‘You are Peter,’ etc.” Evaristus says: “Doubts are to be referred to the Apostolic See as to a head.” Evaristus said this to the bishops of the African region when they consulted him on a question of faith. He also said that in this they were following the rule of the fathers. From the Church’s beginning, then, the Roman Pontiff was recognized as a teacher of faith, which was Peter’s particular office. Alexander I says in a letter to all the orthodox: “The arrangements for the most important cases and all the affairs of the Churches were entrusted by the Lord himself to the summit of this holy and Apostolic See, as to a head.” He proves this by the same testimony from Matthew: “You are Peter,” etc. Sixtus I, in a letter to the Churches of Gaul, and Eleutherius, in a letter to those same Churches, affirm that the holy apostles established that the judgments of bishops be referred to the Apostolic See, namely, because the greater cases of the Church, etc. Pius I says in a letter to all the Churches: “The Lord commanded that this holy Apostolic See be the head of all the Churches, saying to the prince of the apostles, Peter: ‘You are Peter,’ etc.” Victor, in a letter to Theophilus, defines that the cases of all bishops belonged to the Roman bishop from the time of the apostles; he proves this by the testimony, “Whatever you bind,” etc. He also cites the institution of the apostles, in which the Roman See is called

the universal Apostolic Church. Sixtus II also reports this same apostolic canon in the name of the Church. Zephyrinus says in a letter to the bishops of Sicily: “The greater cases of the Church are to be settled by the Apostolic See, and by no other, as the apostles established, in accordance with the words, ‘Whatever you bind,’ etc.” Marcellus confirms the same in a letter to the bishops of the province of Antioch, citing, “You are Peter,” etc. He also asserts that, by divine command and the tradition of the apostles, the greater affairs of the Church are to be referred to the Roman Church as to a head. Eusebius, writing to the bishops of Campania and Tuscany, first affirmed that the Roman Church had been endowed with Peter’s privilege, then added: “The first condition of salvation is to keep the rules of the true faith and in no way depart from the constitutions of the fathers. Nor may we neglect the sentence of our Lord, who says, ‘You are Peter,’ etc. These things are proved by their effects: in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been preserved without stain.” Melchiades says in a letter to the bishops of Spain: “The Lord entrusted the privilege of judging bishops, in his place alone, to blessed Peter, the keeper of the keys. He grants that prerogative to Peter’s See to be inherited for future ages. It was established from the time of the apostles that this privilege be preserved; it remains unharmed to this day, lest the members ever disagree with their head and schisms arise.” Marcus says to Athanasius: “The holy Roman Church, which has always remained immaculate, with the Lord’s providence and the help of blessed Peter the apostle, will remain firm and immovable in the future, without any assault by heretics. This is the living tradition of the apostles. This is the holy Apostolic Mother Church of all the Churches of Christ, which by the grace of almighty God is proved never to have strayed from the path of apostolic tradition, but remains undefiled to the end, in accordance with the Lord’s promise: ‘I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail.’” Lucius proves the same point by this testimony in reply to questions from the bishops of Gaul and Spain, as does Felix in a letter to Benignus. Julius says in a letter to the Eastern bishops: “According to the Gospel and apostolic institutions, the right to convene councils and the greater cases must be referred to the Apostolic See. The holy apostles and their successors established this; the Synod of Nicaea defined it.” To confirm this, the Pontiff cites the same testimony of Christ repeated by the others: “You are Peter,” etc., as well as the reason that the members must not disagree with their head. Julius says the same in a letter to the bishops gathered at Antioch: “The Lord himself properly addressed the holy Roman and Apostolic Church when he said, ‘You are Peter,’ etc. For it has authority granted by a singular privilege, consecrated by the Lord’s own words and exalted from above. Just as blessed Peter was first among all the apostles, so this Church, consecrated in his name by the Lord’s institution, is first and head of the others, so that the greater cases of the Church may be referred to it as to the mother and summit of all.” He adds that the Synod of Nicaea defined that neither councils may be held nor bishops condemned in any way without the judgment of the Roman Pontiff, to whom the Lord himself entrusted the greater affairs of the Churches by a special privilege. To confirm this, he cites chapter 18 of the Council of Nicaea: “In more serious cases, all bishops may freely appeal to the Apostolic See and flee to it as to a mother; ancient apostolic authority reserved all the greater ecclesiastical cases to its decision.”

He also cites chapter 19 of the same Council of Nicaea in these words: “Although the case of an accused Pontiff may be examined by the bishops of his province, it must not be decided without consulting the Roman Pontiff, since the Lord himself said to blessed Peter the apostle, ‘Whatever you bind on earth,’ etc.” See: the Council of Nicaea plainly asserts that the power the Lord gave to blessed Peter was transmitted to the Roman Pontiff. It is no objection that these chapters are not found in our copies now. First, Julius himself testifies under solemn oath that they are held in the archive of the Roman See; Julius was the first of that name to give this testimony, a man of upright and uncorrupted faith. Second, he wrote his letter against people, most of whom had themselves attended the Council of Nicaea; it is in no way plausible that he would have cited canons against people who could easily prove that the Pontiff had fabricated them. Third, Athanasius and the Pontiffs of Egypt, Thebaid, and Libya also attest to it in their letter to Felix; they too were present at that council. “We know,” they say, “that at the great Synod of Nicaea all unanimously confirmed that no councils may be held and no bishops condemned without the judgment of the Roman Pontiff.” In the same letter they report that heretics burned and took from us these chapters and many other necessary ones. At the Sixth Council of Carthage, Faustinus, Philippus, and Asellus, legates of the Apostolic See, also cited the same canon in the name of the Council of Nicaea, from the letters of Zosimus, Roman Pontiff. Athanasius also testifies in a letter to Pope Marcus that the Council of Nicaea had seventy chapters; Marcus himself plainly confirms this in his reply. Pope Felix complains in a letter to the bishops of Egypt that heretics deleted the chapters we are now discussing. Pelagius too, 17 distin., cap. Multis, says that the holy Synod decreed what we are trying to prove, meaning the Council of Nicaea. Innocent I expressed the same in ad Victricium seu Victorinum, cap. 3, as did Leo in a letter to the younger Theodosius. There can therefore be no doubt that our position was defined by the Council of Nicaea, as Pope Julius asserted. Damasus says to the bishops of the three African councils: “It is not lawful to define the most important cases without the authority of the Roman See, and to hold a synod without its authority is not Catholic. No councils are recorded as valid unless supported by apostolic authority. For the Apostolic See is the firm and immovable support of all bishops and the summit of the Churches, fixed by God; upon it Christ built the universal Church, saying, ‘You are Peter,’ etc.” See the same testimony in his letter to Prosper and the other orthodox bishops of Numidia. Innocent I says in letters to the two Councils of Carthage and Milevis: “You rightly consult the secrets of the Apostolic See, following the form of the ancient rule, which you know has always been observed throughout the world, especially whenever the question concerns faith.” To be brief—for it would be tedious to cite everyone’s words—Leo confirms the same in epist. 54 ad Anastasium and epist. 67 ad episcopos Viennensis provinciae; Gelasius, in his letter to Emperor Anastasius and in the decrees issued with seventy bishops, and in his letter to the bishops of Dardania; Vigilius in his decrees, final chapter; Pelagius II to the bishops gathered in Constantinople; St. Gregory in his letter to Augustine, bishop of the English; and many other Pontiffs. Their testimonies can be found in 12 dist., 17, 19, 20, 21, 22; 80 dist., cap. Urbes; 96 dist., cap. Bene; 24 quest. 1 in many chapters; 25 quaest. 1; De electione, cap. Significasti; De Privileg., cap. Antiqua; De Baptis., cap. Maiores; De elect. in 6, cap. Fundamenta; and in Extravag. Unam

sacred. The Lateran Council under Leo X made this decretal known and approved it. Since all the bishops who succeed Peter in the See of the Roman Church have unanimously asserted that the firmness of faith conferred on Peter belongs to the Roman Pontiffs as his lawful successors, anyone who denies this also denies the authority of the Church, if Irenaeus’s canon is true. This was a sound reason why Churches that had fallen away from the Roman See were received back into ecclesiastical unity by the Supreme Pontiffs only under a confession of this kind: “The first condition of salvation is to keep the rule of the true faith and in no way depart from the constitutions of the fathers. Since we cannot neglect the sentence of our Lord Jesus Christ, who says, ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church,’ and since these things are proved by their effects, because in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been preserved without stain, we anathematize all who raise their necks against the holy Roman and Apostolic Church. In all things we follow the Apostolic See, in which there is the complete and true firmness of the Christian religion, and we profess that those separated from communion with the Catholic Church—that is, those who do not agree with the Apostolic See—are not to have their names recited among the sacred mysteries, namely, those who strive to annul the privileges of the holy Roman and Apostolic Church.” Boniface II prescribed this rule of confession in a letter to Eulalius, Bishop of Carthage. John, Bishop of Constantinople, made it when the Church of Constantinople was reunited with the Roman Church, from which it had fallen away under Acacius. Pope Hormisdas sent the same rule to the bishops of Spain, so that if people coming out of schism sought ecclesiastical communion from them, they would be admitted according to that form of profession. Finally, Pope Adrian gave it to the Eighth General Synod. Unless we are very obstinate, we should now be sufficiently persuaded that Peter’s authority and firmness reside in the Roman See.