See, owes its origin to the Apostle Peter.192 Pope Zosimus (417-418) writes still more clearly on the authority of the Apostolic See. He declares that such was its authority, that no one might venture to question its judgment; that St. Peter himself was the fountainhead of this authority, which, therefore, descended from him and rested on the divine promises made to him.193 In like manner, Boniface I. (418-422) inculcates this truth throughout his fifteenth letter, wherein he solemnly declares that the care of the Universal Church was entrusted to St. Peter, who was its rock; and that hence the authority of the Roman See embraced both East and West:194 for which reason he calls it the head of all the churches spread over all the whole world.195 Celestine (422-432) makes use of similar language to express the same doctrine as to his Pontifical authority, which, as he says, extends its care wherever the name of God is preached.196 And, accordingly, he wrote in

192 S. Innocentius I.: Epist. xxix., n. 1 (Coustant., p. 888). Sequi desideramus Apostolum a quo ipse episcopatus

"Traditio

et tota auctoritas hujus nominis emersit." 193 S. Zosimus: Epist. xii., n. 1 (Coustant., p. 974). Patrum Apostolicæ sedi auctoritatem tantam tribuerit, ut de ejus Judicio disceptare nullus auderet. a quo (Petro) ipsa quoque descendit ex ipsa quoque Christi Domini nostri promissione ut et ligata solveret. . . cum tantæ auctoritatis Petrus caput sit, &c." 194 S. Bonifacius I.: Epist. xv., n. I (Coustant., p. 1039). "Manet B. Petrum Apostolum per sententiam dominicam universalis ecclesiæ ab hoc sollicitudo suscepta; quippe quam, Evangelio teste, in se noverit esse fundatam: nec unquam ejus honor vacuus potest esse curarum, cum certum sit summam rerum ex ejus deliberatione pendere.”

195 S. Bonifacius I.: Epist. xiv., n. 1., p. 1037. "Hanc (Ecclesiam Romanam) ergo Ecclesiis toto orbe diffusis velut caput suorum certum est esse membrorum."

"Circa

196 S. Cœlestinus: Epist. iv., n. 1 (Coustant., p. 1066). quamvis longinqua spiritalis cura non deficit, sed se per omnia, qua nomen Dei prædicatur, extendit."

this sense to the people of Constantinople, when they were rent asunder by the perverse doctrines of Nestorius. He reminds them that "His daily pressure of toil was the care of all the churches; so that, having learnt that his members were being rent asunder by perverse doctrines, he was inflamed with paternal solicitude for them, feeling the heat of the fire which was burning them, . . . since they were his bowels."197 Sixtus III. (432-440), his successor, bears witness to the same doctrine, saying that "The blessed Apostle Peter had transferred to his successors what he had received." Whence he concludes: "Who then would separate from the doctrine of him, whom the Master Himself declared to be the first among the Apostles?" 198 But the works of Pope Leo the Great (440-461) are, throughout, full of the great idea of the dignity conferred on the See of Rome, and of its universal divine authority over the whole world.199 This great Pontiff carefully laid down the distinction between the hierarchy of Order and that of Jurisdiction. He shows the Apostolic See to be that centre whereon the care of the universal Church rests, and with which nothing should be at variance. 200 He

197 S. Cœlestinus: Epist. xiv., n. 1 (Coustant., p. 1131). 198 S. Xystus III.: Epist. vi., n. 5 (Coustant., p. 1260).

199 S. Leo I.: Epist. v., c. ii. Edit. Ballerini (Op., t. i., p. 617). "Per omnes Ecclesias cura nostra distenditur, exigente hoc a nobis Domino, qui Apostolicæ dignitatis B. Apostolo Petro primatum, fidei suæ remuneratione, commisit, universalem Ecclesiam in fundamenti ipsius soliditate constituens."

200 S. Leo I.: Epist. xiv., ad Anast. Episc. Thess., c. xi. (Op., t. i. Edit. Ball., p. 691, seq.). "Hæc connexio totius quidem corporis (Ecclesiæ) unanimitatem requirit, sed præcipue exigit concordiam sacerdotum, quibus cum dignitas sit communis (the power of Order), non est tamen ordo generalis (the power of Jurisdiction), quoniam et inter Beatissimos Apostolos in similitudine honoris fuit quædam discretio potestatis, et cum omnium par esset electio, uni tamen datum est ut cæteris præemineret. De qua forma quoque Episcoporum est orta distinctio, et magna ordinatione

F

wrote to the metropolitans of Illyricum: "Whereas our care extends to all the churches, this being required of us by the Lord, who committed the primacy of the Apostolic dignity to the most blessed Apostle Peter, in reward of his faith, establishing the Universal Church on the solidity of him the foundation, we are associated in that necessary solicitude which we feel for those who are joined with us in the charity of (episcopal) fellowship." 201 Were we in need of further testimonies, the letters of St. Leo would furnish us with many more quotations. Nor do the successors of St. Leo fail to employ similar language. It is useless to multiply extracts from their letters, when each and all agree in solemnly maintaining the fundamental idea that the flock of Christ spread over the whole world-the Universal Church was committed by Christ to the paternal care of St. Peter and his successors. We can refer to St. Simplicius (468-483); 202 St. Felix III. (483–492); 203 St.

provisum est, ne omnes sibi omnia vindicarent, sed essent in singulis provinciis singuli quorum inter fratres haberetur prima sententia: et rursus quidam in majoribus urbibus constituti sollicitudinem susciperent ampliorem, per quos ad unam Petri sedem universalis Ecclesiæ cura conflueret, et nihil usquam a suo capite dissideret." In Serm. iv., c. ii. (Op., t. i., p. 16), he says, “Quamvis in populo Dei multi sint sacerdotes, multique pastores; omnes tamen proprie regat Petrus, quos principaliter regit et Christus." 201 S. Leo I.: Epist. v., ad Episcop. Metrop. per Illyricum constitutos, c. ii., p. 617.

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202 S. Simplicius: Epist. iv., ad Zenonem Imp. (Labbe, t. v., p. 98). Perstat in successoribus suis (Petri) hæc et eadem Apostolicæ norma doctrinæ, cui Dominus totius curam ovilis injunxit." See also Epist. x., ad Zenonem Imp. (Labbe, l. c., p. 116). 203 S. Felix II.: Epist. i., ad Zenonem Imp. (Labbe, 1. c., p. 143-44). "Postquam ministerii, quod regebat (Simplicius) ad meæ humilitatis officium gubernacula pervenerunt, in diversas generalis Ecclesiæ curas, quas ubique terrarum cunctis populis christianis summi Pastoris voce delegante, B. Petrus Apostolus pervigili moderatione dispensat; continuo me sollicitudo

205

Gelasius (492-496); 204 St. Anastasius II. (496–498) ;' St. Symmachus (498-514); 206 St. Hormisdas (514523;207 and many others who, in unbroken succession, defend the dignity and the authority of the Apostolic See: and, as we hope to show in the next section, their acts were in accordance with their words.

III. Now, after reading this series of the testimonies of Pontiffs, predecessors of St. Gregory I., it seems strange to hear from the High Church writers, and from Protestants of every shade, that before the seventh century the Popes had no thought of claiming supreme authority in the Universal Church. It is childish to think that the objection made by St. Gregory the Great to the use of the title "oecumenical bishop," is an unanswerable refutation of the divine supremacy of the Pope in the Universal Church, when we know that a long line of preceding Pontiffs had publicly and explicitly proclaimed the opposite doctrine. But did

maxima.

urgebat tam Alexandrinæ urbis quam status totius orientalis regionis excepit."

204 S. Gelasius: Epist. v., ad Hom. Dalmat. Episc. (Labbe, t. v., p. 298). "Pro sedes Apostolicæ moderamine totius ovilis Dominici curam sine cessatione tractantes, quam B. Petro Salvatoris ipsius nostri voce delegata est." And in Epist. xii., ad Æonium Arel. Episc. (Labbe, 1. c., p. 324). "Quanto totius ovilis curam Christo Domino delegante, susceptam B. Petri Apostoli gubernatio principalis universo gregi debet in orbe terrarum, tanto pietatis affectu, cunctas Ecclesias, earumque rectores amplectitur, &c." See also Epist. viii., ad Anast. Imp. (Labbe, 1. c., pp. 308–311).

205 S. Anastasius: Epist. i., ad Anast. Imp. (Labbe, t. v., p. 406). "Sedes B. Petri in universali Ecclesia assignatum sibi a Domino Deo tenet principatum."

206 S. Symmachus: Epist. viii., ad Orientales (Labbe, t. v., p. 433). Its words in the next section.

207 All the letters of Pope Hormisdas are evidently written under the conviction of the supreme authority of the Roman See over the whole Church. See Epist. vii., xi.-xiv. (Labbe, t. v., pp. 574, 586, 588-590).

St. Gregory the Great in any wise contradict the teaching of his predecessors? We deny it; and unequivocally maintain that this great Pope ever spoke in harmony with all the other successors of St. Peter, both when stating the character of the Papal authority, and when condemning the term of "universal bishop." Unquestionably, St. Gregory uniformly held the same view as to the authority of the Apostolic See over the Universal Church. In fact, he called that see "Head of all the Churches 208-Head of the Faith," so that other churches, according to his view, formed its body and were its members; but the health of the body, and all its members, depended upon the soundness of the head.200 For this reason he frequently and repeatedly inculcated in his letters that his Pontifical cares extended over the Universal Church, since he occupied the Apostolic See which is raised above all the churches; 210 that hence no bishop, when rebuked or corrected by the Supreme Head of the Church, could refuse subjection to him.211 Moreover, he intimated . that the universal authority of the Pope is derived from the prerogatives divinely conferred on St. Peter; 212

208 S. Gregorius I.: Epist., 1. xiii., epist. xlv., capit. ii. (Op., t. ii. Edit. Maur, Parisiis, p. 1254). "Apostolica sedes omnium Ecclesiarum caput est."

209 S. Gregorius I.: Epist., 1. xiii., epist. lvii. (1. c., p. 1244).

210 S. Gregorius I.: Epist., 1. iii., epist. xxx. (l. c., p. 645); Epist., 1. v., epist. xiii. (l. c., p. 737); Epist., 1. vii., epist. xix. (l. c., p. 865), &c. Cunctarum Ecclesiarum injuncta sollicitudinis cura

constringet."

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211 S. Gregorius I.: Epist., 1. ix., epist. lix. (l. c., p. 976). “Si qua culpa in episcopis invenitur, nescio quis ei (Apostolicæ Sedi) episcopus subjectus non sit."

212 S. Gregorius I.: Epist., 1. v., epist. xx., ad Maurit. Imp. (1. c., p. 748). "Cunctis Evangelium scientibus liquet quod voce Dominica sancto et omnium Apostolorum Petro Principi Apostolo totius Ecclesiæ cura commissa est. Ipsi enim dicitur, &c. (Joan.