De locis theologicis

HERE THE CLEAREST TESTIMONIES OF COUNCILS ARE REPORTED, PROVING THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF THE ROMAN CHURCH

In the two preceding chapters we did not include the words of all the Supreme Pontiffs or of the ancient saints, lest the discussion grow longer and more tiresome. We merely indicated the passages; when the reader sees them, he will clearly understand that we have cited nothing obscure, inept, or irrelevant. Now we shall report not only the judgments but also the words of synods on this matter, so that our opponents may be overwhelmed even more heavily by the cloud of these witnesses. First is the testimony of the Council of Nicaea, which it is not worth repeating here because it was cited in chapter 4. Second is that of the Council of Chalcedon, which St. Thomas reported in his work Contra errores Graecorum in these words: “According to Scripture and the definition of the canons, we venerate the most holy bishop of ancient Rome as first and greatest of the bishops.” And below: “If a bishop is declared infamous, he has the freedom to appeal to the most blessed bishop of ancient Rome, because we have Peter as the rock of refuge, and to him alone, by free power in God’s place, belongs the right to discern according to the keys given him by the Lord; everything defined by him is to be held as coming from the vicar of the apostolic throne.” Indeed, in act. 1 of this synod, Leo is said to govern the apostolic throne, and the Roman See is called the head of all the Churches. In act. 2, when Leo’s letter had been read, the fathers cried: “Anathema to whoever does not believe this! Peter has spoken through Leo.” In act. 3, they call the Roman bishop “our lord,” acclaim him as apostolic and universal, embrace his teaching as that of blessed Peter, and desire all the council’s doctrines to be confirmed by the authority of the Apostolic See. When Leo condemned Dioscorus, the Synod said: “The most holy archbishop of great Rome, together with thrice-blessed Peter, who is the rock and foundation of the Catholic Church and the foundation of the true faith, stripped him of his episcopal dignity.” In their synodal letter to Leo, the fathers also rejoice that the Lord gave so great a prelate to the Apostolic See, from which the source and origin of our religion flows. Such are the testimonies of the Council of Chalcedon. Those reported by St. Thomas, however, are not found in copies from our time. Gregory complains that they were erased by heretics in lib. 5 Epist., epistola 14 ad Narsem comitem. A third testimony appears in the Fifth General Synod held at Constantinople. In the judgment pronounced against Anthimus by Menas, Archbishop of Constantinople, to which all the council fathers subscribed, Menas himself added these words: “We follow the Apostolic See and obey it, as your charity knows; we count as our communicants those who are in communion with it, and we condemn those whom it condemns.” The Fifth General Synod, then, by subscribing to Menas’s judgment, embraces the decrees of the Apostolic See as certain. For otherwise it would not regard as Catholics all who are in communion with the Roman and Apostolic faith, nor condemn all those whom the Apostolic See had condemned.

Another very weighty testimony is found in the Fourth Session of the Sixth General Synod. There the profession of faith that Agatho, Roman bishop, sent to the council is recorded. Agatho repeats it in his synodal address—as it is called there—to which countless bishops subscribed. Lest anyone slander us, this address was approved by all the council fathers in act. 8, 13, and 17. The words of the synodal profession are as follows: “With the support of the blessed apostles, this Apostolic Church of his has never deviated from the way of truth in any part of error. All the Catholic Church of Christ and the universal synods have always faithfully embraced and followed its authority, since it is the authority of the prince of all the apostles. All the venerable fathers have embraced its apostolic teaching; through it the most approved lights of Christ have shone, and the holy orthodox doctors have revered and followed it, while heretics have attacked it with false accusations and hateful disparagement. By the grace of God, this Apostolic Church of Christ is proved never to have strayed from the path of apostolic tradition or to have yielded, corrupted by heretical novelties. As it received the faith at the beginning of Christianity from its authors, the princes of the apostles, so it remains undefiled to the end, according to the divine promise of the Lord and Savior himself: ‘Peter, Peter, behold Satan has asked for you,’ etc.; ‘I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And you, strengthen your brothers.’ It is known that my predecessors, the apostolic Pontiffs, have always done this with confidence.” So far Agatho, Roman bishop. In act. 18 the Synod itself plainly professes that Agatho, Roman bishop, is the successor in the see of the prince of the apostles. In act. 2 of the Seventh General Synod, the synodal letter of Adrian I was also read, in which he defines that the Roman Church is the head of all the Churches. The general council received and approved the letter, as is clear in that same act. 2. In the Eighth General Synod, too, there is a libellus of Adrian II, accepted and confirmed by the Synod itself, containing the profession of faith that we set out at the end of chapter 4. The fathers of this Eighth Synod agree with the teaching of the Roman Pontiff in these words: “Following in all things the Apostolic See, we hope to deserve to remain in the one communion proclaimed by the Apostolic See, in which the true and complete firmness of the Christian religion resides. Therefore, the names of those who do not agree with the Apostolic See are not to be recited among the sacred mysteries.” So far the fathers. In the same Synod, the letter of Ignatius, Patriarch of Constantinople, to Adrian was also approved, where this same point is taught plainly. The libellus of the Roman Church was approved too, as was the Synod of Nicholas, both of which teach the same doctrine. In its final session, canon 21, the Synod also calls the Roman See the see of Peter, prince of the apostles. The Roman Synod under Symmachus likewise agrees that the prelate of the Roman See rightly holds the primacy of the priesthood throughout the world by the merit of blessed Peter the apostle, and is accustomed to give firmness to synodal decrees. Further, another universal Synod presided over by Nicholas says: “If anyone despises doctrines or decrees promulgated by the prelate of the Apostolic See concerning the Catholic faith or ecclesiastical discipline, let him be anathema.” Lucius III adopted almost the same judgment in cap. Ad abolendam, De haereticis. Leo IX also asserts in his synodal letter to Peter, Patriarch of Antioch, that the holy Roman and Apostolic Church is the head of all the Churches,

to which the greater cases are to be referred. It says: “All councils and the Holy of Holies, the King of kings, confirm them.” Further, the Lateran Council under Innocent III says: “We do not wish to detract from Abbot Joachim, since he ordered all his writings to be submitted to the judgment of the Apostolic See for approval or correction, firmly confessing that he holds the faith held by the Roman Church, which by the Lord’s appointment is the mother and teacher of all the faithful.” The Council of Lyon under Gregory taught the same. By the Lord’s institution, then, the Roman Church is the teacher of the faithful, and therefore the Roman bishop succeeds Peter in the Church’s teaching office. The Council of Lyon under Innocent IV teaches the same. The Council of Trent, sess. 7, states the same in these words: “If anyone says that the Roman Church, which is the mother and teacher of all the Churches, does not have the true doctrine concerning the Sacrament of Baptism, let him be anathema.” The Council of Lyon under Gregory says that the Roman Pontiff is the Vicar of Jesus Christ, successor of Peter, and ruler of the universal Church. The Council of Vienne under Clement asserts that the declaration of questions of faith belongs to the Apostolic See alone. Moreover, the fathers of the Council of Florence say: “We define that the holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff hold primacy over the whole world; that the Roman Pontiff himself is successor of blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, and the true Vicar of Christ; that he is head of the whole Church and father and teacher of all Christians; and that our Lord Jesus Christ gave him full power in blessed Peter to feed and govern the universal Church, as is contained in the acts of the ecumenical councils.” So far the Council of Florence. We have cited enough testimonies from councils. What we have set out must now be strengthened by theological arguments, especially that the Roman Pontiff cannot err when he judges matters of faith.