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AUTHOR:
ALLNATT, CHARLES F.
TITLE:
CATHEDRA PETRI; THE
TITLES AND ...
PLACE:
LONDON
DA TE :
1879
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A16 Allnattp Charles F B
Cathodra Petri; the titles and perogatives
of St.Peter and of his See and successors as described
by the early Fathers, ecclesiastical writers and councils
of the church* •• 2d ed...enl
London 1879 jSj -f 324 p
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CATHEDRA PETRI
rill': TITLKS AND PREROGATIVES
or
^t peter, anD of ^is %tt anD @uccc00or0,
AS DF.SCRlHKn BV
THE EARLY FATHERS, ECCLESIASTICAL WRITERS, AND
COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH.
BY
CHARLES F. B. ALLNATT.
Ego interim clamito : Si quis Cathedra; Petri jungitur, meus est."
St. Jerome (Epist. xvi.)
" Fugite, o miseri, execranda Novati
Schismata, Catholicis reddite vos populis.
Una fides vigeat, prisco quae condita templo est,
Quam tenet Cathedra Petri. "
PRt'DENTius(Hymn. in S. Hippolyt.)
^ecanU tuition, Ecbisrt anU muc!) CE^nlargeU.
LONDON: BURNS & OATES, 17 PORTMAN STREET.
DUBLIN : GILL & SONS, SACKVTLLE STREET.
1879.
N
\
Cathedra Petrl
THE TITLES AND PREROGATIVES
OF
St. peter, anti of m& ®^^ ^^^ @ucce00orsf,
AS DESCRIBED BY
THE EARLY FATHERS, ECCLESIASTICAL WRITERS, AND
COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH.
BY
CHARLES F. B. ALLNATT.
« Ego interim clamito : Si quis Cathedrx Petri jungitur, meus est "
^ St. Jerome (Epist. xvi.)
" Fugite, o miseri, execranda Novati
Schismata, Catholicis reddite vos populis.
Una fides vigeat, prisco quae condita templo est,
(^uain tenet Cathedra Petri."
Prudentius (Hymn, in S. Hippolyt.)
SccantJ etjition, J^cbisetj antJ mitcfj CnlarscH.
LONDON: BURNS & OATES, 17 PORTMAN STREET.
DUBLIN : GILL & SONS, SACKVILLE STREET.
1879.
r
6
in
THE object of the following work is to present a short summary or
abstract of the Patristic evidence regarding the Titles and Prerogatives
ascribed to St. Peter, and to his See and Successors, in the first ages
of the Church.
The original text— Greek or Latin— of the more important passages
has been appended to each extract.
In the case of those cited from authors of the first five centuries,
the translation generally, but not invariably, adopted is the very literal
and accurate one of the late Dr. Waterworth, to whose valuable works,
The Faith of Catholics, vols. i. and ii., and The Fathers on St. Peter,
&c., the reader may be referred for the context of many of the shorter
extracts given in this work. As regards later authorities, the literal
translations furnished by the late Dr. Rock, and other EngUsh authors,
have been freely adopted.
To this new and much enlarged Edition has been prefixed a List of
the principal authors quoted, with brief Notices of the best editions of
their works, &c.
I
-o
In the General Council of Ephesus, a.d. 431, the Legate Philip
thus addressed the assembled Fathers : —
" It is doubtful to none, yea rather it has been known to
ALL AGES, THAT THE HOLY AND MOST BLESSED PeTER, THE PrINCE
AND Head of the Apostles, the Pillar of the Faith, the
Foundation of the Catholic Church, received the Keys of
the Kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour and
Redeemer of the human race ; and to him was given power to
BIND AND TO LOOSE; WHO EVEN UNTIL NOW, AND ALWAYS, BOTH
LIVES AND JUDGES IN HIS SUCCESSORS" (^/X/TTO? rr^iO^VTS^og xa/
iroio^iMrra rrjg acroerroX/xjj; xakd^ag urrtv Ovdsvi afi(pij3oXov gffr/, /^aXXov
di rraffi ro/g aiuffiv eyvugdrj, or/ 6 ayiog xa/ fMaxa^iurarog Uir^og, 6 sgat^og
xa/ xi^aXri ruv artoeroKuv, h xiuv rng -jr/ffrewf, 6 &efiiXiog rijf xadoXixrjg
exxXrifftag, arro rov xvpiou rj/tiw 'l^jtfou Xoiarov . . . rag xXg/g rrig paoiXnag
idi^aro, xa/ avT(fj didorai cgouff/a rov difffiuv xa/ Xvuv afia^riag- bSTig eug
rou vvv xai an iv roiQ aurou hiahoyoig xa/ Z^i, xa/ hxaZ^ir Concil. Eph.
Act. iii. torn. i. Hardouin, Paris, 17 15, p. 147 7; Labbe, torn. iii.
p. 625).
9^
f^
C2)
362231,
s.
^-
>v_.
List of Fathers, Councils, and Chief Ecclesi-
astical Writers Cited in this Work.
\
Alcnin (Flaccus Albinus), an English monk, who became renowned
throughout Christendom for his great learning, was born of noble North-
umbrian parentage about A.D. 735, and brought up from infancy in the
celebrated school of York (founded by Archbishop Egbert, the disciple
and friend of Ven. Bede), of which he became the head A.D. 780. He
was sent to Rome A.D. 781, and shortly afterwards, at the request of the
Emperor Charlemagne, went to France, where he spent the remainder of
his life in various literary and scholastic labours, dying at Tours in 804.
" His services to religion and literature in Europe," says a Protestant
writer, "based indeed on the foundation of Bede, were more widely
extended, and in themselves inestimable " {Diet, of Christ. Biog. and
Literat.^ vol. i. p. 74). The best editions of his writings are those of
Froben (Ratisbon, 1777, 2 vols, fol.), and Migne {PatroL Lat.^ vols.
c, ci.).
^ The English reader will find much interesting and valuable information
regarding the lives and writings of the Fathers and early Christian authors in
Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature^ London, J. Murray,
(vol. 1., A to D, 1877).
» The following are the principal Collections of the works of the early Fathers
and ecclesiastical writers : —
1. Maxima Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum et Antiquorum Scriptorum Ecclesiasti-
coruntt dr»^., Lugdun, 1677, 27 vols, in fol.
2. Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, Antiquorumqtte Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum,
ed. A. Gallandij Venet. 1765, 14 vols. fol.
3. Patrologia Cursus Complettts, ed. Migne, Paris, 1843, et seq. {Patrol. Lat.
217 vols, in 4to ; Patrol. Grcec. First Series, 104 vols.).
The best Collections of the Councils are those of—
1. Labbe and Cossart, Paris, 1674, 17 vols, in fol.
2. Hardouin, Paris, 171 5, 12 vols, in fol.
3. Mansi, Florence, 1759, 31 vols, in fol.
The Collected Epistles of the Roman Pontiffs, from A.D. 96 to A.D. 440, were
published by Coustant, Paris, 1721, in fol.; and continued by Thiel, Lipsiae,
1867. The most important of them are contained in Rom. Pont. Epist. Selects
(vols. xvii. xviii., 1872, of Hurler's SS. Patrum Opusc, SeUcta, CEniponti,
1870-77).
List of Fathers, Councils, etc.
written during the rontincaic ui i.^^^ ■^A^^tniH nf
"other marksfnegative and positive, point to the same penod (,D.ct. of
Christ. Biog. and Literal, vol. i. p. 87). ,
Aurtor de Eebaptismate. This anonymous author .s V^^^-^J^J
TiU^mont Gallandi, and Dom Ce.Uier to have wr.tten agamst St. Cypr.an
Iborthe'yL .54. His treatise is published in Galland (tom. n,.), and
bv Misne (Patr. Lat. vol. in. p. 1187 ^^O- ,
Antlony (ST.), the great founder of -°-f H^T.^rat^he age
at Coma, on the borders of Upper Egypt and died A.D. 355, at the age
Bishop of Aries, and to Rusticus, Bishop of Narbonne. Published in
see account of his ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ by
ant'Ld L 5^3 hS^^^^^^ are published in Galland (tom. x.), and by
It
List of Fathers, Councils, etc, 3
Migne {Pair. Lat. vol. lix.), with the exception of some discoveries of M.
Delisle, published in 1866.
Bachiarius was a monk of the early part of the fifth century. His
Libellus de Fide Apologeticus was written "to satisfy the Bishop of Rome
of his orthodoxy," and "its date is fixed approximately at about the
middle of the fifth century" {Diet, of Christ. Biog, p. 236), This and
another treatise are published by Galland (tom. ix.), and by Migne {Pair.
Lat. vol. XX.).
Basil the Great (St.), Bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia, was born
A.D. 329, and died A.D. 379. See account of his life and writings in Diet,
of Christ. Biog. vol. i. pp. 283-297. The best edition of his works is the
Benedictine, by Julian Gamier (Paris, 1721-30, 3 vols, fol.) ; republished
by Gaume (Paris, 1839, 3 vols.), and Migne {Patr. Greee. vols, xxix.-xxxii.).
Basil of Seleucia(ST.), Bishop of Seleucia,in Isauria,took a leading
part in the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 448, at which Eutyches was
condemned. His homilies were first published, in Greek, by Commelin
(Lugd. Bat. 1596), and also at the end of the works of St. Gregory Thau-
maturgus (Paris, 1672).
Bede (The Venerable), the historian of the Anglo-Saxon Church,
and called by the Protestant Neander " emphatically the teacher of
England " (Bohn's Neander, v. 210), was born at Jarrow, in Northumbria,
A.D. 673, and died A.D. 735. His collected works have been published
by Dr. Giles, in 12 vols. (London and Oxford, 1843), and by Migne {Patr,
Lat. vols, xc.-xcv.). An English translation of his Ecclesiastieal History
is published in Bohn's Antiquarian Library, and one of his Explanation
of the Apocalypse, by E. Marshall, Oxford, Parker & Co., 1878.
Bernard (St.), the celebrated Abbot of Clairvaux, was born A.D.
1091, and died A.D. 1153. The Benedictine edition of his works has
been republished by Gaume (4 vols. roy. 8vo), and by Migne (P^/r. Lat.
vols, clxxxii.-clxxxv.). So great and universal was the esteem in which St.
Bernard was held, that he became, says Neander, " the counsellor of
noblemen, bishops, princes, and popes. ... His multitudinous labours
extended abroad from Clairvaux through the whole of Europe. ... To
all parts of France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, England, Ireland,
Denmark, and Sweden, monks must be sent from Clairvaux for the pur-
pose of founding new monasteries or of reforming old ones ; and thus
Bernard, at his death in 1153, left behind him one hundred and sixty
monasteries which had been founded under his influence " (Bohn's
Neander, vol. vii. pp. 349-352)-
Bioniface (St. and Pope), succeeded Zosimus, A.D. 418. He was " an
unswerving supporter of orthodoxy and Augustine in the contest against
Pelagius " {Diet, of Christ. Biog. vol. i. p. 328). His epistles are in Galland
(tom. ix.), after Constant ; and a selection of them is contained in
Hurter's Patrum Opusc. Select, (vol. xviii. 1872.)
\
List of Fathers, Councils, etc.
Cains, an ecclesiastical writer of the beginning of the third century,
fragments of whose writings are preserved by Eusebius and Photius.
Cassian, a monk of Scythia, brought up in the monastery of Beth-
lehem, and who afterwards became celebrated as a founder of Western
monachism, was born about the year 350, and died about 440. His writ-
ings were published in BibL Max. Pat, (tom. vii.), Migne (vols, xhx., l.}-
Chrysologus (St. Peter), Archbishop of Ravenna, a.d. 433 to 454,
was born at Imola about 405, and died there A.D. 454- Like Chrysostom,
he obtained the name by which he was usually known by the golden
brilliancy of his oratory. His extant works are published in Bibl Max.
Pat. (tom. vii.), and by Migne i,Patr. Lat. vol. lii.). Numerous works of
his perished by fire, partly in the siege of Imola by Theodoric in 524 ;
partly in the conflagration of the Archbishop's library at Ravenna,
A.D. 700. ,
Chrysostom (St. John), bom a.d. 347, was priest and preacher
at Antioch from A.D. 381 to 398, and Bishop of Constantinople from A.D.
398 to 404. The surname of "golden-mouthed" was given to him on
account of the extraordinary brilliancy of his eloquence. See account of
his life and writings in Diet, of Christ. Biog. and Lit. pp. 5i8-535- The
best edition of his works is the Benedictine, by Montfau^on (13 vols. fol.
Paris, 1718), reprinted by Gaume (Paris, 1834-39), and by Migne (16 vols.
8vo, Paris, 1863, in Patr. GrcBC. vols, xlvii.-lxiv.).
Clement of Rome (St. and Pope), was St. Peter's third successor in
the See of Rome, from A.D. 92 to loi. The reader will find an account
of his First Epistle to the Corinthians, and of the restoration of the lost
portion of the text (by the MS. discovered in the Library of the Holy
Sepulchre at Fanari, in Constantinople, and published by Bryennios,
Metropolitan of Serrae, at the end of 1875), »" notes to p. 81 seq., of this
work. The Appendix to Professor Lightfoot's work on the epistles of
Clement contains the newly-recovered portion, with introduction, notes,
and a translation of the whole epistle.
Clementines (The), are spurious writings attributed to St. Clement
of Rome, and now considered to have had an Eastern origin. See Bol-
linger's First Age of the Church, 2d ed. p. 302 ; and Diet, of Christ,
Biog. and Lit. vol. i. p. 577- •, j t, •
Ccelestine (St.), the forty-second Bishop of Rome, succeeded Bom-
face I., A.D. 422, and died in 432. This Pope sent Germanus, Bishop of
Auxerre, and Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, to repress the Pelagian heresy in
Britain, and SS. Palladius and Patrick to convert the Irish. Hence St.
Prosper of Acquitaine said of him, that " whilst he took pains to keep the
Roman island (Britain) Catholic, he made the barbarian island (Ireland)
to become Christian " (Prosp. Adv. Collator, n. 41).
Columbanus (St.), a celebrated Irish monk, was bom in Leinster,
A.D. 543, and was brought up in the monastery of Bangor, on the coast
of Down, under St. Comgall, by whom he was sent, A.D. 590, with
(\
\.
\
,i
List of Fathers, Councils^ etc, 5
twelve other monks, to preach the Gospel to the tribes dwelling on the
borders of the Frankish kingdom. He subsequently founded the great
monasteries of Anegrey, Luxeuil, Fontaines, and Bobbio. See the
account of his life and labours in Montalembert's Monks of the West,
vol. ii. b. vii. His writings are published in Fleming's Collectanea Sacra
(Lovan. 1667), and Galland (tom. xii.).
Cornelius (St.), succeeded the martyred Pope Fabian A. D. 251, cou-
rageously accepting his election to the Pontificate, although the tyrannical
Emperor Decius had declared that he would rather see a new pretender
to the Empire than a new Bishop of Rome (Cyprian, Epist. Iv.). He
was martyred ('^martyrio quoque dignatione Domini honoratus "— ^S"/.
Cyp) A.D. 252. Several of his epistles are published amongst St.
Cyprian's works. Eusebius quotes from his epistle to Fabius, Bishop of
Antioch {Hist Eccles. vi. 43).
Cyprian (St.), Bishop of Carthage from A.D. 248 to 257, was born
eariy in the third century, and became a convert to Christianity A.D. 246.
He suffered martyrdom A.D. 258. The reader will find an interesting
account of his life and writings in Diet, of Christ. Biog. and Literal, vol.
i. pp. 739-755 ; and in Mgr. Freppel's S. CyPrien, Paris, 1865. The
best editions of his works are those of Erasmus (Basil, 1520); Paul
Manutius(Rome, 1563) ; Pamelius (Antw. 1568) ; Rigaltius (Paris, 1648) ;
Fell (Oxford, 1682) ; Baluzius and Dom. Prud. Maranus (the celebrated
Benedictine edit., Paris, 1726; republished by Migne, Patr. Z^/. vols,
iii. iv.); Goldhorn {Cyp. Op. Genuina, Lipsiae, 1838); and J. Hartel
(1868-71). An English translation of Cyprian's works has been published
in the Oxford Library of the Fathers, and another by Messrs. Clark of
Edinburgh, in their Ante-Nicene Christian Library.
Cyril of Alexandria (St.), was Archbishop of Alexandria, and the
great opponent oftheNestorian heresy. He succeeded Theophilus A.D.
412, and died A.D. 444- He presided, as Pope Ccelestine's Legate, over
the General Council of Ephesus. The best edition of his works is that
of Aubert (6 vols. Paris, 1658), republished by Migne (Patrol. Grac.
vols. Ixviii.-lxxvii.).
Cyril of Jerusalem (St.), was born in Jerusalem about a.d 315.
He succeeded Maximus as Bishop of Jerusalem, A.D. 350. His eighteen
Catechetical Lectures, addressed to Catechumens, and five Mystagogtcal
Lectures, addressed to the newly baptized, were composed about a.d
347, while he was still a priest. See Diet, of Christ, ^^f ;. f ^^^^f '^;-
vol. i. p. 762. The best editions of his works are those of Milles (Oxford
,703), and the Benedictine (Paris, 1720, and Venice, 1761), republished
by Migne (Patrol. Grcec. vol. xxxiii.).
Dama^us (St. and Pope), succeeded Liberius a.d. 366, after violent
opposition, leading to bloodshed, on the part of the Arian faction and the
ante-Pope Ursicinus. " Damasus," says a Protestant writer,* used his
success weU, and the chair of Peter ... was never more respected nor
List of Fathers, Councils, etc.
more vigorous than during his bishopric. He appears as a vm^^J^^'
fender of orthodoxy against Arian and other heretics ^Dut. of Chns. Bog
vol. i. p. 783). " His correspondence with \-^°^^' }^'\^''^'^f^ ™
and secretary, begins A.D. 376, and closes "f, ""X*^'/^;^^ \ *,°;f f^s
Ephriem Syrus (St.), deacon or pnest of the Church of hdessa, was
born about A.D. 306, at Nisibis, in Mesopotamia, and died after AD. 379.
His extant works, in Syriac and Greek (the latter probably translated n
his time) fill six vols, folio, and were edited by J. Assemam, at Rome, in
m2 and .747. A Greek edition was published at Oxford m 1709 by
Mr. Edward Thwaites ; a Latin translation of all his works (Synac and
Greek) at Venice, in 1775. . • 1 j „f r«„«^
Epiphanins (St.), Archbishop of Salamis, m the island of Cyprus
was b!rn about A.D. 310, in Palestine, and died A.D. 403- His great
work, entitled Panarium, or, Box of AntidoUs agmnst all Heresies
appeared in 374. The best editions of his complete works are those
o^Petavius (2 vols. fol. Colon. .622) ; Dindorf (5 vols. 8vo. L.psi*.
i8i;q 63) ; Migne {Patrol. Grac. vols. xli. xlii.). , „ j
Eusebius (FAMPHILUS), Bishop of Caesarea, and commonly called
" The Father of Ecclesiastical History," was born between A.D. 260 and
270 He died about 340. In his Ecclesiastical History many valuable
extracts from the works of earlier writers (since lost) are preserved. His
complete works are published by Migne in six vols {Patr. Cra\e(TTaTr)v avrov
Tf)^ BLBa(TKa\ia<; VTroOecLv, rq^ €KK\7)aia
^,.
20 SL Peter the Rock.
r)v T7JV €KK\r]
7)v 7] €/cK\rjat,a rov deov (pKoBo/jLr)TaL. AncJiorat. n. 9, tom. ii. p.
14, ed. Petavii, Colon. 1682). " Peter, who was the very chief
of the Apostles, who became unto us truly A FIRM ROCK,
foundincT the faith of the Lord, UPON WHICH THE CHURCH
WAS IN EVERY WAY BUILT. ... He became A FIRM ROCK
OF THE BUILDING, AND FOUNDATION OF THE HOUSE OF
God " (Kopv(f>aLOTaTO(; twv a-rrocrToXcou, o? yeyovev 17/iti^ aXr)6m
arepea jrerpa, defieXLOvaa Tr)v inaTLv rov Kvpiov, € 17 (pKohofirjTO
1) €KK\r](TLa Kara iravra rpoTrov. . . . arepea ireTpa otKoBofir)^,
Kai 6efi€\co^ oiKov Oeov. Adv. HcEr. (59), n. 7, 8, tom. ii. p.
500).
St. Ambrose, a.d. 385 :— " Was He not able to confirm
the faith of him to whom by His own authority He gave the
kingdom ? WHOM He POINTED OUT AS THE FOUNDATION
OF ''the Church, when He called him the rock?"
St. Peter the Rock.
21
(
J
(Cui propria auctoritate regnum dabat, hujus fidem firmare
non poterat ; quem cum petram dixit firmamentum ecclesiae
indicavit.? De Fide, lib. iv. c. 5, n. 56, ed. Bened. Migne,
tom. ii. p. 531). "It is that same Peter to whom He said,
* Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My
Church.' Therefore, WHERE PETER IS, THERE IS THE
Church " ^ (Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia. In Ps. xl. n. 30, tom.
i. p. 879). *' Peter's ship, which is the Church " {In Luc.
lib. iv. 'JT, p. 1635). "That ship is not tossed about in
which prudence sails, where unbelief is not, where faith
blows. . . . For how could that be tossed about over which
he presided, IN WHOM IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE
Church" (Firmamentum ecclesiae. /;/ Lucam, lib. iv. n.
68). " In whom IS the support of the Church " (In
quo esset ecclesiae firmamentum et magisterium disciplinae.
De Virginit. c. 16, n. 105, tom. ii. p. 238). *' The rock of
THE Church " (Petra ecclesiae. Hymn. S. Amb. ap. August.
Retract, lib. i. c. 21. tom. iii. p. 1220). "He is called THE
FOUNDATION, because he knew how not only to sustain his
own, but also that of all (commune). . . . (His) faith, there-
fore, is the foundation of the Church, for not of the flesh of
Peter, but of HIS FAITH, was it said that * the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it'" {De Incarnat. c. 5, n. 34,
p. 711).
St. Asterius, A.D. 387:— '* The Only-begotten denomm-
ates Peter THE FOUNDATION OF THE Church. ... * Other
foundation no man can lay but that which is laid, which is
Jesus Christ' But with a like appellation (to His own) did
He adorn also that first disciple of His, denominating him A
ROCK OF THE FAITH. THROUGH PeTER, therefore, . . .
THE STABILITY OF THE CHURCH IS PRESERVED INCAPABLE
OF FALL AND UNSWERVING. . . . Peter is called THE ROCK
OF FAITH, and THE FOUNDATION AND SUBSTRUCTURE OF
THE Church of God " {OefMeXcov rov Uerpov ovofia^ec rr)<;
1 Compare the words of St. Ignatius, A.D. 107:-" Where the Bishop
is there let the multitude be ; even as where Jesus Christ is, there is
THE Catholic Church " {oxnrep oirov av ri Xpiaros lv(rovs, cku ij KadoXtKri
(KKk-nffia. Epist. ad. Smyr. n. 8).
22
S/, Peter the Rock,
\
St. Peter the Rock.
23
eKK\r](Jia^. Xv €L nerpo^. , , . Trj ofioici he KXrjaei 6 ScoTTjp
rjficov icai top 'rrpcoTOV avrov fiadijTTfV KareKoafirjae, irerpav
ovofiaaa^ T779 marem' hta Uerpov tolvvv airrayrov kul aK\iv€ '^^ arofia
T(ou airooToXcov airainwv, r) KepaTpia<; €KeLvrj<;,
6 T779 oLKOviievq^ airaar]^ irpoGTarri^, 6 defieXio^; tt;? eKK\r](na^.
Tom. vi. In illitd, Hoc scitote, n. 4. p. 282). " The first of
the Apostles, THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH, the
leader of the choir of the disciples" {jov TrpwTovTcov airoaroXcoVy
TTJV KprpriSa tt;? eKKXTjaia^, tov Kopv(f>aiov tov X^P^^ '^^^
fiaOrjTtov. Ad Eos qui scandalizati sunt, n. 17, tom. iii. p. 303).
*' The FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH " (6 neTpo<; rj KprjTTL^
Tv^ eKKXrjaca^. In illiid, Vidi Dom. Hom. iv. n. 3) ; " The
pillar of the Church ; the buttress of the faith ; THE FOUNDA-
TION OF THE Confession ; the fisherman of the universe "
(Tom. iii. Hom. De Dec. Mil. Talent, n. 3, p. 4). "'And I say to
thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my Church,'— that is, ON THE FAITH OF THE CONFESSION.
Hereby He signifies that many were now about to believe,
and he raises his thoughts and makes him the pastor. . . .
Then He mentions also another honour : * And to thee will I
give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.' What means * I
will give to thee .?'... You perceive how He leads Peter
fh
^
I
*
to a sublime idea of Himself, and reveals and shows Himself
to be the Son of God by these two promises. For those
things which are peculiar to God alone-to remit sms, and
to make the Church incapable of overthrow in so great an
assault of waves, and to exhibit A FISHERMAN MORE SOLID
THAN ANY ROCK when the whole world is battlmg— these
things He promises Himself to give, as the Father also said
to Jeremias : ' I have made thee a pillar of iron and a wall
of brass' (Jer. i. i8); but him to one nation, this man m
every part of the world " (/cat avQpio-Kov «Xtea irerpa? 7ra. 390 :-" Peter, upon whom the Lord
FOUNDED THE ChURCH" (Petrus, super queni Dominus
fundavit ecclesiam. Tom. i. Epist. 41, ^d Marcellam, p. 188,
ed. Migne). "Upon whom the Church was founded
in stable massiveness " (Super quem ecclesia Domini stabi 1.
mole fundata est. Dial. adv. Pelag. hb. i. n. 14, t. n. p. W)-
" As Christ Himself gave light to the Apostles, that they
might be called the light of the world, and as they obtained
other names also from the Lord, so to Simon also who
believed on the rock Christ, He bestowed the name of Peter
and. according to the metaphor of a rock, it is rightly said of
him, ' I will build my Church UPON THEE. . . .The gates
of hell' are vices and sins, or certainly the doctrines of
heretics by which men enticed are led to hell (Simoni. qui
credebat in Petram Christum, Petri largitus est nomen, ac
secundum metaphoram petrs. recte dicitur ei, sditicabo
ecclesiam meam super te. Tom. vii. In Matt, xvu p. 124).
St. Augustine, a.d. 400 :-" Peter, who had confessed
Him the Son of God. and in that confession had been called
THE ROCK UPON WHICH THE CHURCH SHOULD BE BUILT
(Petrus, qui paulo ante eum confessus est FiHum Dei, et m
ilia confessione appellatus est petra. super ^^fl^^'^^'^^fH
ecclesia. In Ps. Ixix. n. 4. tom. iv. p. 1020 ed. Bened 1836).
Owin- to his ignorance of Hebrew, or of Syro-Chaldaic. the
24
SL Pder the Rock.
language spoken by Christ, St. Augustine elsewhere proposes
a different interpretation of the text {Retract. 1. i. n. 2 ; In
Joann. Tract. 7, n. 14; lb. Tract. 124, n. 5; Serin. 76, n.
1-4) ; on which subject see WaterworTH'S The Fathers on
St. Peter, pp. 48-50; Kenrick On the Primacy, 5th edit. pp.
52-54- ,
Victor of Antioch, a.d. 405 :— " To Simon He gave the
name Peter, that the name may anticipate the event itself;
because as Christ the Lord was about to BUILD His
Church on Peter — that is, on the unbroken and sound
doctrine of Peter and his unshaken faith— therefore in pro-
phetic spirit does He call him Peter" {In Evang. Marc. c. 3,
p. 377, Bibl. Max. Pat. t. v.).
PaulusOrosius, A.D. 419:— '* Peter, . . . constituted the
ROCK OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH " {De Lib.
Arbit. n. 23, p. 165, Galland, ix.). "Peter, UPON WHICH
ROCK Christ built His Church" (O Petre, super quam
petram Christus suam fundavit ecclesiam. lb. n. 27, p. 166).
St. Maximus bf Turin, a.d. 424 :— " Peter, . . . the
ROCK OF THE CHURCHES, . . . LIKE AN IMMOVABLE ROCK,
HOLDS TOGETHER THE FRAMEWORK AND THE MASS OF THE
WHOLE STRUCTURE OF CHRISTIANITY. Peter, therefore, for
devotion is called the rock, and the Lord by powef is named
the rock . . . Rightly does he merit a fellowship of name
who also merited a fellowship of work " (Petra ecclesiarum
. . tanquam saxum immobile totius operis Christiani
compagem molemque contineat. Horn. iv. de Petro Apost. p.
24, Bibl. Max. t. vi.), ** Through Christ PETER WAS MADE
THE ROCK, the Lord saying to him, * Thou art Peter, and
upon this rock/" &c. (Hie est Petrus, cui Christus Dominus
communionem sui nominis libenter indulsit ; ut enim sicut
Paulus Apostolus edocuit, Petra erat Christus; ita per
Christum Petrus factus est petra, dicente ei Domino: Tu
es Petrus, &c, lb. in Natal. App. Pet. et Paul, Hom. i.
p. 34. See also Hom. de Eod. Fest. p. 377, Galland, ix. Serm,
42, p. 391 ; ^^^^«- T^y P- 393» Galland).
St. Cyril of Alexandria, a.d. 424 : — " Allusively to
the name from the rock, He changes his name to Peter
I
St. Peter the Rock.
25
I I
\i\
f
for ON HIM He WAS ABOUT TO FOUND HiS ChURCH "
((fyepcovvfiax; Se airo rr)^ irerpa^ fiercovofia^e Uerpov iir avT(p yap
e/jLeWe Tr)V avTov dejxekLovv €KKkr)aiav. In Joann. i. 42, lib.
ii. p. 131, ed. Aubert. tom. vi. Migne). " Calling, I think, the
rock, THE IMMOVABLENESS IN THE FAITH OF THE DISCIPLE"
{In Isai. lib. iv. p. 593, tom. iii.). '' Then He also names another
honour : ' Upon this rock I will build my Church ; and to
thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.' Observe
how He summarily manifests Himself Lord of heaven and
earth, for . . . He promises to found the Church, assigning
immovableness to it, as He is the Lord of virtues, and OVER
THIS He sets Peter shepherd. Then He says, * And I
will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.' Neither
angel, nor any other intellectual power, is able to utter this
voice" {In Matt. xvi. tom. v. p. 55).
Theodoret, a.d. 424:— ''The great foundation of
the Church" {Hcsret. Fab. lib. v. c. 28).
St. Prosper of Aquitaine, a.d. 429:— "The most firm
ROCK, which, from that principal rock, received a participa-
tion of His virtue and name " {De Vocat. Gentium, lib. i. c.
28, p. 185, Bibl. Max. tom. viii.
St. Leo the Great, a.d. 440:— ''*And I,' He says, 'say
to thee,' that is, as My Father has manifested to thee My
Divinity, so also do I make known to thee thy eminence.
* For thou art Peter,* that is, whereas I am the inviolable
rock ; I the corner-stone who made both one ; 1 the founda-
tion besides which no one can lay other ; yet THOU ALSO
ART A ROCK, because thou art consolidated by My might,
that what things are Mine alone by My power may be com-
mon to thee by participation with Me " (Tu quoque petra es,
quia mea virtute consolidaris, ut quae mihi potestate sunt
propria, sint tibi mecum participatione communia). Serm.
iv. in Natal Ordin. c. 2, ed. Bailer). *' The Lord willed
that the mystery of this gift (of Divine religion to all the
world) should so belong to the office of all the Apostles as
to seat it chiefly in the most blessed Peter, highest of all the
Apostles ; and from him, as it were from the head, He wills
His gifts to flow as into the whole body ; that whoever dares
^.
^r■I.
26 SL Peter the Rock,
to recede from THE SOLIDITY OF PETER, may know that he
has no part in the Divine mystery. For him, assumed mto
the participation of His indivisible unity, He willed to be
named what He Himself was, by saying, * Thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I will build My- Church,' THAT THE
REARING OF THE ETERNAL TEMPLE, BY THE WONDERFUL
GIFT OF THE GRACE OF GOD, MIGHT CONSIST NOW IN THE
SOLIDITY OF PETER, strengthening with this firmness His
Church, that neither the rashness of men might attempt it,
nor the gates of hell prevail against it" (Sed hujus muneris
sacramentum ita Dominus ad omnium apostolorum officium
pertinere voluit, ut in beatissimo Petro, apostolorum omnium
summo, principaliter coUocaverit : et ab ipso quasi quodam
capite, dona sua velit in corpus omne manare : ut exortem
se mysterii intelligeret esse divini, qui ausus fuisset a Petri
soliditate recedere. Hunc enim in consortium individuae
unitatis assumptum, id quod ipse erat, voluit nominari,
dicendo: Tu es Petrus, &c.; ut aeterni templi aedificatio,
mirabili munere gratiae Dei, in Petri soliditate consisteret; hac
ecclesiam suam firmitate corroborans, ut illam nee humana
temeritas posset appetere, nee portae contra illam inferi prae-
valerent. Epist, x, ad Episc.per Prov. Vienn, m causa Htiarii,
c. i. tom. i. p. 633). '' The rock of the Catholic faith,
which name the blessed Apostle Peter received from the
Lord" (Catholics fidei petra, cujus cognomen beatus Apos-
tolus Petrus sumpsit a Domino. Epist, cxix. n. 2, ad Maxim,
Antioch, Episc).
General Council of Ephesus, a.d. 431. ^^ this Council
the Legate Philip called Peter '* THE PILLAR OF THE FAITH,
THE FOUNDATION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH " (6 Kltov tt)^
7rt(TT60)9, 6 defieXLO^ tt;? KadoXiKT)^ €KK\r)aia<;. Concil. Eph,
Act. iii. p. 625, Labbe).
General Council of Chalcedon, a.d. 451. In the sen-
tence against Dioscorus, approved of by all the Bishops,^
Peter is'called " THE ROCK AND FOUNDATION OF THE CA-
1 ** The unanimous Council subscribes thejudgmentr—Mil^UK^'s Hist, of Lat.
Christ, b. ii. ch. iv. vol. i. p. 268, ed. 1867. This Council was composed of about
600 Bishops, almost all of the Eastern Church.
St, Peter the Rock,
27
»
THOLic Church, and the foundation of the Orthodox
Faith " (6? ^ctiv irerpa KaL Kprjin^ tt;? KaOoXiicr]^ €KK\rjaca<;,
Kac TTj^ opOoBo^ov Tnarem o OefieKio^. Concil. Chat. in. p. 425,
Labbe, iv.).
Formula of Pope Hormisdas, a.d. 517 (v. infra, p. 68).
The above extracts are sufficient^ to show that the early
Fathers were unanimous in applying the words " THIS
ROCK," Matt. xvi. 18, to St. Peter; but it should be
observed, that many of those who wrote subsequently to the
Arian controversy interpreted them, also, in a secondary and
figurative sense, of St. Peters faith and confession, and of our
Lord Himself as the primary and invisible Rock whom Peter
represented.
Ballerini, in his work De Vi ac Ratione Primatiis, heads
a section in cap. ii., " Petrae nomm^ fidem S. Petri significari
Patrum traditione ostenditur," and, after citing many Fathers,
Popes, and ecclesiastical writers who give this interpretation,
he adds : " Itaque petrcs nomine 5. Petri confessionem ac
fidem esse accipie^idam tanta ac tarn aperta Patrum, Pontifi-
cum, ac ecclesiasticorum librorum traditio nos dubitare non
sinit'" (p. 'JT, ed. Westhoff, 1845). The words of AMBROSE,
Chrysostom, Victor of Antioch, and Cyril of Alex-
andria, have been given in pp. 21, 22, 24, 25, and exemplify
1 Passaglia {De PrcErog. S. Petri), Ballerini, and others, give extracts
from various ancient Sacramentaries and Liturgies, which confirm the same fact.
The Irish St. Sechnall, or Secundinus, a disciple of St. Patrick, whom
he assisted in the administration of the See of Armagh till his death m 448, says
in his hymn in praise of that Saint : - He is constant in the service of God, and
immoveable in the faith as Peter, upon whom the Church is built and
whose apostolate he received from God, against whose bulwark the assaults of
hell cannot prevail " (Constans in Dei timore et fide immobilis Super quern
edificatur, ut Petrus, ecclesia : Cujusque apostolatum a Deo sortitus est In cujus
porta adversus inferni non praevalent. Lib, Hymn. p. 12, Publ. of I. A. b.
,855) See Dr. Moran's Essays on Early Irish Church (p. 91), m which the
statements of Usher and later Protestant writers regarding the faith of the early
Irish Church are thoroughly refuted. As a specimen of the lan^age used by
the later Greek writers, it may suffice to quote the words of St. JOtin
Damascene, who calls St. Peter -that Coryph^us of the Apostles, the
firm foundation, the unbroken rock," &c. (nerpo. .m.0. rov Kopv^acov
Tco. aTToaroXo,., r^. Kp^cSa rrjv a€p(ov.
Catech. Myst. vi. n. 15). " Prince of the Apostles, and THE
KEY-BEARER OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN " (tt?? ^a^iK^ia<^
Tiov ovpavcou K\€LBovxo<;n6Tpo<;. Catech. xvii. n. 27. Comp. Cat.
xiv. n. 26).
St. Optatus of MHevis :— ** The keys, which Peter
ALONE received " (Claves, quas solus Petrus accepit. De
Schism. Donat. lib. i. c. 10, p. 42). " For the good of unity,
blessed Peter both merited to be preferred before all the
Apostles, and HE ALONE RECEIVED THE KEYS OF THE
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, that he might communicate them to
the others " (Bono unitatis beatus Petrus pr^ferri apostolis
omnibus meruit, et claves regni ccelorum communicandas
ceteris solus accepit. lb. lib. vii. c. 3, ?• ^44, ed. Hurter,
1870).
St. Ephrem Syrus :— " The Prince of the Apostles, who
had RECEIVED THE KEYS, and was accounted the shepherd
of the flock" (Tom. ii. Syr. Ivi. Adv. HcEr. p. 559, ed. Asse-
man) *' We hail thee, Peter, the tongue of the disciples, the
voice of the heralds, the eye of the Apostles, THE KEEPER OF
HEAVEN, THE FIRST-BORN OF THOSE THAT BEAR THE
KEYS " (tg)i; aTTOO-ToXft)!/ ^ of ^9, ro)!/ ovpavwv 6 (}>v\al 6 tcou
K\e,Bovxcov -rrpcoTOTOKo,. Tom. iii. Gr. in SS. Apost. p. 464).
See also extract given in p. 19.
St. Gregory Nyssen :— '' Through Peter He gave (to
Bishops) the key of the supercelestial honours " {Bia Herpov
€ha>K€ Tvv KXeiBa tC 77 Trpo? Tlerpov, Lib. ii. Co7it,
Novatian. ap. Photium, Biblioth. cod. 280).
St. Gregory the Great, a.d. 604 :— " It is evident to all
who know the Gospel, that by the voice of the Lord the care
of the whole Church was committed to holy Peter, the prince
of all the Apostles. For to him it is said, ... * Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church. And to
thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.* Behold,
HE RECEIVES THE KEYS OF THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM ; THE
POWER OF BINDING AND OF LOOSING IS GIVEN TO HIM ; TO
HIM THE CARE AND GOVERNMENT OF THE WHOLE CHURCH
IS COMMITTED " (Cunctis evangelium scientibus liquet, quod
36 Si. Peter the Confirmer of the Brethren.
voce Dominica sancto et omnium Apostolorum principi
Petro Apostolo totius ecclesia cura commissa est tcce
claves re^ni coelestis accipit. potestas ei ligand. ac solvend,
tribuitur, cura ei totius ecclesiae et principatus comm.tt.tur.
EHst. ad Matirit. August, lib. iv. epist. 32).
Venerable Bede, a.d. 700 :-" Blessed Peter in a special
MANNER received the keys of the kingdom of heaven and
THE HEADSHIP OF JUDICIARY POWER, that a 1 behevers
throughout the world might understand that all hose who
in anyway separate themselves from the unity of his faith
r„dToImunion.-such can neither be absolved fn.m the
bonds of their sins, nor enter the gate of the heavenly king-
dom " (Beatus Petrus specialiter claves regm ccelorum et
principatum judiciari^ potestatis accepit, ut omnes per orbem
credentes intelligant, quia quicumque ab unitate fide, vel
societatis illius quolibet modo semetipsos segregant, tales
nee vinculis peccatorum absolvi, nee januam Po-nt -regn'
coelestis ingredi. Bedm. Ven. Horn, m die SS. Pet.et Paul).
Tie Irish Claudius. Bishop of Auxerre in the tenth century,
seems to have adopted this passage from Bede in his Com-
lent, in St. Matt. Evang. (Vide Dr. Moran's Essays on the
Early Irish Church, p. 108).
St. Peter the Confirmer of the Brethren.
37
, In reference to Luke xxii. 31. 32, in which Christ prays
" that the faith of Peter might never fail]' and commands him
to -eonfirm his brethre^tl' the Fathers call him The Confirmer
of the Brethren-The Foundation and Pillar of the Faxth-
The One Intrusted with the Care of all-The Support of the
^''%\. ^Ambrose :— " Peter, after having been tempted by
the devil is SET OVER the Church (ecclesix praeponitur).
The Lord therefore, signified beforehand what that is, that
He afterwards chose him the pastor of the Lord's flock.
For to him He said, ' But thou, when thou art converted,
confirm thy brethren ' " {In ^^- xHii- " 40, p. 1 109). " To
whom He gave the kingdom, his faith could He not con-
I
firm?" {De Fide, lib. iv. c. S, n. 56). See context, ^«/r^,
p. 20.
St. Chrysostom, on the words, "In those days Peter
rose up in the midst of the disciples " (Acts i. 15):— *' Both
as being ardent, and as intrusted by Christ with the flock,
... he first acts with authority in the matter, as HAVING
ALL PUT INTO HIS HANDS ; for to him Christ had said, * And
thou, being converted, confirm thy brethren ' " (HpcDTo? tox)
irparytiaTo<^ avOevret, are avTO<; iravra^ erixeipKrOeL^;, irpo^ yap
TovTov eiTTev 6 XpLfJTor icau irore ein(TTpe>^a<;, aTr)pLaov tov<;
aB6\(f>ov^ GOV. Horn. iii. in Act. Apost. tom. ix. p. 26).
St. Cyril of Alexandria:— "* Confirm thy brethren;' that
is, become THE SUPPORT AND TEACHER OF THOSE WHO
COME TO Me by FAITH " (jovT^dTi yevov arrjpt/yfia Kac
8t8a(7-/caXo9 T(ov Bca Trto-reo)? irpoacovTcov e/ioL^ In Luc, p. 420,
tom. v.).
St. Leo the Great :— " For the faith of Peter in particular
does He pray, as if the state of the others would be more sure
if the mind of thejr prince were not conquered. In Peter,
therefore, the fortitude of all is defended, and the help^ of
Divine grace is so ordered, that the firmness which through
Christ is given to Peter may THROUGH PETER be conferred
on the Apostles. Therefore, since we see that so great a
safeguard has been divinely instituted for us, reasonably and
justly do we rejoice in the merits and dignity of our leader,
giving thanks to our everlasting King and Redeemer, who
GAVE SO GREAT A POWER TO HIM WHOM HE MADE THE
PRINCE OF THE WHOLE CHURCH, that if anything is rightly
done and rightly ordered by us, even in these our days, it be
referred to his doing, to his governing, unto whom was said,
' And thou, converted, confirm thy brethren ' " (Commune erat
1 Cf Theophylactus -.-"This {i^' confirm thy brethren') becometh thee,
WHO AFTER Me, ART THE ROCK AND THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH.
We may suppose that this has not been said of the Apostles alone, that they were
to be confirmed by Peter, but OF ALL the faithful, even to the end of
THE WORLD " (. containing this Passage, and these
are of but questionable authority" (Dr. Pinnock's Analysts of New Test. Hist.
4th edit. Cambridge, p. 91). Of the disputed passages in Cyprian this same
titer observes, that -they are said to have been interpolated by the Roman
Church " {Anc^l. of Ecclesiast. Hist. p. 242) ; but he omits to state how many of
the existing MSS. do or do not contain them.
5/. Peter the Chief Pastor.
St, Peter the Chief Pastor.
43
42
heaven, He was leaving to us, as it were, THE VICAR OF His
LOVE. For thus you have it : * Simon, son of John, lovest
thou me ? . . . Feed My sheep Because he alone out of
all makes this profession (of love), he is PREFERRED BEFORE
ALL. . . . And now he is not ordered, as at first, to * feed
His'lambs,' ... but ' His sheep,* THAT THE MORE PERFECT
MIGHT GOVERN THE MORE PERFECT " (Quem elevandus m
ccelum amoris sui velut vicarium relinquebat . . . omnibus
antefertur . . . perfectiores ut perfectior gubernaret. ///
Lucam, lib. x. p. 1848, tom. ii.).
St. Epiphanius :— •* He heard from that same God, * Peter,
feed My lambs ;' TO HIM WAS INTRUSTED THE FLOCK ; he
leads the way admirably in the power of his own Master "
(6 7r€7rt(rTeu/i€j/09 Tr)v -noi^vnv' o Kokm ohn^^v ev ttj hvvafiet rov
ihcov hea-iroTov. Tom. ii. /;/ Anchor at. n. 9).
St. Chrysostom :— " And why, then, passing by the
others, does He converse with Peter on these things t (John
xxi. 15). He was the chosen one of the Apostles, and the
mouth of the disciples, and the leader of the choir. On this
account, Paul also went up on a time to see him rather than the
others. And withal, to show him that he must thenceforward
have confidence, as the denial was done away with, He PUTS
INTO HIS HANDS THE PRESIDENCY OVER THE BRETHREN.
And He brings not forward the denial, nor reproaches him
with what had past, but says, * If thou lovest Me, PRESIDE
OVER THE BRETHREN, ... and the third time He gives hmi
the same injunction, showing at what a price He sets THE
PRESIDENCY OVER HlS OWN SHEEP. And if any one should
say, How then did James receive the throne of Jerusalem >
This I would answer, that He appointed this man (Peter)
TEACHER, not of that throne, but OF THE WORLD" {Kai tl
hrriroTe TOV<; aXKov^ irapahpafMcov rovTcp irepi tovtwv ^laXeyeraL ;
€KKptTO<; vv 7(ov airo(TTo\(ov Kai arotia twv fiadi^Tcov, Kai Kopv^r)
Tov xopov . . . €7X€t/)6?eTa6 ttjv nrpoaraaiav t(OV aS€\(ov . . .
\ey6L he on ec (j>iX€L<; fie irpoiaraao t(dv aSeXc^wi/. . . . El Se
\eyoL Tt9, TTO)? ovv 6 laKW^o^ TOV Opovov eXafie t(dp lepoaoXvfiayv ;
eKecvo av eiiroLfiL, otl tovtop ovk tov Opovov, a\Xu Trj9 eTT^o-Teukc? Trapa tov XpiGTOv Trfv moLiiv^v, Kai m tov xopov
irpcoTo^, Tom. ix. Horn. iii. in Act p. 24). '^ Why did He
shed His blood .? That He might gain possession of those
sheep which He INTRUSTED TO PETER AND TO HIS SUC-
CESSORS " (a [ra irpofiaTo] Tcp IleTpcp Kai toi^ fier eKeivov eve-
Xeipi aKovaa<; BoaKe Ta apvia fioxr Kai cx^hov
av& eavTov tov iriaTOTaTOV fiadriTTiV eScoKev 6 Kvpio He prayed
for Peter, but prayed not for James and John, not to mention
the others. It is manifest that all are included ; for, praying
for Peter, He is seen to have prayed for all ; for a people is
ever blamed or praised in him that is set over it " {Qiiczst.
75, ex N. Test, in App. St. August, tom. iii. 2894).
St. Aug\istine :—" I am held in the communion of the
Catholic Church by . . . the succession of priests from the
very Chair of the Apostle Peter, TO WHOM THE LORD, AFTER
His resurrection, committed His sheep to be fed,
44 Si. Peter the Chief Pastor.
even to the present Episcopate" (Tenet ab ipsa sede Petri
Apostoli. cui pascendas oves post resurrect.onem Dom.nus
commendavit usque ad prxsentem Episcopatum, successio
sacerdotum. Tom. viii. Coni. Epist. Manich. Fund. n. 5. P-
269). " Peter was made THE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH, as
Moses was made the ruler of the Jewish people" (Petrus
factus est pastor ecclesix, sicut Moyses . . . factus est rector
iUius synagoga. Cont. Faustum, lib. xx.i. c. 70). " Peter,
TO WHOM He commended his SHEEP AS ANOTHER SELF.
He wished to make one with Himself, that so He might
commend the sheep to him ; that he might be THE HEAD
he bear the figure of the Body-that is, of the Church-and
as husband and wife be two in one flesh " (Tom. v. Serm.
xlvi. n. 30, p. 345)- " The Lord commended to Peter him-
self His sheep to be fed. But not he alone amongst the
disciples merited to feed the Lord's sheep; but when
Christ speaks to one, unity is commended, and TO PETER
PRIMARILY, BECAUSE AMONG THE APOSTLES PETER IS THE
FIRST " {Sernt. ccxcv. in Nat. Pet. et Paul. n. 4, p. i757)-
St. Boniface, Pope, a.d. 419:— "Peter, ... the per-
petual SHEPHERD OF THE Lord's SHEEP, in whom we read
that the foundation of the Universal Church was laid (yui
pastor dominicarum ovium est perpetuus constitutus, . . . m
quo universalis ecclesis positum legimus fundamentum.
Epist. v. Rufo, Thcss. Ep. n. i, Galland, ix. p. 50).
St. Maamus of Turin •—" Peter found a grace greater
than that which he had lost. As A GOOD SHEPHERD, HE
RECEIVED THE FLOCK TO GUARD, that he, who before had
been weak in his own case, might become a support to all
and a foundation to the rest by stability of faith
(Tanquam bonus pastor tuendum gregem accept, ut fieret
omnibus fundamentum, et . . . ceteros fide, stabihtate
fundaret. Denique pro soliditate devotionis ecclesiarum petra
dicitur &c. Horn. iv. De Pet. Apost. Bibl. Max. Pat. vi. 24).
St. Oyril Of Alexandria :— " Over the Church He SETS
Peter as shepherd " {In Matt. xvi. torn. v. p. 25).
St Leo the Great :— " To whom, while the power ot
binding and loosing was given beyond the rest, yet was THE
St. Peter the Chief Pastor.
45
ji
}
CARE OF FEEDING THE SHEEP MORE SPECIALLY ASSIGNED.
To whom whoso thinks that THE PRIMACY is to be denied,
he can in no wise lessen the dignity of Peter, but, puflfed up
by the spirit of his own pride, he sinks himself down into
hell" (Cui cum prze ceteris solvendi et ligandi tradita sit
potestas, pascendarum tamen ovium cura specialius mandata
est Cui quisquis principatum sstimat denegandum, lUius
quidem nuUo modo potest minuere dignitatem : sed mflatus
spiritu superbiae sue semetipsum in inferna demergit. hptst.
yiad Episc. per Prov. Vienn. c. 2. " To THE BLESSED Peter
ABOVE THE OTHERS, after the keys of the kingdom, IS THE
CARE OF THE LORD'S FOLD ASSIGNED " (BeatO Apostolo
Petro supra ceteros, post regni claves, ovilis Dominici cura
mandatur. Tom. i. Serm. Ixxiii. de Ascen. Dom. c. 2, p. 29 1 .
ed Ball) "Whereas Peter alone received many things,
nothing passed unto any one else without his participation
in it ° Out OF THE WHOLE WORLD THE ONE PETER IS
CHOSEN TO BE SET OVER BOTH THE CALLING OF THE
NATIONS, AND OVER ALL THE APOSTLES, AND ALL THE
Fathers of the Church ; that although in the people
of God there be many priests and many shepherds, PeTER
MAY RULE ALL AS MADE HIS, WHOM CHRIST ALSO RULES
BY SUPREME HEADSHIP" (De toto mundo unus ehgitur
Petrus qui et universarum gentium vocationi, et omnibus
Apostolis cunctisque Ecclesiae patribus praeponatur: ut
quamvis in populo Dei multi sacerdotes multique pastores,
omnes tamen proprie regat Petrus, quos princpahter regit
et Christus. Serm. iv. in Natal. Ora. c. i. tom. i. p. 14)-
St. Eucherius of Lyons :-" First He committed to him
the lambs, then the sheep; because He constituted him not
only shepherd, but THE SHEPHERD OF SHEPHERDS. There-
fore Peter feeds the lambs, he feeds also the sheep ; he
feed's the offspring, he feeds also the mothers ; HE RULES
BOTH SUBJECTS AND PRELATES. HE IS THE SHEPHERD,
THEREFORE. OF ALL, BECAUSE, BESIDES LAMBS AND SHEEP,
THERE IS NOTHING IN THE CHURCH " (Non solum pas-
torem, sed pastorum pastorem eum constituit. . . . Regit
et subditos et praelatos. Omnium igitur pastor est, quia
46
SL Peter the Chief Pastor.
praeter agnos et oves in Ecclesia nihil est. Serin, de Natal
SS. Apost. Petri et Paiili).
St. Peter Chrysologus, a.d. 440: — "To Peter He
COMMENDS His sheep, in His stead, to be fed" (Vice
sua, ut pasceret, commendat. Serm. vi. in Ps. xcix. Bibl,
Max. Pat. vii. 10).
Amobius Junior, a.d. 440: — "Behold, that succour is
given to a penitent Apostle, who is THE msHOP OF BISHOPS
(qui est episcopus episcoporum), and a greater rank^ is re-
stored to him now weeping than was taken from Him
when he ' denied! That I may prove this, I show that NO
OTHER Apostle received the name of shepherd.
For the Lord Jesus alone said, ' I am the Good Shepherd ;'
and again, * My sheep/ He says, * Follow Me/ This HOLY
name, therefore, and the power of the same name,
He, after the resurrection, conceded to the penitent PETER ;
and the Denied bestowed on him who denied Him THIS
POWER WHICH HE ALONE HAD; that he might be proved
not only to have recovered what he had lost, but also to
have acquired even much more by being penitent than he
had lost by denying" (Hoc ergo sanctum nomen, et ipsius
nominis potestatem post resurrectionem suam Petro poeni-
tenti concessit, &c. Com, in Ps. cxxxviii. tom. viii. Bib.
Max. Pat. p. 320).
St. Simplicius, Pope, a.d. 468 :—" Him on whom the
Lord enjoined the care of all the sheepfold " (Cui
Dominus totius curam ovilis injunxit, cui se usque ad finem
seculi minime defuturum, cui portas inferi nunquam prae-
valituras esse promisit. Epist. iv. ad Basil August. Labbe,
iv. p. 1 071).
St. Gelasius (v. supra, p. 39).
St. Gregory the Great:— "By the voice of the Lord,
THE CARE OF THE WHOLE ChURCH WAS COMMITTED TO
Peter, the head of all the Apostles; for to him it
^ St. Chrysostom says : ** Peter so washed away that denial as to he even
made the first Apostle^ and to have the whole world committed to him " (oirws
OTcvi^aro rtiv apvTfffLV eKeivrfv^ (is /cat Tpuroi ycveaOai tuv airocrciXuv, koi ttjv
oiKovfievrfv e7Xftpts^i7''«t dvacay. Tom. i. Orat. viii. n. 3)»
St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles, 47
was said, * Peter, lovest thou Me .J* Feed My sheep'"
(Liquet, quod voce Dominica sancto et omnium Aposto-
lorum Petro principi Apostolo totius Ecclesiae cura com-
missa est, ipsi quippe dicitur, Pasce oves meas. Lib. iv.
Epist, 32).
St. Oolumbanus, a.d. 580. The celebrated Irish Liturgy
known as the Missal of St. Oolumbanus ^ contains the
following Collect in the Mass assigned for the Cathedra
Sancti Petri .—''O God! who on this day DIDST GIVE TO
St. Peter, after Thyself, the headship of the
WHOLE Church, we humbly pray Thee that, as Thou didst
constitute him pastor for the safety of the flock, and that
Thy sheep might be preserved from error, so now Thou
mayest save us through his intercession " (Deus, qui hodierna
die B. Petrum post Te dedisti caput Ecclesiae. . . . Te sup-
plices rogamus, ut qui dedisti pastorem, ne quid de ovibus
perderes, et ut grex effugiat errores, &c. Museum Italicum,
vol. i. p. 297, a D. J. Mabillon, Paris, 1724).
5. The First ^ of the Apostles — The Chosen One — The Head
— The Chief— The Highest—The Leader— The Prince of the
Apostles— To whom had been Intrusted the Government or
Supremacy—Universal Bishop— Bishop of Bishops— Primate
1 This Missal was discovered by the learned Mabillon at Bobbio, the MS.
being then, as he declared, *'more than a thousand [years old" (J/«J. Ital.
vol. i. p. 27s). For a full account of it, and proofs that both the Missal and the
MS. itself are Irish, see Dr. Moran's Essays on the Early Irish Church, 1864,
pp- 95. 96, 275-295. , . , ^ 1 c* -D * • •
a Wherever the Apostles are enumerated m the Gospels, St. Peter is invari-
ably named first. St. Matthew expressly calls him " the first " (x. 2), the same
Greek word (Trpcuros) being rendered ''chief" in chap. xx. 27, and other pas-
sages. Mr. Allies remarks : *' Now, that second and third do not follow, shows
that ' first ' is not a numeral here, but designates rank and pre-eminence. Thus
in heathen authors this word ' first ' by itself indicates the more excellent m its
kind: thus in the Septuagint occur, 'first friend of the king,' 'first of the
singers,' 'the first priest,' i.e., the chief priest (Nehem. xii. 46; 2 Chron.^ xxvi.
20). So our Lord : * Whichever among you will be first ' (Matt. xx. 27) ; * Brmg
forth the first robe ' (Luke xv. 22) ; and St. Paul : ' Sinners, of whom I am the
first ' i.e., chief (i Tim. i. 15). Thus ' the first of the island' (Acts xxvui. 7),
means the chief magistrate ; and ' first ' generally, in Latin phraseolog}% the
superior or prince."— 6"/ Peter, His Name and Office, p. 95, 2d edit.
i ^^
48 SL Peter the Prince of the Apostles.
of all Bishops'-Prince of tlu whole Chiirch—In whom the
Government and Headship of the Universal Church reside-^
Prince of the Princes^Prince of the Episcopal Crown, &c,, &c.
— Who now and always Lives and Judges in his Successors--
Always Presides in his own See, and shows the Truth of Faith
to those seeking it- Whose Dignity fails not in an unworthy
Heir— Who in all things Protects and has regard to the Heirs
of his Admiyiistration, &c.
St. Ignatius, a.d. 107 :— " And when He came to Peter
AND HIS COMPANY,! He said, * Take, handle Me, and see
that I am not an incorporeal demon'" {jov^ irepc Uerpov.
Epist. ad Smyr, c. 3, et ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. iii. 36).
Tertullian:— "It was His pleasure to communicate to
THE MOST HIGHLY ESTEEMED OF HiS DISCIPLES, in a pecu-
liar manner, a name (Peter) drawn from the figures of Him-
self" (Carissimo discipulorum de figuris suis peculiariter
nomen communicare. Adv, Marcion. lib. iv. c. 13).
Origen :— " Peter, THE PRINCE of the Apostles " (In
Lucam^Hom. xvii. tom. iii. p, 953). "MORE HONOURED
THAN THE REST " (tcdi/ XotTTO)!/ TL/JLicoTepo^. Tom. XXXii. ///
foann. n. 5, tom. iv. p. 413)- On the words in Matt. xvii.
26 he remarks, that the disciples " considered that this was a
very great favour to Peter on the part of Jesus, as having
ADJUDGED HIM GREATER THAN THE OTHER DISCIPLES"
{KpLvavTo^ avTov fiei^ova tq)v Xolttcov yvcopifiayv,^ Tom. xm. in
Matt. n. 14, tom. iii. p. 588).
1 Comp. Acts xiii. 13, oi irept top HauXov, ''Paul and his company:' The
expression of St. Ignatius is similar to those so frequently used in the Gospels and
Acts — " Simon and they that were with him " (Mark i. 36) ; " Peter and they
that were with him'' (Luke viii. 45, «• S^) ; '' P^i^r standing up with the
eleven" (Acts ii. 14); '' Peter and the other Apostles'' (ii. 37); " ^-^ ^^ ^«^ ^^'
Apostles" (V. 29. See also Mark xvi. 7 ; Acts i. 15) ; and evidently indicates
the superior dignity and authority of St. Peter. Compare the followmg :—
« David and they that were with him " (Luke vi. 3 ; Matt. xii. 3) ; " He ordained
twelve, that they should be with Him " (Matt. iii. 14) ; " Them that had been with
Him" {x\'\. 10; comp. Acts iv. 13, 14).
» St. Chrysostom, on the same words, " Give unto them {the tribute) for
Me and for thee," says :— " Dost thou see the exceeding greatness of the honour?
See also the self-command of Peter's mind. For Mark, the follower of this
Apostle, does not appear to have written down this point, because it pointed out
St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles.
49
^
The Clementines :— " Set apart to be the foundation of
the Church . . . THE FIRST OF THE Apostles" (tt?? ^kkM-
Gia^ QeiiiKw ecvat optaOec^y . . . o t(ov airoaroXav 7r/)a)T09.
Epist. Clem, ad Jacob. Galland, tom. ii. p. 611).
St. Cyprian :— " Peter, whom the Lord chose to be the
FIRST or CHIEF" (Quem Dominus primum elegit. Epist.
Ixxi. ad Quintum). *' The primacy is given to Peter "
(Primatus Petro datur. De Unitate Eccles).
Auctor de Rebaptismate, a.d. 254: — "Peter, the
LEADER AND PRINCE OF THE APOSTLES " (Auct. de Rebapt.
I
n. 10, Galland, ii. p. 366).
St. Peter of Alexandria, a.d. 306 :— " Peter, set above
THE Apostles " (o 7rpoKpLTO<; tcov aTroo-rdkcov Jlerpo?.
Canon, ix. Galland, iv. p. 98).
Eusebius :— " That powerful and great one of the
Apostles, who, on account of his excellence, was THE
LEADER OF ALL THE REST" (jov KapTepov Kai fJ^eyav tcou
aTToo-ToXcoVy . . . TO)!/ XoLTTCov diTavTcov irporffopov. Hist. Eccles.
lib. ii. c. 14). " The very head of the Apostles " {auTo%
T€ o KopvaL-
oraro^ Kac irpmroaTaTri^; t(ov a7roaio^ Krjpv^ Catech. xi. n. 3).
St. Optatus of Milevis : — " The head of all the
Apostles " (Omnium Apostolorum caput Petrus. De
Schism, Donat. lib. ii. c. 2, p. 76, ed. Hurter). " PETER, OUR
Prince" (Claves salutares accepisse legimus Petrum, prin-
cipem scilicet nostrum. lb, c, 4, p. 80). " For the good of
unity the blessed Peter deserved to be PREFERRED TO ALL
THE Apostles" (Bono unitatis . . . praeferri Apostolis
omnibus meruit. Lib. vii. c. 3, p. 243). " The head OF THE
Apostles" (Caput apostolorum. Id, p. 245).
St. Ephrem Syrus:— "The prince of the Apostles "
(Tom. ii. Syr, Ivi. Adv. Har, p. 559)- "The chief of the
Apostles" (Tom. ii. Gr, in Adv, Dom, p. 203). "Othou
blessed one, that obtainedst the place of THE HEAD and of
the tongue, in the body of thy brethren " {Bibl. Orient, torn.
i. p. 95, Asseman.).
St. Gregory Nyssen :— " The leader and CoRYPrf.EUS
OF THE apostolic CHOIR, . . . THE HEAD OF THE
Apostles " (0 Trpwroo-TaT?;? Kai Kopv^aio^ Tf)^ airooToXL/cqf:
yopeiufiy ... 17 K€^aX7) joiv a7ro(TTo\(ov, Alt. Orat, de S,
Steph, tom. iii. p. 730, 4).
St. Gregory Nazianzen :—" Peter, the chief of the
DISCIPLES " (ITeT/309 fiadrjrwv aKpo^, Sect, i. Poem, de Seipso,
tom. iii. p. 1 182). " Had intrusted to him the very
GREATEST THINGS " {ja fieyiaTa, Orat, xxviii. n. 19, p. 510).
" The MOST honoured of the disciples ' (jov TCfiKOTarov
rayv fiaOrjTayv, Orat, xix. n. 13, tom. i. p. 372).
St. Macarius of Egypt, a.d. 371 :— " The Chief, Peter"
(ry Kopv^aKp Tlerp^. De Patientia, n. 3, p. 180, Galland, vii.
St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles,
51
p. 180). ** Moses was succeeded by Peter,^ who HAD COM-
MITTED TO HIS HANDS THE NEW ChURCH OF CHRIST,
AND THE TRUE PRIESTHOOD " (JTeT/oo? Mwerea li^l^^aTO,
T7;i/ KaivT]V eKKkqaav XpccTTOV Kac rrjv aXrjdLvrjv lepoavmjv
€yX€cpi ^om. ii. p. 500).
Ambrosiaster :—" Andrew followed the Saviour before
Peter ; and yet not Andrew, but Peter OBTAINED THE
primacy" (Prior sequutus est Andreas Salvatorem quam
Petrus ; et tamen primatum non accepit Andreas sed Petrus.
Comment, in Epist, ad Cor, xii. 12, ed. Bened. Op. Ambros.
Migne, p. 205).
St. Jerome :— " One is chosen out of the twelve, in order
that, A HEAD being appointed, the occasion of schism
might be removed " (Inter duodecim unus eligitur ut, capite
constituto, schismatis tollatur occasio. Adv, Jovinian, \\h, u
1 In Roma Sotterranea, by Northcote and Brownlow, an account is given of the
gilded glasses, &c., discovered in the Catacombs at Rome, in some of which St.
Peter is represented under the type of Moses (Book iv. ch. vii., and the Plates in
p. 287). See also Martigny's Dictionnaire des Antiquitis ChretienneSy Paris,
1865, p. 540, I, and p. 412. St. Augustine says : ** Petrus . . . factus est
pastor ecclesise, sicut Moyses . . . factus est rector illius synagogae." Cont.
Faustuntf lib. xxii. c. Ixx.
wm^i
5 2 SL Peter the Prince of the Apostles.
n. 26, torn. ii. p. 279). " The Prince of the Apostles '*
(Princeps Apostolorum. Epist, cyin, ad August, n. 6, torn. i.
p. 740 ; Dial. adv. Pelag. torn. ii. p. 707 ; /;/ Epist. ad Galat,
c. I, torn. vii. p. 373; &c.). **The Apostle Peter, the first
HIGH-PRIEST OF THE CHRISTIANS, when he had first founded
the Church at Antioch, proceeds to Rome, where preaching
the Gospel, he continues for twenty-five years Bishop of that
city " (Pontifex Christianorum. Chron. ad Ami. 43, torn. viii.
p. 578. Com p. Catal. Script. Eccles.).
St. Augustine : — " Who can be ignorant that the most
blessed Peter is THE FIRST OF THE APOSTLES ? " (Quis enim
nesciat primum Apostolorum esse beatissimum Petrum?"
Tract. Ivi. i7i Joan. n. i, p. 2218, tom. iii.). " HOLDING THE
PRINCIPALITY OF THE APOSTLESHIP. . . . IN THE ORDER
OF Apostles the first and the principal" {Serm.
Ixxvi. tom. V. pp. 595-597). *' In WHOM THE PRIMACY OF THE
Apostles is pre-eminent by so excellent a grace.
. . . Who knows not that that PRINCIPALITY OF THE Apos-
TOLATE is to be preferred before any Episcopate whatever ?
. . . The grace of the chairs (of Peter and of Cyprian) is diffe-
rent " (Petrum in quo primatus Apostolorum tam excellenti
gratia prseeminet. . . . Quis enim nescit ilium Apostolatus
principatum cuilibet episcopatui prseferendum > Distat
cathedrarum gratia. De Bapt. cont. Dojiat. lib. ii. n. 2, tom.
ix. p. 181). See numerous other passages in Waterworth's
Faith of Catholics, vol. ii. p. 42.
St. Asterius :— " The first disciple, and greater
THAN THE BRETHREN** (irptOTOf; fiaOrjTrj^ Kai fxei^cov Ta>p
aS€\(f>a)v. Horn. viii. in SS. Pet. et Paul. p. 274, Migne).
" Blessed indeed also was the great John, who * reposed on
the Lord's breast;* great, too, was James, as being called
*the son of thunder;* illustrious was Philip; but yet they
ALL MUST YIELD TO PETER, AND CONFESS THAT THEY
HOLD THE SECOND PLACE, WHEN THE COMPARISON OF
GIFTS DECIDES ON THE ONE HONOURED ABOVE THE REST**
(aXV 0/10)9 01 Trainee xmoxoipuToyaav Tlerpcp tcac Bevrepeveiv
ofiokoyeiTwaaVf orav 17 twv ')(apLafiaT(ov (TvyKpi(Ti<; BoKi/ia^y top
'TTpoTLfioTepov. Id. p. 277)*
St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles. 53
St. Chrysostom :— "Peter, the chief of the Apostles,
THE FIRST IN THE CHURCH " (^ KopD^t] T^v aTTO^ToXo)!/, o
7rpa)T09 ev TV €KK\va\rj T(OV
aTro(TTo\(ov. Act. iii. p. 625).
Prudentius, a.d. 405:- "The highest disciple of
God ** (Summus Dei discipulus. Cont. Symmachum, lib. 11.
Galland, viii. p. 509). *' Possessing the first chair"
(Cathedram possidens primam. Hym. ii. in S. Laurent.
p. 440).
St Innocent I., Pope, a.d. 410:-" Peter, through
WHOM BOTH THE APOSTOLATE AND EPISCOPATE TOOK ITS
BEGINNING IN CHRIST " (Petrus, per quem et apostolatus et
episcopatus in Christo coepit exordium. Epist. ii. ad Vtctrtc.
n 2 p. 546, Galland, viii.). " FROM WHOM THE EPISCOPATE
ITSELF, AND THE WHOLE AUTHORITY OF THIS NAME, HAS
SPRUNG" (A quo ipse episcopatus et tota auctoritas nominis
hujus emersit. Epist. xxix. ad Concil. Carth. n. i, p. 599)-
" As often as a principle of faith is ventilated, I am of opmion
that all our brethren and fellow-bishops ought not to refer
save to Peter, that is, to THE AUTHOR OF THEIR NAME AND
DIGNITY " (Praesertim quoties fidei ratio ventilatur, arbitror
\
^■l
54 SI. Peter the Prince of the Apostles,
omnes fratres et co-episcopos nostros nonnisi ad Petrum, i.e.,
sui nominis et honoris auctorem referre debere. Epist xxx.
ad Concil. Mitev. n. i, p. 602).
St. Boniface, Pope :— " Peter, to whom the highest
PLACE OF THE PRIESTHOOD was granted by the voice of the
Lord" (Cui arx sacerdotii Dominica voce concessa est.
Epist. iv. Rufo, n. i, Galland, ix. p. 47). " The institution of
the universal nascent Church took its beginning from the
honour of blessed Peter, IN WHOM ITS GOVERNMENT AND
HEADSHIP reside" (Institutio universaHs nascentis Ecclesiae
de beati Petri sumpsit honore principium, in quo regimen
ejus et summa consistit. Epist. xiv. Riifo, n. i, p. 57).
St. Cyril of Alexandria:— "Peter, SET over the holy
disciples " {t(OV ar/LfOV irpo€KK€iyL€VO^ fia6r}T(i)v) ; " THE PRINCE
OF THE HOLY DISCIPLES " (o TUiV ayicov fjLaOrjTCOv irpoKpLTO^
Tlerpo^) \ ** Prince of the Apostles ;" *' the Coryphaeus,"
&c., &c. {In Joan. lib. ix. p. 924, tom. vi. ; lb. lib. xii. p.
1064; Thesaurtis, p. 340, tom. viii. ; Cont. Julian, lib. ix.
p. 325, tom. ix.).
Theodoret :— " That Divine CORYPHAEUS of the Apos-
tles" {InPs. ii. p. 616, tom. i. ed. Scholz). "The first
of the Apostles" {Hist. Relig. c. 2, p. 1127, tom. iii. ;
et alibi passim). On i Galat. i. 18 he says: "He (Paul)
renders due honour to THE HEAD " {ttjv irpeirovaav airovep^eL
T(p Kopv(l>ai(p Ti/ir)v. Comment, in loc. tom. iii. p. 365).
St. Proclus, A.D. 438 :— " The head of the disciples
AND THE ONE SET OVER THE APOSTLES " (w T(OV ixa6r]T(ov
Kopvai€y Kat> TTpayToarara rtov airocnoXwv} Orat. vni. I7i
Transfig. Dom. n. 2, p. 650, Galland, ix.).
St. Leo the Great :— " Not only the prelate of this See
(Rome), but THE PRIMATE OF ALL BISHOPS " (Omnium epis-
coporum primatem. Serm, iii., de Natal. Ord. c. 4). " THE
PRINCE OF THE WHOLE CHURCH" (Totius Ecclesiae prin-
cipem. Serm. iv. c. 4). " Our care is extended throughout all
the Churches, — this being required of us by the Lord, who
* On the titles given to St. Peter in the ancient Greek and Syriac Liturgies,
vide Passaglia, De Prarog. S. Petri, p. 97, and the authors referred to by him.
V
\
St. Peter Lives and Teaches in his Successors.. 55
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 " (Per omnes ecclesias cura nostra dirigitur, exi-
gente hoc a nobis Domino, qui Apostolicse dignitatis, B. A.
Petro primatum fidei suae remuneratione commisit, univer-
salem ecclesiam in fundamenti ipsius soliditate constituens.
Epist. V. ad Episc. Metrop. per Illiric. c. 2).
Amobius, Junior, calls Peter " the bishop OF bishops "
(Episcopus episcoporum. Comment, in Ps. cxxxviii. p.
320).
St. Basil of Seleucia, a.d. 446 :— " Peter, that Cory-
phaeus OF the Apostles, that ruler of the disciples
of Christ " (ITeTpo? twv aTroGToKxav 6 Kopv(f>aLO<;, 6 tuhv
Xpcarov fiaOrjTCOv TrpoaTarrjf;. Orat. xvi. p. 97, ap. Op. S.
Greg. Thaum. Paris, 1622).
St. Nilus, A.D. 448 :— " The head of the choir of
the Apostles." Lib. ii. Epist. cclxi. p. 252, Bib. M. xxvi.).
" Peter, who was FOREMOST IN THE CHOIR OF THE Al>OS-
TLES, AND ALWAYS RULED AMONGST THEM" {Tract, ad
Magnam. c. 8, p. 244).
St. Avitus of Vienne, a.d. 494 :— " Peter, The head of
THE Apostles ; that is, the prince of the princes "
{Fragm. i. Homil. Galland, x. p. 746)-
The Emperor Valentinian III., a.d. 455, calls Peter "the
prince of the episcopal crown" CPrinceps episcopal.s
coronae. In Constit. de Epp. Ord. Vide Hallam's Middle
AgeSj chap. vii. note).
General Council of Ephesus : — " Who even until
NOW, and always, lives and judges in his succes-
sors '* {o(rTL<: €0)9 Tov vw, Kat aei^ ev toc<; avrov BiaBo^oc^; Kat
{77, Kat ScKap€L Act. iii« p* 625).
* General Council of Chalcedon :— "Peter hath spoken
THROUGH Leo" {Sess. ii. p. 368).
St. Peter Chrysologus, a.d. 440 : — " We exhort you
(Eutyches) that in all things you obediently attend to those
things which have been written by the blessed Pope of the
56
6'/. Peter Rules in his Own See,
city of Rome ; because BLESSED PETER, WHO LIVES AND
PRESIDES IN HIS OWN SEE, GIVES THE TRUTH OF FAITH
TO THOSE WHO SEEK IT" (Quoniam beatus Petrus, qui in
propria sede vivit et praesidet, praestat quserentibus fidei veri-
tatem.i Epist ad EutycL Proleg. Op. ed. Bacchin. 1758, p. 16).
St. Xystus III., Pope, A.d. 434 *• — " The blessed Peter,
IN HIS SUCCESSORS, HAS DELIVERED THAT WHICH HE
RECEIVED. Who would be willing to separate himself from
his doctrine, whom the Master Himself declared the first
amongst the Apostles.?" (Beatus Petrus in successoribus
suis, quod accepit, hoc tradidit. Epist, vi. ad Joan. AntiocL
n. 5, p. 529, Galland, ix.).
St. Leo the Great :— " In whose See his own power
LIVES AND AUTHORITY IS PRE-EMINENT " (Cujus in Sede sua
vivit potestas et excellit auctoritas. Serm, iii. in Natal Ord,
c. 3). *' Whose dignity fails not even in an unworthy
heir" (Cujus dignitas etiam in indigno haerede non deficit.
lb, c. 4). *' The blessed Peter CEASES NOT TO preside over
HIS OWN See, and he enjoys never-ceasing fellowship with
the everlasting Priest, Christ. FOR that solidity which,
WHEN HE WAS MADE THE ROCK, HE RECEIVED FROM CHRIST
THE ROCK, TRANSMITS ITSELF TO HIS HEIRS " (Sedi suae
praeesse non desinit, et indificiens obtinet cum aeterno sacer-
dote consortium. Soliditas enim ilia, quam de Petra Christo
etiam ipse petra factus accepit, in suos quoque se transfudit
heredes. Serm. v. in Natal. Ord. c. 4).
Pope Siricius, a.d. 386 :— *' I bear the burdens of all who
1 "During the early progress of the Eutychian controversy, a.d. 449, a letter
was addressed to Chrysologus, in common with the occupants of all the principal
Sees of the West, by Eutyches himself, remonstrating against his condemnation
by Flavian of Constantinople, and seeking to slir up all the Western Bishops
against him. Chrysologus's reply, which is extant among the Acts of the Council'
of Chalcedon (Labbe, Concil. iv. 35 ; cf. the notes of Binnius, ib. 992), expresses
the sorrow with which he had received Eutyches's letter, and exhorts him to
submit to the decision of the See of Peter, as declared in the Encyclic of Leo, since
* the blessed Peter lives and presides in his own Cathedra, and gives the true
faith to all who seek for it.' ''^Smith's Diet, of Christ. Biog. and Litcrat., vol. i.
p. 518.
Si, Peter Rules in his Own See,
57
are heavily laden ; yea, rather in me that burden is borne by
the blessed Apostle Peter, who, we trust, IN ALL THINGS
PROTECTS AND HAS REGARD TO US WHO ARE THE
HEIRS OF HIS GOVERNMENT " (Haec portat in nobis B. A.
Petrus, qui nos in omnibus, ut confidimus, administrationis
suae protegit et tuetur heredes. Epist, i. ad Himer, Tarrac.
Episc, Galland, vii. p. 533).
\
\\
-^i- ,?
THE SEE OF PETER.
II.
The following is a brief synopsis of the titles and preroga-
tives ascribed by the early Fathers and Councils to the
Roman See or Church :—
I. Tlie Apostolic See— The Apostolic Chair-^The Apostolic
Throne— The See, Chair, Throne, or Place of Peter-^The
Rock of the Chiirch-^The See to which Heresy cannot gain
access-- Which has ever remained free from taint of Heresy—
The See of Faith— In which the true Faith is never troubled—
And Religion has always been preserved without spot, &c., &c,
Tertullian :— " Run through the Apostolic Churches, IN
WHICH THE VERY CHAIRS OF THE APOSTLES TO THIS VERY
DAY PRESIDE OVER THEIR OWN PLACES ;^ in which their own
original letters are read, echoing the voice, and making
present the face of each. Is Achaia near to thee ? thou hast
Corinth. ... If thou art near to Italy, thou hast ROME,'
1 EUSEBIUS testifies that "the throne of James" Clafw^o^ Bpovm\ i.e., his
actual episcopal chair, was preserved even in his own time in Jerusalem, of
which See that Apostle was the first Bishop {Hut. EccUs. vii. 19 and 32). For
the history of the actual " Chair," or episcopal throne of St Peter, the reader
should consult Roma Sotterranca, p. 388 seq., Longmans, 1869.
2 Tertullian passes rapidly over the other Churches founded by the Apostles
(those of Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Ephesus), but pauses to speak of
the peculiar " felicity " of the Roman Church in possessing the full treasure of
apostolic doctrine. Elsewhere, in answer to the objection of the heretics that
some of these Churches had erred and had been reproved by the Apostles them-
selves {Galat.\\\. I, i. 6; I Cor. iii. I, stq., viii. 2, xvi. 9), he says: «'When
they object to us that the Churches were reproved, let them believe that they
The See of Peter,
59
whence we also have an authority at hand. THAT CHURCH
HOW HAPPY ! INTO WHICH THE APOSTLES POURED OUT
ALL THEIR DOCTRINE WITH THEIR BLOOD ; where Peter had
a like passion with the Lord, where Paul is crowned with
an end like the Baptist's " (Percurre Ecclesias Apostolicas,
apud quas ipsae adhuc Cathedrae Apostolorum suis locis
pr^sidentur. . . . Habes Romam. . . . Ista quam felix
Ecclesia, cui totam docftrinam Apostoli cum sanguine suo
profuderunt, ubi Petrus passioni dominicae adaequatur, ubi
Paulus Joannis exitu coronatur. De Prcescript. Hczret c. 36).
St. Cyprian says that Cornelius was chosen Bishop of
Rome, and *' mounted to the lofty summit of the priesthood,
when the place of Fabian, that is, when THE PLACE OF
Peter, and the rank of the Sacerdotal Chair, was vacant " ^
(Ad sacerdotii sublime fastigium cunctis religionis gradibus
adscendit . . . cum Fabiani locus, id est, cum locus Petri et '
gradus cathedrae sacerdotalis vacaret. Epist. Hi. ed. Baluz.
Iv. c. 7, ed. Goldhorn, pp. 107, 108). He says of certain '
heretics: ** After all this, they dare to sail, and to carry
letters from schismatics and profane persons to THE CHAIR
OF Peter, and to the ruling ChUrch, whence the
UNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD HAS ITS SOURCE ; nor do they
consider that they are the same Romans— whose faith is
praised in the preaching of the Apostle— TO WHOM FAITH-
LESSNESS CANNOT HAVE ACCESS " (Navigare audent et ad
Petri Cathedram2 atque ad Ecclesiam principalem, unde
were amended ; and let them also recollect those concerning whose '/aM,' and
^ knowledge: and conversation, the Apostle 'rejoices; and ' giveth God thanks
{Rom. i. 8, XV. 14, xvi. 19), which, nevertheless, at this day join with those
which were reproved in the privileges of one constituted body {De Fraser.
Haret. c. z'j). , , . ... ^^ ♦r,^
1 St. Cyprian says that Cornelius courageously accepted his election to the
Pontificate, although the tyrannical Emperor Decius had declared that he
" WOULD RATHER SEE A NEW PRETENDER TO THE EMPIRE THAN A NEW
Bishop of Rome ! " (Quanta in ipso suscepto episcopatu suo virtus, quantum
robur animi, qualis firmitas fidei, . . . sedisse intrepidum Rom^ in sacerdotali
Cathedra eo tempore, cum tyrannus infestus sacerdotibus Dei fanda atque mfanda
comminaretur, cum multo patientius et tolerabilius audiret, levari adversus se
lemulum principem, quam constitui Romae Dei sacerdotem ! lb. Ep. Iv. n. »,
^* «'° The Roman Church," says Palmer, an Anglican writer, ''was particularly
The See of Peter.
60
unitas sacerdotalls exorta est, a schistnaticis et profanis
literas ferre, nee cogitare, eos esse Romanos, quorum fides
apostolo prsdicante laudata est, ad quos perfidia habere non
possit accessum. Epist. Iv. ed. Baluz. lix. c. 19. P- I44. ed.
Gold ) " He who abandons THE Chair of Peter, does he
feel confident that he is within the Church ?" (Qui cathedram
Petri deserit, in Ecclesia se esse confidit? De Unttate
Firmilian, a.d. 257, says of Pope Stephen:-" He prides
himself on THE PLACE of his Episcopate, and contends that
he HOLDS THE SUCCESSION OF PETER, upon whom the founda-
honoured as having hem presided over hy St. Peter; and was therefore, by many
of the Fathers, Jed the See of Peter" (Treatise of the Church vo^- "• part v •
c t p47^.0xon.). Neander, the Protestant historian of the Church, admits
that " Cjrrfan looked upon the Roman Church as really tj" Cathedra Petn, and
as the representative of the outward unity of the Church" (Bohn's A''«'^'^ v°I.
i p. 299): and that " very early indeed " the Popes themselves assumed tha
to them^ as successors of St. Peter, belonged a paramount authority in ecclesias .cal
disputes ; that the Cathedra Petri, as the source of Apostolic tradmon, must take
precedence of all other Ecclesia Aposlolica." &c. {U. p. 298)- He refm espe-
cially to the conduct of Pope Victor, a.d. 190, Pope Zephyrinus, a.d 200 and
Pool Stephen A D. 250. Dean Milman also admits that "Cyprian a.*«<«'Wi^rf
]^rhfr:^t:^'^^Jof the Kon.an Bishops fron. the, rea, Apostle" (H^^^^^^^
rlri,t b ii c d P 238, vol. i.); and that "the succession of the Bishop of
RrVr'om st P^t^; :i'now. nel; 200 years after hU death, «„^^^^^^
,;^" (« b i c I p. 66). The Protestant Archbishop Bramhall had
acTnowledged long ^fo^, "that St. Peter had a fixed Chair at Ahtioch, and
a ter tha afif<,«.:is what no man who giveth any credit to the ancient FaOiers
and Councils and historiographers of the Church can either deny or well doubt
o?" (B^mtll-s mris, p 628, ed. Oxon.). See also Bishop Pearson's Op.a
Poslhuma, London, 1688. _„„„ tt;„
Complete catalogues of the Bishops of Rome are given by IrenSBUS, Hip
Dolytus. Eusebius, Optatus, Bpiphanius. and Augustine, from
St Pet« down to their own contemporaries. (See Note I. ad fin.) CaiUS.
AD. 220. names Pope Victor as "the .3th Bishop of Rome FRO- Peter
f™««.5.K.r.. a« nerpo« ., Po,/., ex.^oror. Ap. Euseb. Htst Eccles. lib v^
cTs). St. HippolytUS. A.D. 225. in the portion <>f « ^^-'^^^°,";^"^;^''
the earlier part of the ancient Liberian Catalogue was derived (See Smith s Diet,
ofctril liar, and Literal, vol. i. pp. 507. SSS-). " counts Peter as first
BISHOP OF Rome" (/*. P- 577)- Eueebius says that "Lmus was the first
AFTER Peter to obtain the Episcopate of the Roman Church' (1^^, U rp^ro.
uera n^rpo.. t„* Pu-Ma.a,.' «-t\,«ar t,. eT.«o»,v, k.t.X Htst.'.Ecdes lib. 111.
7. 4). Hegesippua (a.d. 156) and Ireneeus were the authorities that
Eusebius reliSl on as to the first Roman Bishops, and the duration of their Epis-
copate. Hegesippua states, that when he was in Rome he wrote dmm thehst
otthe Bishops up to Anieetus " (tiaioxv tTOinffaMti- /*<»>« Amip-o./. Ap. Euseb.
Hist Eccles. iv. 22). See DolUnger's First Age of the Church, p. 299. 2d«l"-
I
I
The See of Peter.
61
.• „c of the Church were laid. . . . Stephen, who proclaims
W he OCCUPIES BV SUCCESSION THE CHAIR OF PETER, ts
^hv no zeal a<^ainst heretics," &c.^ (De Episcopatus su.
moved ^y "°/!f;;3-^^<,,33ionem Petri tenere contendit, super
loco ^Yt^^r^^^ coUocata sunt. . . . Stephanos, qui
^nutti^'Shedram Petri habere sepr.dicat. .c
""irufcL'g Jitn'iei to Ihe glory ^f God" (In quibus
Toct et Apo Si quotidie sedent, et cruor ipsorum sine inter-
m? ione Sei gloriam testatur. Labbe, torn .. p. 1425).
Se Counfu of Saxdica, a.d. 343,^ " honours the me-
^f Peter " bv sanctioning appeals from all the pro-
::;:2s"TO THE head, U, .0\n. see of the APOSTLE
PETER" (Ei Botcu vfKOV rv ayatrv Herpov rov attoaroXov
enroptimut; et valde congruentissimum esse y.deb.tur, s.
ad TapS, id est ad Petri Apostoli Sedem de singulis qut-
busque provinciis Domini referant sacerdotes. Ej>tst. ad
^t '^t^tnlts.- ^.'363, calls Rome "THE APOSTOLIC
THRON^ ■ (auo.ToX.«o, ^po.0,. Hist. Anan. ad Monach.
n- 35)-
. In his Epistle to St. Cyprian, ^^I^^-^^^^^^IZ rhe't^^nary^qlfe:!
manner against Pope Stephen, from "^om he df -^^^/.^^^timing bitterly,
.ion of the re-baptisation of inverted heretic^^^^m^^^^
however, against what he supposed to be ^"J''^"/ f„ ^ ^^^ent call
of the Pope's authority in that P'^'' f "''';. "Xl^l^lXy Zc^Aor. the Chair of
his authority itself in question, or deny tha he held by^"^ .^ ,^^
Peter "-which, undoubtedly, his indignauon fg^^' ^.m ^^^^^ ^^^ ^P^ ^^^
Hm to do, had such a mode of oppos^g hm b n P-^-f^^^^, .^..^p^^,,,.
'^ix:^ ::xrs;:z!ir FR-.S .. v-. pp. a^s-^.
^lel^; history of the Council of Sardica and its Canons ^^^^^
r' t'arL^t^s^r:-^^^^^^^^^^ p- ^
til and HERGENROTHER-S Anti-Janus, Eng. trans, pp. .30, .3..
62
The See of Peter,
St. Optatus of Milevis, addressing the Donatlst, Par-
menian, says : " You cannot affect ignorance of the fact, that
THE Episcopal Chair was first established by Peter
IN the city of Rome, in which sat Peter, the head
OF ALL THE APOSTLES " (Negare non potes scire te in
urbe Roma Petro primo Cathedram Episcopalem esse colla-
tam, in qua sederit omnium Apostolorum caput Petrus.
De Schism. Do?iai. 1. ii. n. 2, p. 76, ed. Hurter). '' PETER,
THEREFORE, FIRST FILLED THAT PRE-EMINENT ChAIR,
which is the first of the marks of the Church (the preroga-
tives) ; to whom succeeded Linus," &c. ^ (Ergo Cathedram
unicam, quae est prima de dotibus, sedit prior Petrus: cui
successit Linus, &c. lb. c. 3, p. 76). "If Macrobius be
asked in what Chair he sits in Rome, can he answer, In THE
Chair of Peter ? " (Si Macrobio dicatur, ubi illic sedeat,
numquid potest dicere in Cathedra Petri ? lb. c. 4, p. 78.
Comp. c. 5, p. 81).
Pope Damasus, A.D. 370, in his reply to the Synodical
Epistle of the Council of Constantinople, calls his See " THE
Apostolic Chair, . . . this Holy Church, wherein the holy
Apostle, sitting, taught, &c. {Epist. ix. ad Synod. Orient,
cont. Apollinar. Galland, vi. p. 336).
St. Ambrose : — " They (the Novatians) have not Peter's
inheritance who have not Peter's Chair" (Non habent
Petri hereditatem, qui Petri Sedem non habent. De Poeni-
tent, lib. i. c. 7, n. 32).
The Council of Carthage, a.d. 416, to Pope Innocent:
— "These proceedings of ours, Lord and Brother, we have
^ The Protestant historian Neander says: *' Optatus of Milevis, who wrote in
the last half of the fourth[century, represents the Apostle Peter as the head of tlie
Apostles — as the representative of the unity of the Church and of the Apostolic
power, who had received the keys of the kingdom for the purpose of giving them
to the others. . . . In the Roman Church he perceives the indestnictible Cathedra
Petri. This stood in the same relation to the other Episcopal Churches as the
Apostle Peter stood to the rest of the Apostles. The Roman Church represents the
one visible Church, the one episcopate. There was one Apostolic power in
Peter, from which the Apostolic powers of the others issued forth, as it were like
so many different streams ; and, in like manner, there is one episcopal power in
the Roman Church, from which the other episcopal powers are but so many dif-
ferent streams." — Bohn's Neander^ vol. iii. pp. 236, 237.
The See of Peter,
6s
thought are to be made known to your holy charity,
that to the statutes of our lowliness may be applied
the authority of THE APOSTOLIC See,i foj. the defence of
the salvation of many, and the correction of the perversity of
some" (Ut statutis nostras mediocritatis etiam Apostolicae
Sedis adhibeatur auctoritas, pro tuenda salute multorum, et
quorundam perversitate etiam corrigenda. Epist. xxvi. in
ed. Constant; Epist. clxxv. Innocentio, n. 2, Op. S.
August.).
Council of Milevis, a.d. 417:— "As the Lord, by the
sovereign gift of His own grace, has placed you in THE
Apostolic See, ... we beseech you that you would
vouchsafe to apply your pastoral diligence to the great
dano-ers, &c. . . . We think that . . . those who hold such
pernicious opinions (Pelagians), will more easily yield to the
authority of your Holiness, derived as it is from the autho-
rity of the Holy Scriptures" (Quia te Dominus gratiae suae
praecipuo munere in Sede Apostolica coUocavit, talemque
nostris temporibus praestitit. . . . Arbitramur, adjuvante
misericordia Domini Dei nostri, qui te et regere consulen-
tem, et orantem exaudire dignatur, auctoritati .sanctitatis
tuae, de Sanctarum Scripturarum auctoritate depromptae
facilius eos . . . esse cessuros. Epist. Condi. Milev, .Inno-
centiOy Op. S. August. Epist. clxxvi. p. 928).^
1 " They implore," says Milman, "the dignity of the Apostolic throne, of
the successor of St. Peter, to complete and ratify that which is wanting to their
more moderate power." — Hist, of Lat. Christ, b. ii. c. 2, p. 154.
2 Regarding the reply of Pope Innocent to these appeals, St. AugUstlne
remarked :— ** He wrote back to us on all these matters IN A manner that
WAS RIGHT AND BECOMING IN THE PRELATE OF THE APOSTOLIC SeE "
{Epist. clxxxvi. Paulino, n. 2). Milman says : " He did not pass by the
opportunity of asserting, as an acknowledged maxim, the dignity of the Apostolic
See, the source of episcopacy, and the advantage of an appeal to a tribunal which
might legislate for all Christendom " {Hist, of Lat. Christ, vol. i. p. 154). " It is
impossible to doubt," says Neander, " as to what the Popes, even as early as the
fifth century, b-lieved themselves to be, or would fain be, in relation to the rest
of the Church, after having once listened to the language which they themselves
hold on this subject. When a North- African Council at Carthage had sent a
report of their conclusions, in the decision of a controverted point of doctrine, to
ihe Roman Bishop Innocent, and demanded his assent to these conclusions ; in his
answer of the year 417, he first praised them because they had considered them-
selves bound to submit the matter to his judgment, since they were aware what
i-
j.j'"ri>-:;
-3- •:;■!
64
The See of Peter.
The See of Peter,
65
General Council of Ephesus:— Arcadius, the Legate,
said :— " Let your Blessedness order the letter of the holy
and venerable Pope CelestTnej Bishop of THE APOSTOLIC
See, to be read, from which you will be able to know what
care he has for all the Churches " {Act, ii. p. 61 1).
General Council of Chalcedon :—" The Apostolic
Throne " {Sess. i. p. 94).
Canon of St. Patrick, a.d. 450 :— " If any case of extreme
difficulty shall arise, ... let it be referred to the See of the
chief Bishop of the Irish (that is, of Patrick). ... But if it
cannot easily be decided in that See, ... we have decreed
that it be sent to THE APOSTOLIC SEE, THAT IS, TO THE
' Chair of the Apostle Peter, which holds the authority
of the city of Rome " (Ad Sedem Apostolicam decrevimus
esse mittendam, id est, ad Petri Apostoli Cathedram auctori-
tatem Romse urbis habentem. Can. S, Pairic. vide Moran's
Essays on the Early Irish Church, 1864, c. ii. p. 120 et seq.;
and Appendix, No. vi. p. 304).
St. Jerome (to Pope Damasus) :— " I am linked in com-
munion with thy Blessedness, that is, with THE Chair of
.Peter. On that rock I know that the Church is
built " (Beatitudini tuae, id est, Cathedrae Petri, communione
consocior. Super illam petram sedificatam Ecclesiam scio.
EpisU XV. ad Damasnm tom. i. p. 38). " I cry out. If any
one is joined to THE CHAIR OF PETER, he is mine " (Ego
interim clamito, Si quis Cathedrae Petri jungitur, meus est.
. Epist xvi. n. 2, p. 42). ** THE APOSTOLIC CHAIR " (Epist,
cxxx. ad Demetriad. n. 16). "THE APOSTOLIC See" (Adv,
Ruffifi. ii. 15).
was due to the Apostolical Chair ; since all who occupied this seat strove to
follow in the steps of that Apostle from whom the episcopal dignity itself, and
the entire authority of this name, had emanated. With good right had they held
sacred the institutions of the Fathers, who had decided, not according to human,
but according to the Divine counsels, that whatever was transacted in the pro-
vinces, let them be ever so remote, should not be considered as ratified until it
had come to ihe knowledge of the Apostolic Chair ; so that by its entire autho-
rity every just decision might be confirmed, and the other Churches (as the pure
streams should be distributed from the original, undisturbed source, through the
different countries of the whole world) might learn from this Church what they
had to ordain, whom they had to pronounce innocent, and whom to reject as
irreclaimably wrong " {Neander, vol. iii. pp. 241, 242).
St. Siricius, Pope, a.d. '386:— ** The Apostolic rock,
UPON WHICH Christ constructed the Universal
Church, . . . the Apostolic See" (Praefatam regulam
omnes teneant sacerdotes, qui nolunt ab apostolicae petrae,
super quam Christus universalem construxit Ecclesiam, soli-
ditate divelli. . . . Ab omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indigne
usi sunt, Apostolicae Sedis auctoritate dejectos, &c. Epist,
i. Himer, Episc. Tarracon. n. 3, 11). "To none of the Lord's
priests is it allowable to be ignorant of the statutes of THE
Apostolic See,^ or of the venerable decisions of the Canons "
(Statuta Sedis Apostolicae, &c. lb, n. 20, Galland, vii.
p. 533-536).
St. Augustine : — " Number the Bishops, even from THE
See itself of Peter ; and in that order of Fathers see who
succeeded to whom : THIS IS THE ROCK WHICH THE PROUD'
GATES OF HELL OVERCOME NOT " (Numerate sacerdotes vel
ab ipsa Sede Petri ; . . . ipsa est petra quam non vincunt
superbae inferorum portae. In Ps, Cont, Part, Donat. tom. ix.
p. 49). " The Chair of the Romai^j Church, in which
Peter sat, and in which Anastasius sits at present " {Cont,
Lit, Petilian, lib. ii. n. 118, tom. ix. p. 411). " The Roman
Church, IN WHICH THE PRIMACY OF THE APOSTOLIC SEE
HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN FORCE " (Romana Ecclesia, in qua
semper Apostolicae Cathedrae viguit principatus. Epist. xliii.
Glorio et cet, n. 7, tom. ii. p. 136). "The succession of pre-
lates in THE VERY CHAIR OF THE ApOSTLE PETER, . . .
down to the present Episcopate, keeps me in the Catholic
Church " (Tenet ab ipsa Sede Petri Apostoli, cui pascendas
•
eves suas Dominus con mendavit usque ad praesentem epis-
copatum successio sacerdotum. Cont, Ep, Manic, n. 5, tom.
viii. p. 268). " Some of these men (Pelagians) before this
1 ** The answer of Siricius" (to Himerius), says MiLMAN, "is in the tone of
one who supposes that the usages of the Church of Rome were to he received as those
of Christendom " (vol. i. p. 97). Yet Janus has the assurance to state that " the
Popes at that time made no attempt to exercise legislative power. . . . Declara-
tions or ordinances issued by Popes in reply to questions of particular Bishops
could not be regarded as general laws of the Church, for this simple reason, that
they were only known to particular Bishops and Churches " {Janus, p. 79, Eng.
trans.). Dollinger says that " the Popes issued their decrees for the Oriental
Church no less than for the Western'' {Hist, of Ch, vol. ii. p. 22$).
E
^4^i
%-J-
66
The See of Peter.
The See of Peter.
67
pestilence was condemned also by the most manifest judg-
ment of THE Apostolic See, might have been known to
you, but whom you may now see of a sudden silent " (Episf.
cxcf. Sixto, n. 2, p. 1064). " For already on this cause (Pela-
gianism) the decisions of two Councils have been sent to
THE Apostolic See ; thence also answers {rescriptd) have
come. The cause is ended {causa finita est) ; would that at
length the error may end " {Serm. cxxxi. de Verb, Evang.
Joan, vi. n. 10, p. 930).
St. Gelasius, Pope :— *' Granting to the See, which he
himself (Peter) blessed, that, in accordance with the- Lord's
promise, IT SHOULD NEVER BE CONQUERED BY ' THE GATES
OF HELL,' 1 and be the safest harbour of those tossed by the
waves" (Praestans Sedi, quam ipse benedixit, ut a portis
inferi nunquam pro Domini promissione vincatur omnium-
que sit fluctuantium tutissimus portus. Epist, xiv. p. 12 16,
Galland, x. ; Tract, ii. n. lO, ed. Thiel. p. 259).
Theodoret :— " If Paul, the herald of the truth, the trumpet
of the Holy Ghost, hastened to the great Peter, to convey
from him the solution to those at Antioch, who were at issue
about living under the law, how much more do we, poor and
humble, run to THE APOSTOLIC THRONE, to receive from
you (Pope Leo) healing for the wounds of the Churches.
For it pertains to you to have the primacy in all things ; for
your throne is adorned with many prerogatives " (Et IlauXo?
. . . TT/jo? Tov \ie^av eBpafie Tlerpov . . . TroWo) fiaWov 77/x.€t9,
ol €VT€\6C<; Kai, aiTLKpoi, irpo^ TOV aTToaroXiKOV vfieov rpexofiev
Bpovov, axTTC Trap vfKov Xaffeiv tol<; t(ov eKKXrjaLcov eTuceac Oepa-
ireiav, Aia iravra yap vfiiv to irpcoTeveiv apfioTTei, IToXXot?
^ 1 Comp. the words of St. Leo Mag. {Serm. et Epist. passim), of Pope
Simplioius (Epist. iv.), and of Council of Rome, a.d. 494 (Labbe, tom.
ii. p. 1013). Sergius, the Metropolitan of Cyprus, thus addressed Pope
Theodore :— *' O holy head ! Christ our God hath destined thy Apostolic See
TO BE AN IMMOVABLE FOUNDATION, AND A PILLAR OF THE FAITH. For
thou art, as the Divine Word truly said, Peter, and ON THEE, as A FOUNDA-
TION-STONE, have the pillars of the Church been fixed " (Epist. ad Theod, Lect,
in Sess. ii. Condi, Lat. Anno 649). " The writings of the Fathers," says Her-
GENROTHER, "whenever they speak of the Pope, are full of echoes and allusions
to those Scriptural words, and what is said of Peter the Popes claim decidedly
for themselves " (Anti-Janus^ Eng. trans, p. 63).
V
^
1 1
yap 6 vfi€T€po<; 6povo<; KocrfieLTdi 7r\€ov6KT7jfjLao-c. Epist, cxiii.
Leoni, tom. iv. p. 1187). "For that all holy throne has the
office of heading the Churches of the whole world, for
many reasons ; and, above all others, because IT HAS RE-
MAINED FREE OF THE COMMUNION OF HERETICAL TAINT.
AND NO ONE HOLDING HETERODOX SENTIMENTS EVER SAT
'' IN IT, BUT IT HAS PRESERVED THE APOSTOLIC GRACE UN-
/ sullied"^ {ex^c yap 6 iravayio^; Opovo^ eiceivo<; tcov KaTa Tr)v
oLKOvfjLevrjv CKKX/qaKov ttjv rfye/xovtav Bca TToWa, /c.t.X. Epist,
cxvi. Renato, p. 1197).
Bachiarius, a.d. 420 :— " Not one of them (the heresies)
1 See, on this subject, the admissions of Dean Milman (Hist, of Lat. Christ.
. vol. i. pp. 37, 38, 76-79, I04-III, 115, 177, 195, 228, 254, 271, 272, &c.). Palmer
says : "We find that the Roman Church vyras zealous to maintain the true faith
from the earliest period, condemning and expelling the Gnostics, Artemonites,
&c. ; and, during the Arian mania it was THE BULWARK OF THE Catholic
faith" (Treatise on the Church, vol. ii. part vi. c. 3, p. '472)- The agency of
the Holy See in maintaining the integrity of revelation, through a long lapse
of ages, was acknowledged by the learned Protestant Casaubon :— " No one
who is in the least versed in ecclesiastical history can doubt that GoD made
USE OF THE Roman Pontiffs, during many ages, to preserve the
doctrines of the true faith" (Nemo autem peritus rerum Ecclesiae ignorat,
opera Romanorum Pontificum per multa saecula Deum esse usum in conservanda
rectse iidei doctrinam. In Annal. Baron. Exercit. xv. p. 384, Genevae, 1655).
•' The orthodoxy of the West," says Milman, "stood out in bold relief at the
Council of Sardica. . . . Western Christendom might seem disposed to show its
gratitude to Rome for its pure and consistent orthodoxy, by acknowledging at
Sardica a certain right of appeal to the Bishop of Rome from Illyricum and
Macedonia " (vol. i. pp. 78, 79)- Both this writer, and also Neander and
Archbishop Trench, attribute the development and increase of the Papal power
in a great measure to the unswerving orthodoxy of the Apostolic See (see
Neander's Church Hist, vol.liii. pp. 242, 243, and Trench's Lectures on Mediaval
Church Hist. p. 154). The learned Protestant Archbishop Usher, referring to
the above-quoted Canon of St. Patrick, in which it is decreed that in difficult
matters an appeal should be made to the Apostolic See, says :— " It is most
likely that St. Patrick had a special regard for the Church of Rome, from whence
he was sent for the conversion of this island ; so as, if I myself had lived in his
days, for the resolution of a doubtful question, I should as willingly have
listened to the judgment of the Church of Rome, as to the determination of any
Church in the whole world : so reverent an estimation have I of the integrity of
that Church {as it stood in those days'' (Dissert. On the Religion of the Ancient
Irish, c. viii. Works, Dub. ed. vol. iv. p. 330). This seems a curious admission,
considering what, according to the acknowledgment of Milman and Neander,
the Roman Church had taught regarding her own supremacy, even many years
before the time of Pope Celestine and St. Patrick !
68 The See of Peter.
either could hold or move THE CHAIR OF PETER, THAT IS,
THE See of faith " (Nulla earum Cathedram Petri, hoc est,
sedem fidei, aut tenere potuit, aut movcre. De Fide, n. 2,
p. 183, Galland, ix.).
Paulinus, the Deacon, a.d. 418: — "I appeal to the
justice of your blessedness, my Lord Zosimus, venerable
Pope. The TRUE FAITH IS NEVER TROUBLED, AND ESPE-
CIALLY IN THE Apostolic Church, wherein the teachers
of a corrupt faith are as easily detected as they are truly
punished," &c. {LibelL adv. Cceiest. Zosimo Obi, n. i, p. 32,
Galland, ix.).
In the Formula of Pope Honnisdas, a.d, 517, which
was signed by the Emperor Justinian, by the Patriarchs of
Constantinople— Epiphanius, John, and Mennas— by 2500
Oriental Bishops (DoUinger, vol. ii. p. 221, Eng. trans.), and
confirmed by the Fathers of the eighth General Council, it is
said:— "Because the statement of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when He said, * Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build My Church,' &c., cannot be set aside ; this, which is
said, is proved by the results ; for IN THE APOSTOLIC See
RELIGION HAS ALWAYS BEEN PRESERVED WITHOUT SPOT.
... In which (See) is the perfect and true solidity
OF THE Christian religion" (Haec, quae dicta sunt, rerum
probantur effectibus, quia in Sede Apostolic^ immaculata
est semper servata religio. ... In qui est integra et verax
Christians religionis soliditas. Form, Hormisd, Ep. Orient,
Prescript. Denzinger's Enchirid. p. 42).
General Council of Constantinople, a.d. 680. In this
Council the Epistle of Pope Agatho was read, and received
as the voice of Peter. Addressing the Emperor, he says :
*' Relying on the protection (of Peter), THIS, HIS APOSTOLIC
Church, has never deviated from the way of truth
IN ANY WAY OF ERROR WHATSOEVER; and his authority,
as that of the Prince of all the Apostles, the whole Catholic
Church of Christ and all the universal Synods always and
faithfully have in all things embraced and followed. . . .
Which Apostolic Church, by the grace of Almighty God,
WILL NEVER BE CONVICTED OF ERRING FROM THE PATH
Stipremacy of the See of Peter,
69
^
\
OF Apostolic tradition, nor has it ever yielded or
BEEN DEPRAVED BY HERETICAL NOVELTIES ; but as it
received in the beginning of the Faith from its founders, the
chief of the Apostles of Christ, IT ABIDES UNTAINTED TO
THE END, ACCORDING TO THE DIVINE PROMISE OF OUR
Lord and Saviour Himself, which in the Holy Gospels
He uttered to the Prince of His disciples: * Peter, Peter,
behold Satan hath desired to sift you as wheat : but I have
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And thou, when
thou art converted, confirm thy brethren'" (Quae [Eccl.
Rom.] ejus [Petri] annitente praesidio nunquam a via veritatis
in qualibet erroris parte deflexa est. . . . Quae per Dei Om-
nipotentis gratiam a tramite Apostolicae traditionis nunquam
errasse probabitur, nee haereticis novitatibus depravata suc-
cubuit, sed ut ab exordio fidei Christianae percepit abauctori-
bus suis Apostolorum Christi principibus illibata fine tenus
permanet, &c. Labbe, Concil tom. vii. pp. 659, 662, ed. Ven.
1729).
St. Columbanus, writing in the name of the Irish Church,
A.D. 608, calls Rome " THE PRINCIPAL See of the ortho-
dox FAITH " (Fidei orthodoxae sedem principalem. Epist. ad,
Bonif. Pap, p. 35 3> Galland, tom. xii.).
2. This Church Presides— It has a more Powerful Headship
-^It is the Chief or Ruling Church, and the Source of Ecclesi-
astical Unity— The Church in Which the Primacy of the
Apostolic See has always been in Force— The First of all the
Sees— The Head of all the Churches— Appointed by God to
Rule over all the Rest, and from Which flow unto all tite
Rights of Venerable Communion-^ The Head of Pastoral
Honour, by Which, by Christ s Concession, the Dignity of all
Priests is Confirmed—Which Confirms every Synod by Its
Authority, and without Whose Authority no Council can be
Held— Which fudges the Whole Church, and itself ts fudged
of None, &c,
St. Ignatius, a.d. 107, addresses the Roman Church as
70
Supremacy of the See of Peter,
the one "which presides" (^rt? Kai irpoKaOr^rai) in the
place of the country of the Romans, all-godly, all-gracious,
all-blessed, all-praised, all-prospering, all-hallowed, and PRE-
SIDING IN THE COVENANT OF LOVE" (irpoKadTjfievT) TrjcovLaPy '
Carm. de Vitd Sud, vv. 568-573, tom. ii. p. 704).
St. Irenaeus, A.D. 178: — "With this Church (of Rome),
on account of HER MORE POWERFUL HEADSHIP, it is neces-
sary that every Church — that is, the faithful everywhere
dispersed — should agree" or ** be in communion" (Ad hanc
Ecclesiam, propter po('ten)tiorem principalitatem, necesse
est omnem convenire Ecclesiam, hoc est, eos qui sunt
undique fideles. Adv, Hcer, lib. iii. c. 3, ed. Massuet).
The original Greek text of Irenaeus has been lost, and there
has been much controversy regarding the word rendered
principalitatem in the ancient and perfectly literal Latin
^ See, on the force of this expression, Wocher {Epist. of St. Igtiat. p. 82,
Tubing. 1829). ** II voit dans I'eveque de Rome I'heretier de la preeminence de
Pierre, de Ik le nom de TpoKadrjfievT} tijj cryaxT^s, * presidente du lien de la
charite,* qu'il ddcerne h. I'Eglise " (Alzog's Patrologie, p. 64, Paris, 1877). It
should be observed, also — i. That the word rendered "preside" is used in two
other places by St. Ignatius, and in each place it implies superior dignity : irpoKa-
6r}fi€vov Tov ciriffKOTov eis totov deov {Epist. ad Magnes. n. 6) ; TOi% irpoKadrifitvot.
(lb,), 2. That in all his Epistles to other Churches, instead of "presides," St.
Ignatius invariably uses the word "is": *'To the Church which is^(t|; ovaii)
in Ephesus;" "to the Church which IS (ttjv ouv €kkXv c^- 1^74)-
St. Colmnbanus, a.d. 608, in his Epistle to Pope Boni-
face IV., says :— " We are Irish, inhabitants of the further-
most part of the world, receiving nothing beyond the evan-
gelic and apostolic doctrine. None of us has been a heretic,
none a Jew, none a schismatic; but the faith, just as it was
at first delivered by you, the successors, to wit, of the holy
Apostles, is held unshaken. . . . Purity is to be reputed not
to the stream, but to the fountain-head. ... We are, as I
said before, bound to THE CHAIR OF PETER. For although
Rome is great and illustrious, IT IS ONLY THROUGH THIS
Chair that she is great and bright among us, . . .
and if it can be said, on account of Christ's two Apostles
(Peter and Paul), . . . You are almost heavenly, and ROME IS
the Head of the Churches of all the world, saving
the singular prerogative of the place of the Lord's resurrec-
tion " (Fides, sicut a vobis primum sanctorum scilicet Apos-
tolorum successoribus, tradita est, inconcussa tenetur . . .
non rivo puritas, sed fonti reputanda est. . . . Nos enim, ut
ante dixi, devincti sumus Cathedrae S. Petri: licet enim
Roma magna est et vulgata, per istam Cathedram tantum
apud nos e*st magna et clara, . . . et Roma orbis terrarum
caput est ecclesiarum salva loci dominicae resurrectionis sin-
Union with the See of Peter, etc.
81
gulari praerogativa. Epist. ad Bonif, Pap. pp. 352, 354, Gal-
land, tom. xii.).
In the Second General Council of Nice a.d. 787, the
letters of Pope Hadrian to Tarasius, Patriarch of Constanti-
nople, were read and approved. He says : — ** Whose (Peter's)
See SHINES forth IN PRIMACY OVER THE WHOLE ChURCH,
AND IS Head of all the Churches of God. Wherefore
the same blessed Peter the Apostle, governing the Church
by the command of the Lord, left nothing uncared for, but
HELD everywhere, AND HOLDS, SUPREME AUTHORITY" (ou o
6povo<; €i<; iraaav rrjv oLKOVfievqv irpoyTevav BLaXafiireLy Kai K€(j}a\rj
iraaeov reov €KK\rjaL(ov rov &eov V7rap')(€t. . . . T(p tov Kvpiov
TTpoarayfiaTL TroL/Maivcov rrjv eKKkrjaiav, . . . eKparifjae iramoTe Kat
KpaTei T7JV apxnv. Epist. ad Taras. Labbe, tom. vii. p. 125).
Hadrian then requires Tarasius to adhere to " OUR APOS-
TOLIC See, which is the Head of all the Churches of
God " (rq) i]fJL€T€pcci airocTToXiKoa^ Opovco^ 6aTi<; €9Tfc KeaXrj iraaayv
Tcov €kk\7)<7L(ov TOV Seov, lb.). The whole Synod cried out in
acclamation : " The Holy Synod so believes, so is convinced,
so defines."
3. The Roman Church teaches other Churches with Divine
Authority— With It alt other Churches must agree in Faith,
since It is the Fountain of Truth for all Christians— It is the
Root and Womb of the Catholic Church— Communion with
whose Bishop is Communion with the Catholic Church — By
Communion with this Church of Rome, i.e., with its Bishop,
the Faithftd throughout the World are preserved from Error,
evince their Orthodoxy, and prove their Right to the Title of
Catholics— In this Church Peter always Lives and Presides,
and gives the Truth of Faith to those seeking it, &c.
St. Clement of Rome, Pope, a.d. 96:1— *' The church
of God which is at Rome to the Church of God which is at
1 This is the date now assigned by the best critics to St. Clement's Epistle
TO THE Corinthians, written by him in the name of the Roman Church (it
being the ancient custom to assemble the clergy on occasions of great importance,
Union with the See of Peter
82
Corinth Brethren, the sudden and unexpected dangers
and calamities that have fallen upon us have, we fear, made
us the more slow in our consideration of those things which
you inquired of us ; as also of that wicked and detestable sedi-
tion, so unbecoming the elect of God, which a few heady and
self-willed men have fomented to such a degree of madness that
your venerable and renowned name, so worthy of all men to
be beloved, is greatly blasphemed thereby. . . . It is a shame,
my beloved, yea, a very great shame, and unworthy of your
Christian profession, to hear that the most firm and ancient
Church of the Corinthians should, by one or two persons, be
led into a sedition against its priests. And this report is
come not only to us, but to those also that differ from us ;
inasmuch that the name of the Lord is blasphemed through
your folly, and even ye yourselves are brought into danger
by it Do ye, therefore, who laid the first foundation of
and to act with their advice and concurrence ; also to identify the Bishop and his
Church in such acts, according to the saying of St. Cypnan. that the Church ts
the people united with the priest and the flock follorwing its pastor ;w^^^^^
to know that the Bishop is in the Church and the Church is in the Bishop &c
Epist. Ixix. ad fupian,). in reply to an appeal from the Church of Connth, and
for the purpose of repressing the schism that had broken out in that Church. Bt.
TrfinffiUS says :— " Under this Clement, then, there having happened no small
dissension among the brethren who were at Corinth, the Church which is at
Rome wrote a most powerful letter {iKavunaTy)v ypa With regard to the word "convenire," which has been rendered " resort
TO" "AGREE WITH," "BE IN COMMUNION WITH," it may be observed that
L1.US usera^iUr phrase in lib. iii. c 40 :-•' Qui -n concurrunt aa
Ecclesiam.- Conv^ire is used by the Vet. Interp. for ""*-"' (^cts xv- «5) m
llh iii c 12 n. 14; and again, in the sense of "to harmonise, agree
wVh •• in Ub b. c 35. That in the passage above quoted, St. Irenxus spoke
Tf t"; nece^i y of other Churches concurring in doctrin. and faUh w.th the
Roman Chur'h, is admitted by the Protestant Salmasius :-" Necesse est. d.c.t.
frem Ecclesiam convenire ad Romanam, id est, ut Greece locutus fuerat Irenxus,
Z^l^r^ r„ x«, P.^..^ ««X,«.,. quod significat : co-enire et
roTroRDARE IN REBUS FIDEI ET DOCTRIN-t CUM ROMANA ECCLESIA (^<
S» /«/- c. 5. p. 65). With salmasius agree .he German Protestants
THmRSCKL STIEREN. Compare St. Ambrose-S words c.ted m p. 94-
The words "m qui (EccUsii)" are rendered by Mohler "for through U,"
andbyD0LL.NGER(^»/. of Ch. Eng. trans, i. 256) "(« »;*'^J con.mun.on.
HERGENKOTHER remarks that the word " in " is to be taken m the eccles.ast.ca
«nse of the Greek preposition h. and can thus be rendered ",« her bosom v.
^communion," or "through h.r," "by virtue of her." Compare the B.bl.cal
and Patristic expressions » Kvpiv, " ««V. » roin-v <(pa«u.^a^ ^''■J^f^'"^:
rir of Irena^us often uses "in" for "per." "Salutem m eo (Chnsto) dedU
hominibus" (lib. iii. c. 12, n. 4); " Ut quod perd.deramus m Adam, hoc m
Christo reciperemus" (c. 18, n. I); "In Cbristo umversa bened.ct.o (Ub. iv.
c. 21, n. 3), &c.
A Necessary Test of Orthodoxy.
87
V
tradition, preserved therein by the unbroken succession of
her Bishops; rightly judging that, by the ascertainment of
HER tradition, the tradition and doctrine of all other
Churches would forthwith be at once learned also. For,
since the Roman Church is the chief, head, and first of
all; the greatest, and most ancient, and most renowned;
founded by St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and his
companion St. Paul ; the Church which by its own right pre-
sides and rules over all the rest, a?td with which it is necessary
that ALL the faithful should he united by the bonds of one and
the same faith and commufiion ; it is thence clearly evident
that the faith and tradition of the other Churches could not
but be in accordance with that of the Roman Church.
Passing by, therefore, the Episcopal successions in all the
Churches of the world, it is enough to recount the unbroken
succession in that Church only, and to declare the Apostolic
tradition which has flowed down to us through that channel,
in order that, by the common judgment and tradition of ALL
the Churches — bound as they are to agree with this Roman
Church — all heretics may be utterly vanquished."
It is quite incredible that St. Irenaeus should have attributed
the superiority of the Roman Church, and her freedom from
error, to *' the circumstance of the pure tradition being
guarded and maintained there through the constant concourse
of the faithful from all countries " (J ANUS, p. ?>7) ; for in this
case Rome must have learnt her doctrine from other
Churches, not other Churches from Rome; and, again, the
lieretics, against whom he was arguing, would certainly not
have granted that Rome must have — and still less " ALWAYS "
have — the true Apostolic tradition, because of the fortuitous
concourse of Christians to the imperial city. **In Rome,"
says MiLMAN, " every heresy, almost every heresiarch, found
welcome reception They were all strangers and foreigners ;
not one of all these systems originated in Rome, in Italy, or
in Africa. On all these opinions the Bishop of Rome was
almost compelled to sit in judgment; he must receive or
reject, authorise or condemn ; lu was a proselyte whom it
I
Union with the See of Peter
88
■would be the ambition of all to gain': ' {Hist, of Lat. Christ b.
i. c. I, vol. i. pp. 38, 39)- If. then, heretics, as well as Catholics,
thus flocked to Rome, what security would such a concourse
afford that the Roman Church would not be infected with
their errors ? It is, evidently, to the tradition and faith ol
the Bishops ^ of Rome, endowed with special prerogatives,
1 Tertullian, himself a Montanist, shows very clearly what i™P°rt;"«^«
attached to Pope Victor's recognition of Montanus, when he ^»y» °f/'«*^-
" TMs ma^ prevailed on the Bishop of Rome, who was on the pomt of acknow-
,edi" jL agnoscentem) the prophecies of Montanus, Pr.sca, and Max.mrlla
and B? THAT IcKNOWLEDOMENT BRINGING IN PEACE TO THE CHURCHE^
OF ASIA AND PHRVGIA (et ex ea agnitione pacern -clesus As.«_ et PhrygJ*
inferentem) to revoke the leUers of peace already sent out. &c. KAdv.
^T"u was natural." says Dr. Newman, "for Christians to direct their cour«=
in matters of doctrine by the guidance of mere floating, and. as ^\^ll^J^^^'l
tradition, while it was fresh and strong; but m F»P""°" "^Z' '3'*^^' °'
was broken in particular places, did it become necessary "'M^'^\"f" "^
sMial homes, first the Apostolic S«s, and then the See of Pder (Essay on
d/7^ip. .67). "in the Catholic ^h-h it p^ always an ar.^^^^^^^
faith that our Lord, by the assistance and guidance of His Holy bpint. pre
trved the whofe Church, in her collective capacity, from falling mto e-or m her
doJmatTc traching. But it was also a point of belief, which may be traced up to
So tluc age. that in the administration of this teaching author.^, he See
of sYPeter held a supreme office ; that it was the centre of eccles.ast.cal opera-
Uons if we may use such a term ; that apart from it there would be no genu.ne
orth<^oxy no true Catholicity ; and that in all the great controvers.es wh.ch from
toe to Le divided the Christian world, the most crucial test of truth was the
adherence to any dogma by the See of Peter" (Umon ;^--'. "ay .87 .
Tertullian says:-" Now what the Apostles preached. , «.. what Chr.st
reveaW umo them. I will here also rule must be proved in "o other way than by
hose same Churches which the Apostles themselves founded, themselves by
preaching to them, as well vivi voce, as men say, as by ep.stles "f"""^^- "
hese things be so, it is in like degree manifest that all doctnne wh.ch AGREES
iviTK THE Apostolic Churches, the wombs and originals of the fa.th must be
accounted true, as without doubt containing that which the Churches have
received from the AposUes. the Apostles from Christ, and Christ from God ; but
hat every doctrine must be judged at once to be false wh.ch savoureth things
contrary to the truth of the Churches, and of the Apostles, and of Chnst. and of
rod WE HAVE COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES BECAUSE
WE H^VE NO DOCTRINE DIFFERING FROM THEM. THIS IS THE EVIDENCE OF
TRUTH " (Communicamus cum Ecclesiis Apostolicis, quod nulla doctnna d.versa.
Hoc est testimonium veritatis. De Prescript. Hceret. c 21). " Come now, thou
that wilt exercise thy curiosity to better purpose in the bus.ness of thy salvat.on
run over the Apostolic Churches, in which the very cha.rs of the Apostles to
this very day preside over their own places, in wh.ch their own authentic
writings are read, echoing the voice, and making the face of each pr«ent. Is
Ich^f near to tkee? thou hast Corinth. ... But if thou art near to Italy, thou
A Necessary Test of Orthodoxy.
89
f
and empowered to require the assent and obedience of all,
that Irenaeus appeals as the chief rule and standard of ortho-
doxy for all Christians ; and therefore, after giving a list of
her Bishops down to his own time, he concludes : " By this
SAME ORDER, AND BY THIS SAME SUCCESSION, have the
tradition of the Apostles and the preaching of the truth
come down to us. And this is a most full demonstration that
it is one and the same faith which is preserved in the
Church: &C.1
" St. Irenaeus," says Hergenrother, « does not appeal to the
journeys to Rome, but to the succession of Bishops. And as
hast ROME, WHENCE WE ALSO HAVE AN AUTHORITY AT HAND. THAT
CHURCH-HOW HAPPY !-0N WHICH THE APOSTLES POURED OUT ALL THEIR
DOCTRINE WITH THEIR BLOOD LET US SEE WHAT SHE HATH LEARNED
WHAT TAUGHT, WHAT TOKENS OF DOCTRINE SHE HAS SENT TO THE CHURCHES
OF AFRICA " (Habes Romam. unde nobis quoque auctoritas praesto est. Ista
cuam felix Ecclesi* ! Cui totam doctrinam Apostoli cum sangu.ne suo pro ude-
runt . . . Videamus quid didicerit, quid docuerit. qmd cum Afncan.s Ecclestis
.on.P«esarit ib c ^6). " Let them (the heretics) make known the origins
Tf * "rcht lefthem unroll the catalogue of their Bi^ops. so commg
down by succession from the beginning, that their first Bishop had for his author
[ordainer) and predecessor some one of the Apostles, or of apostolic ->«". «> he
were one that continued steadfast with the Apostles. For m th.s manner do he
Apostolic Churches reckon their origin (or their registeries '//"f "T^nhn al
Church of the Smym^ans recounts that Polycarp was placed *«- "^ Joh°. »
hat of the Romans does that Clement was in like manner ordained by Peter ;
ust as the rest also show those whom, being appointed W 'he Apostles .0 the
Episcopate, they have as transmitters of the Apostol.c seed. J-' *e ^^'«'^^
counterfeit something like this" (lb. c. 32). L'ke Irenaeus and Tertullian, Sb
OPTATUS AUGUSTINE, and EPIPHANIUS. when writing against heretics and
fchlmatfcs. appeal to the succession of Bishops in the ROMAN See of^whom^hey
eive complete catalogues, down to their own contemporaries. St. Epiphanius
concludes in words Imilar to those of Irenaeus :-" And let no one wonder that
we have hus diligently gone through each of these matters ; for by m^»s of. these
2Z.nifesttrut! is fllver pointed out" (K«. ., .« Ba.y^v -^j''^" ;-"'
oitmSus in\eoiJ.iV 81a tip rovTuy a« to (To^s Scictutoi. Adv. Jiar. n. 27).
lu^rr^'n^m'" e A^oLt-^ w" h^Sown. who%iT„^THE EPISCOPAL
SUCcLlON. have received the sure grace of truth, according to the good-w^ of
the Father " (qui cum episcopatus successione charisma veritatis certum . . . acce-
perun? " But the rest! WHO depart from the principal succession (qui
^^Icipali successione absistunt). in whatever ^^^ ^ ^^T'^^f^t^Z'^
comp. the words in iii. 3. "Pr=eterquam oportet 'fi"'^' ^^ "weZl.
words to Pope Damasus : " Quicunque te«m »on «tt^;^ spaigit ). we ought
to hold suspected as heretics, and of evil opinion, or as schismatics, &c
90 6^^/^;^ z£^//// i/ie See of Peter
it would be too lon^ to number the succession of Bishops in
all the Churches, he gives a short and sufficient way of pro-
ceeding ; for he says that, to put false teachers to shame, it
suffices to * declare the tradition received from the Apostles
by the greatest Church, the most ancient, the most conspicu-
ous, and founded and established at Rome by the two most
glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, and to declare the faith
announced to men by this Church, coming to us even by the
succession of Bishops/ His argument is as follows: If the
faith of the Roman Church has remained pure, the faith of
other Churches must have remained so. For all Churches
universally acknowledge the duty of remaining in harmony
with the Church of Rome ; and if we know the faith of the
Roman Church, we know that of all others. Finally, after
enumerating the successors of St. Peter, he says that through
this succession ^ the doctrine of the Apostles has reached us,
and that we have by it the fullest assurance that the ancient
faith will continue unchanged" {Cath. Church and Christ
SiatCy Eng. trans, vol. i. p. 96).
It may be added, that St. Irenaeus himself illustrates his
statement, regarding the Roman Church's headship and
authority over other Churches, by referring to the exercise of
her prerogatives in regard to the far distant and Apostolic
Church of THE CORINTHIANS, to which, under the circum-
stances already detailed, '* The Church which is at Rome,"
he says, "wrote a most powerful letter, GATHERING THEM
TOGETHER TO PEACE, AND REPAIRING THEIR FAITH, AND
ANNOUNCING THE TRADITION WHICH IT HAD SO RECENTLY
RECEIVED FROM THE ApOSTLES " (EireaTeikev rj ev P(Ofir)
1 One of the latest Protestant writers on the life and writings of Irenaeus,
ZiEGLER, says : " To the mind of Irenreus, it is the Episcopate which sanctions
the rule of faith, not vice versd. With him, as with Cyprian, the highest eccle-
siastical office is inseparable from orthodox doctrine. ... He makes the preser-
vation of tradition; and the presence of the Holy Ghost with the Church, depen-
dent upon the Bishops, who in legitimate succession represent the Apostles, and
. . . this manifestly because he wants at any price to have a guarantee for the
unity of the visible Church. This striving after unity appears in the most striking
way in that passage (iii. 3, 2) where he passes, as if in a prophetic spirit, beyond
himself, and anticipates the Papal Church of the future " (Ziegler, Irendus der
Bischofvrjv tol<: KopLvOioc^, ek eiprjvrjv av/xfii'
(Sa^ovaa ahrov^;, Kai avaveovaa rrjv ttccttcv uvtcdv, Kat w vetoari
airo Tcov aToarokaiV irapaBoatv €L\r]<}>€L Ap, Euseb, HisL
Eccles. lib. v. c. 6).
Very similar to the " in qtid semper,'' &c., of Irenaeus (see
n. in p. 86) is the expression of
St. Optatus, of MUevis :— " That in that one Chair
(established by Peter, the head of all the Apostles, in Rome)
UNITY MIGHT BE PRESERVED BY ALL, . . . and that he might
be at once condemned as a schismatic and a sinner who
against that pre-eminent Chair should place another. There-
fore, in that one chair,- which is the first of the prerogatives,
Peter sat first ; to whom succeeded Linus ; to Linus succeeded
Clement." He gives the whole succession down to '*Siricius,
who is at this day associated with us, WITH WHOM THE
WHOLE WORLD IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH US IN THE ONE
BOND OF COMMUNION, BY THE INTERCOURSE OF LETTERS
OF peace" (Igitur negare non potes scire te in urbe Roma
Petro primo Cathedram episcopalem esse collatam, in qua
sederit omnium Apostolorum caput Petrus, unde et Cephas
appellatus est : in qud unA CathedrA imitas ab omnibus serva-
retur, ne ceteri Apostoli singulas sibi quisque defenderent ;
ut jam schismaticus et peccator esset, qui contra singularem
Cathedram alteram coUocaret. Ergo Cathedram unicam,
quae est prima de dotibus, sedit prior Petrus : cui successit
Linus, . . . Damaso Siricius, hodie qui noster est socius :
cum quo nobiscum totus orbis commercio formatarum in una
communionis societate concordat. De Schism. Donat lib. ii.
c 2 3 pp. 1(>. 77 y ed. Hurter). '' Of the aforesaid prerogatives,
then, THE Chair is, as we have said, the first, which
WE HAVE PROVED IS OURS THROUGH PETER, and this mark
carries with it the ^«^^/ (lawful bishop or jurisdiction). . . .
Understand, then, that you are ungodly children ; that you
are branches broken off from the tree ; that you are tendrils
cut off from the vine ; that you are a stream separated from
the fountain-head. For a stream which is small and does
not spring from itself cannot be a fountain source ; nor a
lopped branch be a tree, since a tree flourishes resting on its
y
.•i; \
f
92 Union with the See of Peter
own roots, but a branch that is cut off withers. Seest thou,
now, brother Parmenianus, . . . that thou hast fought against
thyself? Whereas it has been proved that we are in the
holy Catholic Church ; ... and THROUGH THE CHAIR OF
Peter which is ours, through it the other preroga-
tives ARE OURS ALSO" (Igitur de dotibus supradictis
Cathedra est (ut diximus) prima, quam probavimus per
Petrum nostram esse, quae ducit ad se angelum. Ih. c. 6,
p. 87. Probatum est nos esse in ecclesia sancta Catholica>
. . . et per Cathedram Petri, quae nostra est, per ipsam et
ceteras dotes apud nos esse. lb. c. 9, p. 91). Also of the
celebrated
Formula of Pope Hormisdas, which was subscribed,
A.D. 519, by the Eastern Emperor, Patriarchs, and Bishops,
and confirmed, A.D. 869, by the Fathers of the Eighth General
Council :— ** In the Apostolic See the Catholic reli-
gion HAS ALWAYS BEEN KEPT UNDEFILED AND HER HOLY
DOCTRINE PROCLAIMED. Desiring, therefore, not to be in
the least degree separated from the faith and doctrine of
that See, we hope that we may deserve to be IN THE ONE
COMMUNION WITH YOU WHICH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
PREACHES, IN WHICH IS THE ENTIRE AND TRUE SOLIDITY
OF THE Christian religion : promising also that the
names of those who are cut off from the communion of the
Catholic Church, THAT IS, NOT CONSENTIENT WITH THE
Apostolic See, shall not be recited during the sacred
mysteries. This my profession, I have subscribed with my
own hand, and delivered to you Hormisdas, the holy and
venerable Pope of the city of Rome " (In sede Apostolic^
immaculata est semper servata religio. . . . Sequentes in
omnibus Apostolicam sedem et praedicantes ejus omnia con-
stituta, spero, ut in una communione vobiscum quam sedes
Apostolica praedicat, esse merear, in qua est integra et
verax Christianae religionis soliditas. Form. Hormisd. Episc.
Orient, Prcescript, Denzinger's Eiichirid. p. 42, ed. 1874).
St. Cyprian calls Rome "The Chair of Peter and the
ruling Church, WHENCE THE UNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD
HAS ITS SOURCE, AND TO WHICH HERETICAL PERFIDY
A Necessary Test of Orthodoxy,
93
CANNOT GAIN ACCESS " (Epist. lix. ad Cornel) V. supra p. 59-
Writin- to the same Pope, he says : « I exhorted all that
went fr'om hence (to Rome), that they should own and hold
to THE ROOT AND MATRIX ^ OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
(Ut Ecclesiae Catholicae radicem et matricem agnoscerent et
tenerent) ; and tells him that he had procured a general
letter from the African Bishops "that they should all own
HIM AND HIS COMMUNION, THAT IS, THE UNITY AND
CHARITY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH " (Ut te umversi
college nostri et communicationem tuam id est ^Catholicae
ecclesia unitatem pariter et caritatem probarent ^rmiter ac
tenerent Epist. xlv. ed. Baluz., et Ep. xlviii. p. 94, ed. Goldh.).
In his epistle to Antonianus, he tells him that a letter was
written to Pope Cornelius no let him know that you were
in HIS communion, THAT IS, IN THE COMMUNION OF THE
Catholic Church" (Ut sciret te secum hoc est cum
Catholica Ecclesia communicare.^ Epist, lii. ed. Baluz. Iv.
p. 104, ed. Goldh.).
1 -THE ROOT AND THE MOTHER" (radicis et matris. Epist xlii. Baluz.
xlv Gddh) Compare St. AugUStine's words to the Donat.sts :-" You
Un;w wha; the Cath'olic Church is, and what it is to be cut off from the vme :
if there be any among you prudent, let them come, ^^ t^^em h^^^^^^^^ lUs a pi^V
rr^rr.^ mv brethren if you desire to be engrafted on the vme. it is a puy
io" s^e yrthu^lSTopped off from the Uee. Number the Bishops from the
rer^^SroPp"JK.L/o'bserve the -™n of every father^n^h^^^^^^
is Ac rock against which the proud gates of hell prevaU not (In Ps. Cent. Part.
"'xhe irsHVshopl; quoted by St. Cuminian. in his Epistle on the Paschal
The IRISH ^'^»°P 1 / 3j,u^cE OP OUR BAPTISM AND WISDOM J
''Tr; tueradds tha^"lk accordance with the Synodical decree. that»,^«
7l^^Z7lrTr,^^nt they shouU te referred to tke Head of cities, our sen.ors
Xrrproper to send wise and humble men to Rome, as C"/';'^''\« T° ™
MOTHER V. (Velut natos ad matrem. Epist. adSagien. ap. Usher, Syllo^ Epst
° The' Pro estant historian of the Church, Mosheim. avows hat he
principles ll down by St. Iren.us and St ^rP^^'^^^":^^^^ '^^
btafthrr: r:3e::^nd:d:nrrsigh:^i fo-u -4 -
:X*ncesr "Cyprian and '>>— ^^cr Vo^^ ll t sr^d":!
«hich follow from the.r precepts about ^^^ ^hur* Jo .^^^ ;„
not to see that between a certain »■" y^J ^*^";^^;' described out ofIren«us
the Roman Pontiff, and -h a-mmun ty ^ we have d^c^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^
rbe^wChanran'd "^^^l^t Vissert. fHeolo^ieo-Hist. de Caiior...
AppelL ad Concil Unw, Ecc. &c., sec. xiii.).
}
94
Union with the See of Peter
St. Ambrose, in similar language, declares union with the
Roman See to be union with the Catholic Church. Speak-
ing of his brother Satyrus, who had arrived, after shipwreck,
in a place of doubtful orthodoxy, he says : — " He called the
Bishop to him, and not accounting any grace true which was
not of the true faith, he inquired of him whether he agreed
with the Catholic Bishops, that is, with the Roman
Church " (Percontatusque ex eo est, utrumnam cum Epis-
copis Catholicis, hoc est cum Roman^ Ecclesii conveniret.
De Excessa FraU n. 46, tom. ii. p. 1 126). " From THIS Church "
(of Rome), as he elsewhere declares, " THE RIGHTS OF VENER-
ABLE COMMUNION FLOW UNTO ALL*' (Inde enim in omnes
venerandae communionis jura dimanant. Epist. xi. n. 4).
St. Jerome : — ** What does he (Ruffinus) call his faith }
That which is the strength of the ROMAN Church, or that
which is in the volumes of Origen .? If HE ANSWER, 'THE
Roman,' then are we Catholics, who have borrowed
nothing from Origen's error " (Fidem suam quam vocat ?
Eamne, qua Romana pollet Ecclesia.? ... Si Romanam
respondent ergo Catholici sumus. Adv, Ruffin. i. 4, tom. ii.
p. 461). To Demetriade he says: "When you were a little
child, and Bishop Anastasius of holy and blessed memory
ruled the Roman Church, a fierce tempest from parts of the
East tried to defile the simplicity of that faith which was
praised by the voice of the Apostle. But that man of the
wealthiest poverty and of Apostolic solicitude at once struck
down the noxious head and silenced the sibilant mouth of
that hydra. And because I have learnt that, in certain
places, the venomous plants still live and put forth shoots, I
think that I ought to give you this warning, that YOU HOLD
FAST THE FAITH OF HOLY INNOCENT, WHO IS BO^H THE
SUCCESSOR AND THE SON OF THE AFORESAID MAN, AND
OF THE Apostolic Chair ; nor, however prudent and
WISE YOU MAY SEEM TO YOURSELF, RECEIVE ANY STRANGE
doctrine" (Illud te pio caritatis affectu praemonendum
puto, ut S. Innocentii, qui Apostolicae Cathedrae successor
est, teneas fidem; nee peregrinam, quatenus t!bi prudens
callidaque videaris, doctrinam recipias. Epist. cxxx. ad
A Necessary Test of Orthodoxy,
95
Demetriad. n. 16). Writing to Pope Damasus, he says:
" Since the East tears into pieces the Lord's coat, and foxes
lay waste the vineyard of Christ, so that among broken cis-
terns, which hold no water, it is difficult to understand where
is the sealed fountain and the enclosed garden : therefore
have I thought that I should consult THE Chair OF Peter,
AND THE FAITH PRAISED BY THE MOUTH OF THE ApOSTLE.
. . . Wherefore, though your greatness terrifies me, yet your
kindness invites me. . . . Let us speak without offence ; I
court not the Roman height ;i I speak with the successor of
the fisherman, and the disciple of the cross. I, following
none as the first but Christ, AM LINKED IN COMMUNION
WITH THY Blessedness, that is, with the Chair of
Peter. Upon that rock I know that the Church
is built. Whoso shall eat the Lamb outside this
house is profane. If any be not in the ark of
Noah, he will perish when the deluge prevails
I know not Vitalis, Miletius I reject, I am ignorant of
Paulinus. Whoso gathereth not with thee, scat-
TERETH, THAT IS, HE WHO IS NOT OF CHRIST, IS OF
Antichrist " (Ideo mihi Cathedram Petri, et fidem Apos-
tolico ore laudatam, censui consulendam. . . . Tanquam
icritur tui me terreat magnitudo, invitat tamen humanitas.
Facessat invidia : Romani culminis recedat ambitio :
cum successore piscatoris, et discipulo crucis loquor. Ego,
nullum primum nisi Christum sequens, Beatitudini tuae, id
est. Cathedrae Petri, communione consocior: super illam
petram aedificatam Ecclesiam scio. Quicumque extra hanc
domum agnum comederit profanus est. Si quis in area Noe
non fuerit, peribit regnante diluvio. . . . Non novi Vitalem,
Miletium respuo, ignoro Paulinum. Quicumque tecum non
colligit, spargit:^ hoc est, qui Christi non est, Antichristi
est. Epist. XV. ad Damas, tom. i. p. 38).
1 " Envy avaunt ; away with the pride of the topmost dignity of Rome "
(Waterworth's Faith of Cath. ii. p. 78). .
2 Comp. St. Cyprian's words : •* There is one God, and one Christ, and
one Church, and one Chair, founded by the voice of the Lord upon a rock. . . .
Whosoever gathereth elsewhere, scatteretV' (Cathedra una, super petram Dommi
voce fundata. . . . Quisquis alibi collegerit, spargit. Epist. xl. p. 85, ed. Goldh.).
i.r
Union with the See of Peter
96
St. Peter Chrysologus :— *' Blessed Peter, who lives and
PRESIDES IN HIS OWN SEE, GIVES THE TRUE FAITH TO
THOSE WHO SEEK IT. For we, in our solicitude for truth
and faith, CANNOT WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE ROMAN
Church, hear causes of faith " {Epist. ad Etitech). See
context and note in p. 56.
St. Augustine and other African Bishops, writing to
Pope Innocent I. to solicit his confirmation of two Councils
(of Carthage and Milevis), in which the Pelagian heresy had
been condemned, say : " We do not pour back our streamlet
for the purpose of increasing your great FOUNTAIN ; but . . .
we wish it to be decided by you WHETHER OUR STREAM,
HOWEVER SMALL, FLOWS FORTH FROM THAT SAME HEAD OF
RIVERS WHENCE COMES YOUR OWN ABUNDANCE; and by
your answers to be consoled respecting our common partici-
pation of grace" (Non enim rivulum nostrum tarn largo
fonti angendo refundimus, sed . . . utrum etiam noster licet
exiguus ex eodem quo etiam tuus abundans emanet capite
fluentorum, hoc a te probari volumus, tuisque rescriptis . . .
consolari. Epist. clxxvii. n. 19).
Pope Innocent, in his reply, a.d. 416, praises the COUNCIL
OF Carthage, that, " keeping to the precedents of ancient
tradition, and mindful of the discipline of the Church, you
have, in your examination of the things of God, . . . estab-
lished in an undeniable manner the firmness of your religion,
no less now in consulting (Us), than when you previously
passed sentence ; approving, as you have done, of a reference
to our judgment, KNOWING WHAT IS DUE TO THE APOSTOLIC
See (scientes quid Apostolicae Sedi debeatur), since all We
who are set in this place desire to follow that Apostle from
whom the very Episcopate and all the authority of this title
sprung (a quo ipseEpiscopatus et tota auctoritas nominis hujus
emersit). Following whom, we both know how to condemn
what is evil, and to approve of what is commendable. And
this, too, that, guarding by your priestly office the institutions
of the Fathers, ye resolve that these regulations should not
be trodden under foot, which they, in pursuance of no human
but A DIVINE sentence, have decreed, viz., that whatever was
I
A Necessary Test of Orthodoxy.
97
being carried on, although in the most distant and remote
provinces, SHOULD NOT BE ACCOUNTED AS TERMINATED
UNTIL IT HAD COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS SEE ; BY
THE FULL AUTHORITY OF WHICH THE JUST SENTENCE
should be confirmed, and that thence all other
Churches might derive (that they may proceed, like
as all waters, from their own parent spring, and
the pure streams of an uncorrupted fountain-head
may flow throughout the divers regions of the
WHOLE WORLD) WHAT TO ORDER, WHOM TO CLEANSE," &C.
(Quod illi non humana, sed divina decrevere sententia, ut
quidquid quamvis de disjunctis remotisque provinciis agere-
tur, non prius ducerent finiendum, nisi ad hujus Sedis notitiam
perveniret: ut tota hujus auctoritate justa quae fuerit pro-
nunciatio firmaretur; indeque sumerent ceterae Ecclesiae
(velut de natali suo fonte aquae cunctae procederent, et per
diversas totius mundi regiones puri latices capitis incorrupti
manarent) quid praecipere, quos abluere, &c. Epist. xxix.
Episc. Concil. Carth. Galland, viii. p. 599).
To the Council of Milevis he says :— " Diligently,
therefore, and congruously do you consult the secret treasures
(arcana) of the Apostolic dignity (that dignity, I mean, on
which, beside those things that are without, the care of all
the Churches falls) as to what judgment is to be passed on
doubtful matters ; following therein the form of the ancient
rule, which, you know as well as I, has been preserved
always in the whole world (quam toto semper ab orbe
mecum nostis esse servatam) You know that, THROUGH-
OUT ALL THE PROVINCES, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ALWAYS
EMANATE FROM THE APOSTOLIC SPRING. ESPECIALLY, AS
OFTEN AS MATTERS OF FAITH ARE UNDER DISCUSSION, I
AM OF OPINION THAT ALL OUR BRETHREN AND FELLOW-
BISHOPS OUGHT ONLY TO REFER TO PETER, THAT IS TO THE
AUTHOR OF THEIR NAME AND HONOUR, even as your
affection has now referred, for what may benefit all Churches
in common throughout the whole world. For the authors of
these evils must needs be more cautious, on seeing them-
selves upon the report of two Synods, SEPARATED FROM
' G
-*..
A. ^ ■
i
Union with the See of Peter
98
THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCH BY THE DECREE OF OUR
SENTENCE. . . . Wherefore we do, by the authority of the
Apostolic power, declare Coelestius and Pelagius . . deprived
of the communion of the Church " (Scientes quod per omnes
provincias de apostolico fonte petentibus responsa semper
emanent. Prssertim quoties fidei ratio vent.latur. arbitror
omnes fratres et coepiscopos nostros nonms. ad Petrum id
est sui nominis et honoris auctorem referre debere, velut
nunc retulit vestra dilectio, quod per totum mundum possit
ecclesiis omnibus in commune prodesse, &c. Eptst. xxx. ad
Cone. Mitev. a. 2, 6, ■pp. 602, 603). ,„ t „f
It was in reference to these declarations of Pope Innocent
that St. Augustine declared :-" HE ANSWERED TO ALL AS
^ WAS RIGHT, AND AS IT BECAME THE PRELATE OF THE APOS-
TOLIC SEE" (ad omnia ille rescripsit, eodem modo. quo fas
erat atque oportebat Apostolic* Sedis Antistitem Lpsl.
clxxxvL n. 2, p. 997) ; and again :-" Already (the decisions
of) two Councils have been sent to the Apostolic See ; whence
also replies have been received. The CAUSE IS ENDED ;
would that the error may presently terminate likewise (Inde
rescripta venerunt : causa finita est.^ Serm. cxxxi. n. 10,
\ p. 930). See the remarks of MiLMAN and NeaNDER in
^ fiote to p. 6^. ,. , 1 ^,. „„t
Three OouncUs of Africa, in their Synodical letter sent
to Pope Theodore, and read in the Council of Rome under
Martin I.. A.D. 646 :-" No one can doubt that THERE IS IN
THE Apostolic See a great unfailing fountain, pour-
ing FORTH WATERS FOR ALL CHRISTIANS ; WHENCE RICH
STREAMS PROCEED, BOUNTIFULLY IRRIGATING THE WHOLE
CHRISTIAN WORLD ;^ to which See also, in honour of blessed
. .' ST AUGUSTINE, who so often appeals to the oriis tnrarum, sometimes
. •..^™ H. tells certain Donatists to whom he writes,
tKcThrBT oToTcrnha": 'tas::;: to maUe light of the thronging
mut tude of his enemies, when he found himself by letters of credence jo.ned
both to the Roman Church, in which ever had flourished the P"-'P»'"y °^^ J-f.
Apostolic See. and to the other lands whence the gospel came to Africa itself
iEtist xliii. n. 7). Newman's Essay on Dndop. p. 280.
^ ^ St Columbanus. speaking for the Earlv Irish CHURCH^ys to
Pope Boniface IV. :-- Our purity is to be reputed not to the stream, but to the
A Necessary Test of Orthodoxy,
99
Peter, the decrees of the Fathers gave special veneration in
searching out the things of God, which ought by all means to
be carefully examined ; and above all, and justly, by THE
Apostolic Head of Bishops (praesulum vertice Apostolico),
whose care from of old it is, as well to condemn evils as to
commend the things that are to be praised. For by the
ancient discipline it is ordained THAT WHATSOEVER BE
DONE, EVEN IN PROVINCES REMOTE AND AFAR OFF, SHALL
NEITHER BE TREATED OF NOR ACCEPTED, UNLESS IT BE
FIRST BROUGHT TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR AUGUST
See, so that a just sentence may be confirmed by its
AUTHORITY, AND THAT THE OTHER CHURCHES MAY THENCE
RECEIVE THE ORIGINAL PREACHING AS FROM ITS NATIVE
SOURCE, AND THAT THE MYSTERIES OF SAVING FAITH
MAY REMAIN IN UNCORRUPT PURITY THROUGHOUT THE
VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE WORLD" (Magnum et indificientem
omnibus Christianis fluenta redundantem apud Apostohcam
Sedem consistere fontem nuUus ambigere potest, de quo
rivuli prodeunt affluenter, universam largissime irrigantes
orbem terrarum. . . . Antiquis enim regulis sancitum est, ut
quidquid quamvis in remotis, vel in longinquo positis agere-
tur provinciis, non prius tractandum vel accipiendum sit,
nisi ad notitiam almae Sedis vestrae fuisset deductum, ut
hujus auctoritate justa quae fuisset pronunciatio, firmaretur,
indeque sumerent ceterae Ecclessiae velut de natali suo fonte
praedicationis exordium, et per diversas totius mundi regiones
puritatis incorruptae maneant fidei sacramenta salutis.^
Labbe, Concil, tom. viii. p. ISL ^^- ^^^^^^ ^7^9)-
FOUNTAIN head" (non enim rivo puritas, sed fonti reputanda est. Epist. ad
Bonif. p. 352, Galland, xii.). He calls Rome "the principal See of the
ORTHODOX FAITH " (fidei orthodoxse sedem principalem. lb. p. 353).
1 A host of testimonies from later writers will be found in the works of Bal-
LERINI, SCHRADER, and Others. It may suffice to quote here the following :-
Alcuin •— •* That he may not be found to be a schismatic or non-Catholic,
LET HIM FOLLOW THE MOST TRUSTWORTHY AUTHORITY OF THE ROMAN
CHURCH ; . . . THAT THE MEMBERS BE NOT SEPARATED FROM THEIR HEAD :
that the bearer of the keys of the heavenly kingdom may not reject them as hav-
ing deviated from his doctrines " (Ale. ^//^A Ixx).
St Bernard :— * It behoves us to make known to your Apostleship all the
dangers and scandals that spring up in the kingdom of God, especially such as
i
lOO
Union with the See of Peter,
concern faith ; for I think it right that the wounds of the faith should there in the
first place be healed, when faith can know no defect. For this is the
PREROGATIVE OF THAT See." Prol. Epist, cxcviii. ad Innoc. ii. cont. error.
Abcelard.
Sergius, Metropolitan of Cyprus. (See p. 66, note.)
Theodore the Studite calls the Roman See "the See of the Coryphaeus,
the See in which Christ has deposited the keys of faith, and from
WHICH WE are to RECEIVE THE CERTAINTY OF FAITH " (/cd/cet^CV [ttTO T775
Pw/Ai?s] TO affa\€s b^x^cdu) ttjs maTeus. (See Epist. Ixiii. ad Naucrat. Migne,
vol. xcix. p. 1 28 1, Epist. cxxix. ad Leon. p. 1420).
i'4:Z.
PAPAL TITLES AND PREROGATIVES.
III.
The following are some of the chief Titles and Prerogatives
ascribed to the ROMAN PONTIFFS in the early ages of the
Church : — „ , ^ ^ • • .
Siiccessor of the Fisherman''— Heir of Peters Administra-
tion's—Vicar of Peter— Holding the Succession of Peter-
Peter's Successor in Order, and Holder of His Place^—Constt-
1 St. Jerome, a.d. 390 :— "Cum successore piscatoris loquor"
(Efiist. -XM. ad Pap. Damasum.).
2 St. Siricius, a.d. 386 {Epist. I Himer. Galland, vw. p. 533)-
Vide supra, p. 57- , „ ..v
s Bishops of Spain, a.d. 440 :-" The most blessed Peter, the
supremacy of whose vicar, as it is eminent, so is it to be feared and
loved by all" (cujus vicarii principatus sic ut eminet, ita metuendus
est ab omnibus et amandus. Epist. Episc. Tarracon. Hilarto, col.
,033, Labbe, tom. iv.). St. Cyprian, a.d. 25°. ^peaks of "the
place of (Pope) Fabian, that is, the place of Peter' (Fabiani
locus, id est, locus Petri. Epist. Iv. ed. Goldh.). Firmilian, a.d.
2t;7 says of Pope Stephen :-«Se successionem Petri tenere
contendit ... per successionem Cathedram Petri habere se
prsedicat" {Epist. Fimi. int. Epist. S. Cypr.). In the General
Council of Ephesus, a.d. 431, PoP^ Ccelestme is called
" Peter's Successor in Order (xar« r«|« ^aSo^.f) and holder
OF HIS PLACE" {Act. iii. p. 62S, Labbe, tom. iii. et tom. u. Hardouin,
1477). Pope Zosimus, a.d. 4x7 :-" Whose place we rule
OVER and are in possession of the authonty of his name (cujus
locum nos regere, ipsius quoque potestatem nominis obtmere non
latet vos. Epist. xi. ad Afros, p. 16, Galland, ix.). See note to
• PP- S9> 6o-
I02
Papal Titles and Prerogatives,
tilted unto all Men Interpreter of the Voice of Blessed Peter *
—The Bishop of the Apostolic Chair— The Prelate of the Apos-
folic See^ — The very One Commissioned with the Guardian-
ship of the Vine by the Saviour^— The Head— Head of all the
most Holy Priests of God— Head of all the Holy Churches-^
In relation to whom the Fathers of the Councils of Constanti-
nople and Ephesus called themselves " the Members;' and the
Fathers of Chalcedon " the Children '"^—Archbishop of all the
* General Council of Chalcedon, a.d. 451 -.—nam rm rou
fiuxaoiou UiTPou l«uf xadiorafMtyoi {Epist, Synod, ad Leonem.
p. 834, Labbe, iv.).
5 General Council of Ephesiis :— " Pope Coelestine, Bishop
OF THE Apostolic Chair " i^Act ii. p. 611). St. Augustine :—
" Pope Zosimus, Bishop of the Apostolic See" {Epist. cxc. n. i).
St. Vincent of Lerins, a.d. 434 '-—' Pope Stephen, of blessed
memory, Prelate of the Apostolic See, (who) excelled all others
by the authority of his place" (Apostolicae Sedis Antistes, . . .
reliquos omnes . . . loci auctoritate superabat. Commotiit, Adv.
Hcer. c. 6).
« General Council of Chalcedon, regarding Dioscoms, to
Pope Leo I. :— " He even extended his madness against the very
ONE COMMISSIONED WITH THE GUARDIANSHIP OF THE ViNE BY THE
Saviour, that is to say, against your Apostolic Holiness"
(xai xar aurou roy rjjf afiTtXov Tr,v f uXaxij* craja rou aurriooi iiciTir^afj^
fiivov T>jv fj,aviav i^inivi' Xtyofiiv 3>j, rra era WiOTjjroj. Epist. Synod.
Leoni, p. 835, Labbe).
7 The Emperor Justinian, a.d. 533 :— " Nor do we allow
that any of these things, concerning ecclesiastical institution, should
fail to be brought before his Holiness, as being the head of all
THE HOLY Priests of God, and because as often as heretics have
arisen in these parts, they have been repressed by the sentence and
judgment of that holy See" (Caput omnium sanctissimorum Dei
sacerdotum. Epist. ad Epiphan. Cod. Justinian, lib. i. tom. L n. 7).
" Yielding honour to the Apostolic See, and to your Holiness, and
honouring your Holiness, as one ought to honour a father, ... we
have hastened to subject all the priests of the whole Eastern district,
and to unite them to the See of your Holiness. . . . For we do not
allow of any point, however manifest and indisputable it be, which
Papal Titles and Prerogatives.
103
habitable world^ ^Universal Archbishop and P^triarch^^^^
Great Rome'-Pope or Bishop of the Universal Church -
relates to the state of the Churches, not being brought to the cogni-
an e if your Holiness, since you are the Head of all holy
Churches " (vestry Sanctitati, qu^ caput est omnium sanctarum
Ssiarum.^^ Epist. ad Pap Joan. ii. Cod. J^^^^^'^^
CouncU of Constantinople, a.d. 381. I;^/,^^^^^^"/"^'
Episde to Pope Damasus and the Bishops assembled at Rome, the
Ea rn Fathers say:-" You have sumr^oned us as your own
MEMBERS (.; o..«U) by the letters of the most ^^^^^.sj^^
peror" (Ap Theodoret. Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 9) \ and the Pope m
Eis reply says : " Most honoured children (O/o/ n;..«raroO, m that
you chLityLords to the Apostolic See the reverence due you confer
[he greatest honour on yourselves" (on rr^ «.o.roX.x, xa^^e, r,, o^^V
General Council of Ephesus :-" Phihp, Pnest and Legate
of the Apostolic Chair, said: "We offer thanks to the holy and
V nerable Synod, that the letters of our holy and blessed Pope
7^..)^^^'^% been read to you, you have united your holy
fEMBERr^^^ your holy acclamations, to that holy head ra «,.«
ir r, ar, X. A,). For your Blessedness is not ignorant
That the ble;sel Peter is the head of all the --«, yea,^^^^^^^^^^
THE APOSTLES" {h -^aX, oX,. n. -.«;, . ^^J^^l'T^^^
A ^ Tohh^- n 1^7 1 Hardouin). General oouncu 01
Ch^cedon -"b^ wh;. (the Fathers of the Counc.l) thou
S D.D°T RU.E, AS A HEAD OVER THE MEMBERS, m thOSe whO
£ed thy place ' ' («« ~ .^S ^^ T""' ''""'' ^r'^JlZZ
r«?,. J^4ou«. Epist. Synod, ad Leonem. p. 834)- We therefore
cal uJon you to honour with your sanction our judgment; and a
we have brought our harmonious agreement with the Head m all
lod things! so let the Head fill up what is fitting for the CHH.
Zst blessed and Apos^UcBis^^ -«- «--
11^^^^ sT^i^S: Law or VA..«™.AK in. A...
445, Neander's Ch. Hist. in. 246.
^^i
I04
Papal Titles and Prerogatives,
T/ie Bishop of the Catholic Church ^^ — The Chief of the
Universal Chiirch^'^ — Elevated to the Lofty Summit of the
OF ALL THE CHURCHES '* (xs^aXj^f U7ra^;^ovro; itadta^ rwv «xx>.>jtf/wv.
Sess. i. p. 94, Labbe). St. Isidore of Seville, a.d. 598 :—
" And although the dignity of this (pastoral) power is derived to all
Catholic Bishops, yet in a more special manner it remains for ever
in THE Roman Bishop, who is by a singular privilege set as
THE HEAD OVER THE OTHER MEMBERS. Whoso, therefore, renders
not reverently to him due obedience, involves himself, as being
severed from the head, in the schism of the Acephali " (Epist. ad
Eugenium Episc. Toieian),
^ St. Cyril of Alexandria, a.d. 424 : — Ao^timffKOTov 'xaem
Poifirii (Horn. xi. in S. Mariam Deipar^ p. 385).
^ General Council of Chalcedon: — oixovfisvix(f) a^^^/swgxoc^
xat 'rar^ia^^rj rrji (iiyakr^i Pufirig Asovti (Act. iii. pp. 399, 411, Labbe;
pp. 325, 332, 335, Hardouin, tom. ii.). It is well known that this
title was, at a later period, rejected by Pope Gregory the Great,
tn the sense in which he understood it to have been usurped by John,
Patriarch of Constantinople : — " It is a lamentable thing, to be
forced to suffer patiently, that, despising all others, my brother and
fellow-bishop John endeavours to be called the only Bishop"
(quatenus despectis omnibus . . . Solus conetur appellari episcopus.
Lib. V. Epist. 21, ad Constant. August.). He himself declined the
title, preferring rather to call himself " Servant of the servants of
God " (servus servorum Dei) ; nevertheless he none the less strenu-
ously maintained the Supremacy of his See over the Universal
Church : " As to what they say of the Church of Constantinople,
who doubts that it is subject to the Apostolic See ? This is con-
stantly owned by the most pious Emperor, and by our brother the
Bishop of that city" (Lib. ix. Epist. xii.). On this subject see
Kenrick, On the Primacy^ 5th edit. pp. 156-160; Hawarden's
Charity and Truths Amer. ed. i860, pp. 212-220.^
10 Council of Chalcedon : — " I Paschasinus, Bishop of the
Church of Lilyboeta, . . . presiding over the holy Synod in the
stead of the most blessed and Apostolic Leo, of the city of Rome,
Papal Titles and Prerogatives.
105
* See also the Protestant writers, Neander, and Milman, cited by Dr.
Newman {Via Media, vol. i. p. 188, note, ed. 1877); and Fr. Gallwey's
Lectures on Ritualism, 1878, pp. 222-241.
Priesthood'^ — The Head and Chief of the Episcopate'^^ —
Apostolic Head of Bishops — Chief Pontiff and Bishop ofBishops^^
Pope of the Universal Church " (see Labbe, tom. iv. pp. 399,
448, 581 ; and Hardouin, tom. ii. pp. 385, 465-467), &c.
^^ Pope Cornelius, a.d. 250, quoting in his Epistle to St.
Cyprian, the words of the repentant Confessors : " Nos, inquiunt,
Cornelium Episcopum SANCxissiMiE CAXHOLiCiE EccLESi-E electum
a Deo . . . scimus . . . nee ignoramus unum deum esse et unum
Christum esse Dominum, unum Spiritum Sanctum, unum Episcopum
IN Catholica Ecclesia esse debere " {Liter. Epist. Cyprian Ep,
xlvi.). Council of Ephesus :— " The Bishop" (Act. iil p.
625).
^2 St. Avitus, A.D. 495 : — ** We were anxious in mind and
fearful in the cause of the Roman Church, as feeling our own posi-
tion tottering in the head assailed . . . the chief of the
Universal Church. ... If the Pope of that city is called into
doubt, not a Bishop, but the Episcopate will at once seem to be in
danger " (In lacessito capite ... Si Papa urbis vocatur in dubium,
episcopatus jam videbitur, non episcopus vacillare. Epist. xxxi. p.
724, Galland, tom. x.).
^^ St. Cyprian : — " Ad Sacerdotii sublime fastigium cunctis
religionis gradibus (Cornelius) adscendit " {Epist. Iii. ad Antonian).
The Emperor Valentinian IIL, A.D. 455:— "Cui PRiNCiPATUM
Sacerdotii super omnes antiquitas contulit" {Int. Epist. Leon.
Mag Iv.). The Patriarch John VI. of Constantinople,
A.D. 715, calls the Pope "the Head of the Christian priesthood,
whom, in Peter, the Lord commanded to confirm his brethren"
{Epist. ad Constantin. Pap. ap. Combefis, Auciuar. Bibl. P.P. Graec.
tom. ii. p. 211, seq.).
1* St. Innocent, Pope, a.d. 410:— "Ad nos, quasi ad caput
atque ad apicem EpiscoPATtrs, referre " {Epist. xxxvii. Galland,
viii. p. 608).
15 Tertullian, a.d. 195 :— " I hear that an Edict has been sent
forth, and a peremptory one indeed, to wit, the Chief Pontiff,
THAT is the Bishop of Bishops,^ proclaims, * I remit, to those
who have done penitence, the crimes both of adultery and fomica-
* The Protestant historian, Neander, observes that "very early indeed do
we observe in the Roman Bishops traces of the assumption that to them, AS suc-
cessors OF St. Peter, belonged a paramount authority in ecclesiastical dis-
'■ ii'* '■ T.
Papal Titles and Prerogatives.
io6
-Equal in office to other Bishops, but excelling them by the pre.
-nquai M see^^— Apostolic Lord and Father
.• . But this is read in the Church, and openly announced in
he Church^ Pon^fex Maximus. Episcopus Episcoporun,. De
the Churcn v j^ ^^^^^^^ j.^^es given to
i c. ;)• Jf;„.r,75/*0Hav h,a ToWa. Tom. iv. £pist. cxvi. Jienato, p.
i,Q7). " It pertains to you (Pope Leo) to hold the primacy in
ALL things, for your throne is adorned with many prerogatives
(A,a »a.rist. cxiiu Leant, p. 1187).
21 Sozomen, a.d. 440 :-" It is a sacerdotal law, that the
THINGS done contrary TO THE SENTIMENT OF THE BiSHOP OF
the Romans be looked upon as null " («.«- 7»» w^"' «?«"■""". "'
^,V/. £«/... lib. iii. c. 8, 10). See note to p. 77- The Greek
Patriarch AnatoUuS, to Pope Leo I. regarding the Council of
Chalcedon :— " The whole ground and confirmation ot what
HAD been done was RESERVED FOR YOUR BLESSEDNESS" (Ges-
toruin vis omnis et confirmatio auctoritati vestrae beatitudinis fuit
reservata.1 £pist. Ana/ol. inf. Epist. Leonis, cxxxii.).
22 St. Ambrose, a.d. 385, to Pope Siricius, who had ordered
that Tovinian and others should be excommunicated in the Church
of Milan :— "We have recognised in the letter of your Holiness the
watchfulness of the good shepherd, who dost faithfully keep
the gate intrusted to thee, and with pious solicitude dost guard
THE FOLD OF Christ, worthy, indeed, that the Lord's sheep should
hear and follow thee " (Recognovimus Uteris Sanctitatis tuae bom
pastoris excubias, qui fideliter commissam tibi januam serves, et pia
solicitudine Christi ovile custodias, dignus quem oves Christi audiant
et sequantur. Epist. xliii. Siricio. torn. iL p. 966). St. Jerome,
writing from the East to Pope Damasus :-" From the shepherd
the sheep asks protection " (A pastore presidium ovis flagito. Eptst.
XV. odDamas. n. 2). St. Columbanus, writing in the name of
1-
1 On the authority of the Pope over General Councils, in regard
to their convocation, presidence, direction, confirmation, &c.. see
HEFELE-s History of Church Councils, vol. i. Eng. trans. ; Zollinger ^»A./
Church Eng. trans, vol. U. p. 221, «?•! HERGENRoTHER's^«/.-7a««, Eng.
trans p I2 thou askest. From the word of the
Lord. For to whom— I say not among the Bishops, but
among the Apostles— have the whole flock been committed
in a manner so absolute and undistinguishing .? * If thou
lovest me, Peter Jeed My sheep: What sheep .? The inhabi-
tants of this or that city or country, those of a particular
kingdom } ' MY SHEEP,* He saith. Who does not see that
He designates not some, but all > Nothing is excepted
where nothing is distinguished. The power of others is
limited by definite bounds ; THINE EXTENDS EVEN OVER
THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED AUTHORITY OVER OTHERS.
Canst thou not, when a just reason occurs, shut up heaven
acrainst a Bishop, depose him from his Episcopal office, and
deliver him over to Satan > Thus thy privilege is immutable,
as well in the keys committed to thee, as in the sheep in-
trusted to thy care " {De Considerat. lib. ii. c. 8, quoted by
Hergenrother, Anti-famis, Eng. trans, p. 100).
t,
f
APPENDIX.
i
ST. PETER THE FIRST BISHOP OF ROME.
THAT St. Peter was the first who sat m the Apostolic Chair in Rome,
is shown by various testimonies contamed in this work. (See.
espeSy the note to p. 60.) As this fact is still cont.nuaUy dis-
puted by Protestant writers, it may be worth while to append here
fhe following letter to a Protestant friend, contammg notes on the
Re^^ R. Magu.re's work, entitled " St. Peter non-Roman :-
Mv DEAR . . . ,-To avoid charging the author of the book you
sent me with wilful misstatements and suppression of facts, it mu t
be u^pol^d that he omitted to verify, in many mstances, not only
h s qlat ons from ancient authors, but even those from the more
mod'ern ones-such as Bellarmine and Bishop Pearson^
He ref.s (p. .) ^l^^^:^:^^^^ ^^^
:S/ jrLi foftlTfive year's ; whereas, what Bellarmine
:ra-rts, in common with most CathoUc *- ogians see
Murray De Ecdesia, vol. iii. P- 536, dat. 1866), is, that St Peters
rar;..«.;n-eandh^
'^'.^:^^^:^^ -^^ ^^ death, ./^^...
S.^ (lie some of the Avignon Popes) had never set foci at aU ,n
ZcUy I The whole fiction, therefore, invented by Mr. ^ ^f its
hefnf '' «« essential requirement "-" the very core of the Papal
being an essmi h ^ Rome for twenty-five
theory" (p. i49)-Aat St. ^^^er r.^'O' ^^^ ^^
many years (p. 21), is «pioQea ' ^ that St. Peter was
argumentation to prove-what "° -^ J^ ^ares to contend for
certainly often in other places.^ .^\^^f''Som,er, in his History
..the twenty-five year theo7jp^ 'Sx ^^^ J^^^^ ^^^.^^^^^ ^^
./ the Church (vol 1.), says A ^^^^^ ^.^^^.^ ^^
twenty-five years' duration at Kome, »«»« ^
114
Appendix,
Appendix,
115
any person whatever:' " No Catholic," says Waterworth, " ever
pretended that St. Peter always remained in Rome after the estab-
lishment of the Episcopal See in the Imperial City. All suppose
that he did not remain there. And if they still allow that he was
the Bishop of Rome for twenty- five years, notwithstanding years of
absence, they maintain this precisely on the same grounds as they
ascribe twenty-three years of spirtual sovereignty to Pius VI., and
twenty-three to Pius VII." {Engl, and Rome, c. ii.).
In regard to the two points which Bellarmine declares to be noti-
essentialy though demonstrable by the clearest historical testimony,
viz., %\..YQXt\''s> presence \xi Rome and death there, the learned Protes-
tant Whiston says ; '* That St. Peter was in Rome is so clear in
Christian antiquity, that // is a shame for a Protestant to confess that
afiy Frotestafit ever denied it:' Chamierius (whose words are quoted
and approved by Cave) says : ''All the Fa f hers with great unanimity
have asserted that Peter did go to Rome, and that he did govern that
Church " (Panstrat. Cath. de Rom. Pont. lib. xiii. c. 4, quoted by
Dr. Cave, " Lives of the Apostles "St. Peter). Another learned
Protestant — Grotius— says, in his note on i Pet. v. 13: "Ancient
and modern interpreters differ about this * Babylon.' The ancients
understood it of Rome, where that Peter was, no true Christian will
doubt " (Veteres Romam interpretantur, ubi Petrum fuisse nemo verus
Chrlstianus dubitabit). I observe that Mr. M. alludes (p. 151) to
the Protestant Bishop Pearson, and represents him as "simply
pleading for St. Peter's martyrdom in Rome," ignorantly or dis-
honestly suppressing the fact that Pearson Wrote a learned and
elaborate treatise expressly to prove that St. Peter was Bishop of
Rome, and that the Popes are his legitimate successors {Opera Posthuma,
Lond., 1688). Archbishop Bramhall also says: "That St. Peter
had a fixed Chair at Antioch, and after that at Rome, is what no
man, who giveth any credit to the ancient Fathers, and Councils,
and historiographers of the Church, can either deny or well doubt
of" (Bram. Works, p. 628, ed. Oxon.). Dr. Cave says: "We
intrepidly affirm with all antiquity, that St. Peter was at Rome, and
for some time resided there. . . . All, both ancient and modern, will,
I think, agree with me that Peter may be called Bishop of Rome in
a less strict sense, inasmuch as he laid the foundations of this Church,
and rendered it illustrious by his martyrdom " {Scec. Apost. S. Pet.),
The whole subject of the Scriptural evidence bearing on St.
Peter's work in Rome is treated in a masterly way by Dr. DoUinger,
\
i
in his First Age of the Church. I may remind you that St. Paul had
not been in Rome, before he wrote his Epistle to the Church there
constituted (see Rom. i. 10-13 ; xv. 22, 23). By whom, then, had
that Church been founded— a Church so well-ordered and renowned
that, as he states in c i. 8, its "faith was spoken of in the whole
world" ? Clearly by St. Peter ; for Christian antiquity pomts out
only him and St. Paul as having been the founders of the Church at
Rome. Again, it was clearly foretold to St. Peter that by his mar-
tyrdom by crucifixion he should "glorify God" (John xxi.). The
place where he did so must consequently have been well known m
the Early Church. But no other place than Rome was ever mentioned
or thought of by any ancient writer, as the one where St. Peter thus
glorified God by his martyrdom. St. Clement, a.d. 96 (see Maguire,
p 32), alluded to a fact too notorious 1 to require particular mention
or details, when referring to the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul,
in his Epistle to the Corinthians.
In ch iv of his work Mr. M. makes a vain attempt to mvalidate
the testimony of Eusebius, and to depreciate his authority as an
historian. Any one that desires can read Eusebius' history for him-
self, as an English translation of it is published in Bohn's Theological
Library Mr. M. %\m^\y garbles his first chapter (pp. 37, 38). In
point of fact, Eusebius had, when compiling his history, access to a
host of works by earlier authors, most of which have long been lost.
In lib V. cap. 27, he says: "Numerous works, indeed, of ancient
ecclesiastical writers are still preserved by many, the monuments of
a virtuous industry." Some of these authors he mentions, and con-
tinues " Innumerable others there are also, that have come down to us,
even the names of which it would be impossible to give. All of them
I The following is a list of early authors who distinctly refer to St. Peter's
residence in Rome, or to his martyrdom, or the establishment of h.s Ep.scopal
See in that city -.-Clement of Rome (a.d. 96). Ignatms (107). f'^^^"^'
Irensus (178), Clement of Alexandria (190), D.onysms of Cormth ('68 > Tertul-
lian (.95), Caius (214). Origen (216), Hippolytus 220) Cypr.an (248), Pope
Stephen 250). Anatolius (270), Peter of Alexandria (306), Amobms (3 o^,
Lactantius (320). Eusebius (320), Pope Julius (342). Alhanasms 362 , Cyril of
Jerusalem (363), Optatus (375), Ambrose (375). PoP« Damasus (370), Gregory
Nazianzen (370), Epiphanius (385), Jerome (390), Chrysostom (385), Augustm.
r400), Prudentii (405). Theodoret (424). Prosper (429), &c To these must be
added the Council of Aries (314), the Council of Sard.ca (343). several African
Councils (416), and the General Councils of Ephesus (431). ^d Chalcedon (451).
-in all of which a distinct reference is made to the Roman Church as the See of
St Peter, and to the authority of the Bishop of Rome as his successors.
(
1 1 6 Appendix,
were orthodox and Ecclesiastical writers:' Compare this with Mr.
M.'s statement in p. 37 of his book, where he represents Eusebms
as complaining of the paucity of earlier ecclesiastical authors ! It is
evident that when Eusebius speaks of himself as entenng on " a
trackless and unbeaten path," and - unable to find the bare vestiges
of those who preceded him," he means in writing a complete history of
the whole Church, which he himself was the firfet to undertake to do.
The value of Papias' testimony (depreciated by Mr. M. p. 63) is
shown by the Protestant Dr. Cave, who refutes Spanheim's objec-
tions. Mr. M.'s statement that Eusebius " speaks of his works as
having only a traditional existence;' is simply untrue. Eusebius'
words are : ** There are said to be five books of Papias, which bear
the title of * Interpretation of our Lord's declarations.' IrencBus
also makes mention of these as the only works written by him, in the
following terms : ' These things are attested by Papias, an ancient
author who mentions them in the fourth book of his works. For he
has wntten a work in five books''' (Euseb. iii. c. 39). Thus it
appears W^^K IrencBus, who wrote 150 years before Eusebius, posi-
tively attests the fact in his own tvritings, and Eusebius himself pro-
ceeds to quote from these works of Papias-stiU extant in his own
day ! The " fabulous " notions which Eusebius (who in Lib. 111. c.
36, calls him, «' a man well skilled in all kinds of learning, and well
acquainted with the Scriptures ") attributes to Papias. related to the
subject of the " Millennium;' or personal reign of Christ on the
earth ; and this is the sole point to which Eusebius refers when he
« deplores the effect of his testimony on those that came after him "
(Maguire, p. 64). The value of Eusebius' judgment, and his accuracy
as an historian, are shown by his summary rejection of all dubious
traditions of this sort ; and his mode of speaking of the spurious
writings attributed to St. Peter shows how very unlikely he was to
have introduced into his history any facts or statements that were
not based upon the most reliable testimony. It may be said,
indeed, that he rather erred, at times, in the opposite direction, since
he speaks doubtfully of the Second Epistle of Peter, and several more
of the Canonical writings. His words are : " As to the writings of
Peter, one of his Epistles is acknowledged as genuine. For this was
anciently used by the ancient Fathers in their writings, as an un-
doubted work of the Apostle. But that which is called the second,
we have not indeed understood to be embodied with the Sacred
Books ; yet as it appeared useful to many, it was studiously read
Appendix,
117
with the other Scriptures. As to that work, however, called * The
Acts of Peter; and ' The Gospel according to Peter; and that called
* The Preaching and the Ra^elations of Peter ' " (these were all heretical
compositions), " we know nothing of their being handed down as
Catholic writings ; since neither among the ancients, nor the Eccle-
siastical writers of our day, has there been one that has appealed to
testimony taken from them " (Euseb. Hist. Ecc. iii. 3).
Dr. Dollinger {First Age of the Church, p. 296), discusses the
subject of St Peter's presence in Connth (see Maguire, p. 97) in
connection with his journey to Rome. St. Paul's allusion to him,
^'Cephas;' in i Cor. i. 12, iii. 32, shows that he had been in Corinth ;
and Clement of Rome alludes to the fact as well as Dionysius of
Corinth. The last named author, who wrote a.d. 175, distinctly
attributes the founding of the Roman and Corinthian Churches to
St Peter and St. Paul, i.e., as Paul founded the Cormthian, St. Peter
founded the Roman Church. St. Irenaeus, also, says that ''Peter
and Paul preached the gospel and founded the Church at Rome "
(Euseb. V. 8) ; and St. Ignatius, writing to the Roman Church,
refers to the same fact. '' I do not command you," he says, " as did
Peter and Paul." The testimony of these writers is not shaken by
anything that Mr. M. has said.
There can be no doubt that the order of the first Bishops of
Rome was :-i. Peter, 2. Linus, 3. Cletus (or Anencletus),
4 Clement. This, as before observed (p. 85), is the order given by
Irenaeus, Eusebius (who followed Hegesippus and Irenaeus), and
Epiphanius, as well as in the ancient Canon of the Roman Mass,
which expresses the eariiest traditions of the Roman Church. Euse-
bius says that Linus was " the first after Peter to obtain the episco-
pate" (.f«.o; /.s.a U^r^.. Hist, Ecc, iii. 4); "the first after the
martyrdom of Paul and Peter" (iii. 2, and 21). St. Iren^us, after
referring to those whom the Apostles -left as their successors m the
Churches, delivering to them their own post of government, confines
himself to giving the succession in the Roman Church on^y ; and
states that " the blessed Apostles (Peter and Paul) having founded
and established this Church, transmitted the office of the episcopate
to Linus. He was succeeded by Anencletus, and after him Clement
held the episcopate, the third from the Apostles" (Iren ap Euseb.
V. 6). Eusebius, also, still reckoning from Linus as the first (i^e.
^^ after Peter;' iii. 4), calls Clement <^the third bishop (7^.)," the
third that held the episcopate after Paul and Peter (i.e. after
ii8
Appendix,
Appendix,
119
their martyrdom',' iii. 21, comp. c. 2). Alexander is called by him
"the 5th in the succession from Peter and Paul'' (iv. i) ; Xystus "the
sixth from the Apostles " (Iren. ap, Euseb. v. 6) ; Telesephorus " the
seventh in the succession from the Apostles (iv. 5). Hyginus is counted
by Irenseus and Eusebius as the eighth Bishop, when reckoning from
Linus as " the first " flfter Peter (v. 6) ; but elsewhere Irenseus twice
calls him " the ninth in the succession," " the ninth that held the
episcopate in succession from the Apostles" (ap. Euseb. iv. 11),
evidently counting Peter himself as " the first." Hyginus is also
called the ninth by the ancient author of the Carm. adv. Marcion, by
St. Cyprian ("Hyginus Episcopus qui in urbe nonus fuit," Epist. 74),
and by St. Epiphanius. Other Popes are in like manner reckoned
by Eusebius ''from the Apostles" {Proem, in lib. v. 6) ; and Victor is
called "the thirteenth Bishop of Rome/r^w Peter" (v. 28).
Mr. Maguire and other Protestant writers contend, that because
Linus, Cletus, and Clement are reckoned by Irenseus and Eusebius
as " the first," ** second," and " third " Bishops of Rome, therefore,
those authors did not regard St. Peter himself as the first Bishop (see
Maguire, pp. 11 7-1 24) ; but these objectors invariably suppress the
fact that Irenseus and Eusebius counted Linus as " the first after
Peter," just as Eusebius also reckons the Bishops of Alexandria
from Annianus as " X^at first Bishop" (iii. 14, iv. i), meaning that he
was " the first Bishop after Mark," whom " he succeeded in the
? dministration of the Church of Alexandria " (ii. 24). He calls
Annianus " the first" Bishop of Alexandria, just as he calls Linus
" the first" Bishop of Rome, and reckons the Bishops of Alexandria
''from the Apostles" (iv. i) just as both he and Irenseus reckon those
of Rome. Eusebius reckons the Bishops of Antioch in like manner,
''from the Apostles" {Qiicest. ad Stephan. ; and Hist. Eccl. iv. 20, 24 ;
v. 22), naming Evodius as the first Bishop, and Ignatius the second ;
but here, again, he did not mean to exclude St. Peter himself, who
had been Bishop of Antioch before them for some years, and
accordingly he distinctly speaks of Ignatius as the second " suc-
cessor OF Peter" in that See (iii. 36); and, before him, Origen
had termed Ignatius " the second Bishop of Antioch after Peter "
Horn, vi. in Lucan, op. ed. Delarue, iii. 938). It appears, then,
that Eusebius counted St. Peter to have been Bishop of Rome
before Linus, as truly as he counted him to have been Bishop of
Antioch before Evodius and Ignatius ; or as truly as he counted St.
Mark to have been Bishop of Alexandria before Annianus.
<
J
The expression so often used by him, '' fro7n the Apostles" when
giving the successions in the Sees of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria,
and also in that oi Jerusalem (lib. iv. c. 5, v. 12), neither excludes
an Apostle from the first episcopate in each See, nor does it prove
that more than one Apostle had held it. As regards the See of
Jerusalem, Hegesippus, Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius dis-
tinctly state'that St. James the Apostle was the first Bishop (Euseb.
Hist, Ecc. ii. i-; 23; iii. 5 ; iv. 5); and Eusebius adds that, in his
own day, the episcopal "throne" of the Apostle was still preserved
with great veneration in that city (vii. 19, 32). In the case of the
three first-named Sees, he reckons "from" 01 " after" Peter and
Mark, calling the first successor in each See "the first Bishop,"
just as an English historian might speak of William Rufus as the
first Norman king of England ''from" or "after" the Conqueror,
certainly without meaning to exclude the Conqueror himself.
The Chronicle of St. Hippolytus (a.d. 225) "counts Peter as first
Bishop of Rome " (Smith's Diet of Christ. Biog. and Literal, i. p.
577), and Linus as second; but it then places Clement before
Cletus, and seems to reckon Cletus and Anencletus as different
persons. The best Protestant writers agree with Catholic historians
in considering the order mentioned above as infinitely more trust-
worthy 1 than the lists in which Clement is placed before Cletus.
The words of Tertullian : " The Roman Church refers to Clement,
ordained by Peter" (Romanorum ecclesia Clementem a Petro ordi-
natum refert. De Prcescr. Hceret. c. 32), do not necessarily imply
that this writer regarded Clement as/r^/ in the succession, as it was
not Tertullian's object to give the Apostolical succession in the
Roman Church, but to prove the apostolicity of doctrine; and it
suited his purpose to name Clement, as being the most renowned,
1 Dr. Salmon, the Regius Professor of Divinity in Trinity College, Dublin,
gives tiie following reasons for preferring the order given by Irenseus and Euse-
bius -—"First, because it is distinctly the more ancient; secondly, because if
the earlier tradition had not placed the undistinguished name of Cletus before the
well-known Clement, no later writer would have been under any temptation to
reverse its order ; thirdly, because of the testimony of the Liturgy." He con-
cludes " that the commemoration in the order, Linus, Cletus, Clement, had been
introduced before the time of Hippolytus, and was at that time so firmly estab-
lished, that even the contradictory results arrived at by Hippolytus had no power
to alter it" {Diet, of Chr. Biog. and Liierat. p. 555)- He accounts for Hip-
polytus' deviation "from the order which he found acknowledged in his Church
by his having accepted as historically true the ordination of Clement by Peter,
as related in the Epistle to James (spurious), and continues : We retam, then, the
order of Irenseus, accounting that of Hippolytus as an arbitrary transposition
devised to get over a chronological difficulty:'
I20
Appendix.
and the nearest to his own time of those Bishops of Rome who had
actually been " ordained by Peter." Other early Latin writers, how-
ever, have varied as to the order of the first Bishops, some placing
Cleilient next to Peter, and the apparent discrepancy has been
accounted for by the fact suted by Epiphanius, Rufinus, Venerable
Bede, and others, that Linus, Clement, and Cletus had all three been
ordained by St. Peter as his coadjutors {cum jure successionts), to
act either as missionary Bishops, or in the administration of the
Roman Church during his occasiotial absence, &c. (see Tillemont,
Mem. Eccles. torn. ii. p. 164). Epiphanius also, who is followed by
Baronius, BoUandus, NataUs Alexander, Tillemont, and others,
considers that St. Clement, although first ordained by St. Peter,
resigned the episcopal office in favour of Linus and Anencletus, and
did not resume it until the death of the latter; whilst some have
thought it more probable that ■ he was ordained by St. Peter as
a missionary bishop, unattached to any particular Church, and
desic'ned to assist the Apostles in their labours, by gomg about to
preach the gospel and to establish and confirm the Churches m
various places ; and that, after the death of Anencletus, being
required by the Christians at Rome, he " was then," as St. Epipha-
nius says, "compelled to take the episcopate" {Bar. 27)-
It has been supposed by many, that when St. Paul came to Rome,
he undertook there a part of St Peter's episcopal administration-
exercising this office in regard to the Gentile converts, whilst St.
Peter's local charge was specially that of the Jewish converts. In
confirmation of this it may be observed, says Dr. Hawarden, « ist,
that Epiphanius says: 'In Rome Feter and Paul were the first,
holhhvo^iX^s and Bishops' {Hcer. 27). 2dly, that Eusebms says
Alexander ' derived in the fifth place a succession from Peter and
Paul ' (Titivrti' o-'^o ""■f" *«' ""''^'"' "'"■"7*" ^"^^"XV- Lib- iv. c. i).
^dlv That the Jewish and GentUe converts required to be treated
at firet in quite a different manner. 4thly, That whereas the ancients
differ concerning the first Bishop of Rome after St. Peter-some
affirming him to be Linus (as Irenseus, Eusebius, Optatus, Epipha-
nius, Jerome, Augustine, and Theodoret) ; others to be Clement
(as Ruffinus, and the Latins commonly, according to St. Jerome) ;
both opinions may be reconciled if we suppose that, after the mar-
tyrdom of St. Peter and St Paul, the successors of St Peter were
Linus Cletus (or Anencletus), whilst Clement succeeded St. Paul ;
and that Clement after their decease, a.d. 91, was also chosen to
succeed Cletus, and so joined both the converted Jews and con-
Appendix.
121
\
i
verted Gentiles at Rome under one pastor. St Epiphanius thinks
it probable that, because St. Peter and St Paul were often absent
from Rome, they had, whilst yet living, their coadjutors there. So
Linus might be St. Peter's coadjutor, as Clement, whom, according
to TertuUian, St. Peter had ordained, perhaps for that reason, might
be St Paul's." Dr. Hawarden adds, that on this supposition,
" there would only have been a division of St. Peter's and St Paul s
labours, notof their jurisdiction ;" and that " it would neither injure
the Pope's supremacy, nor his being the successor of St Peter only in
the government of the whole Church, though in the government of
the Roman diocese he were the successor of St Peter and St. Paul
(True Church, &c., ed. 1808, vol. ii. p. 99)-
Other early writers use language confirmatory of this supposition.
" I do not," wrote St Ignatius, a.d. 107, " Hhe Peter and Paul com-
mand you" (£j>ist. ad Pom. n. 4). St Iren^us speaks o(Joth
Apostles as having transmitted the Episcopal office to Linus (m. 3)-
St Anatolius, a.d. 270, calls the Roman Bishops "the successors of
Peter and Paul" (Canon. Paschal, n. 10, Galland. 1.1. 548) J and
the Council of Aries, a.d. 314, calls Rome " the place ;« u^tch
(both) Apostles sit continually in judgment, ^r^A their blood without
ceasing witnesses to the glory of God" {Epist. Synod ad Sy vest.
Labbe, i. p. 14^6). " The Roman Church," says Dolhnger was
viewed as inheriting alike from St. Paul his prerogative of Apostle
of the Gentiles, and from St Peter his dignity as the foundation of
the Church, and as possessing the power of the keys (Ftrst Age
&c P 300). It is, however, a certain and most remarkable fact,
that whereas that Church was by ancient Fathers and Councils con-
tinually denominated " tlu See of Peter," no single w^ance can be
adduced of its ever being called tl. See of Paul. « These " (Peter
and ?aul), said Leo the Great, " are they who have advanced hee
to this glory, . . . that, by the See of Peter made the head of the
Universe, tlL mightest rule more widely by divine religion than by
earthly empire " {Serm. 82, in Natal. App. Pet. et Paul)
Mr Maguire's laboured attempt to prove that the early writers are
discordant in their testimony, is not a whit more successful than are the
efforts of infidels and rationalists to undermine the authority of vari-
ous books of Scripture, by alleging instances of apparent d'screpancy,
and pointing to the chronological, scientific, and historical difficulties
on which sfrauss, Colenso, and others have insisted so vehemently.
After the facts and evidence that I have adduced, it would be mere
waste of time to enter on a more detailed examination of the nume-
t'
122
Appendix,
rous misstatements contained in Mr. Maguire's book. His historic
doubts regarding St Peter's Roman Episcopacy can hardly be said
to have any better or more rational foundation than the late Dr.
Whatele/s ''Historic Doubts relative to the Existence of Napoleon
Bonaparte^ — I am, &c.
DEVELOPMENT OF PAPAL POWER,
It may be objected that few of the Papal Epistles, &c., from which
passages are quoted -in this work, are of higher antiquity than the
fourth and fifth centuries ; to which the reply is, that the series of
genuine Decretal Letters that have been preserved commences only
with Pope Siricius. Tertullian, Firmilian, and other hostile
writers, however, speak of the "■ peremptory edicts " of earlier Popes,
* and of their claiming supreme authority as successors of St. Peter.
^ We know also from Eusebius that Pope Victor (a.d. i^o) threatened
to excommunicate the whole of the Eastern Churches for their non-
observance of Easter according to the Roman custom ; from which
extreme measure he was deterred chiefly by the pacific representa-
tions of St. Irenseus, who ** becomingly exhorted him," says Eusebius,
** not to cut off whole Churches of God, who observed the tradition
of an ancient custom " {Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 24). Pope Victor's
authority to interfere in the afi"airs of the Eastern Churches, or even
to excommunicate them, was not called in question ; and it is clear
that his threat was not looked upon as an insolent assumption of
power, or an idle waste of words, but that every effort was made, by
argument, remonstrance, and entreaty, to avert its execution.
To those who reflect that the Church itself was only gradually
and by slow degrees to become great and powerful, developing itself
as from ** a grain of mustard-seed" it can be no difficulty that Papal
prerogatives were not referred to by St. Clement or St. Ignatius in
such terms as were in use in the fifth and following centuries. • Cer-
tainly, kings and queens had not as yet become ** the nursing fathers
and mothers of the Church," nor " bowed down before her with
their faces to the earth, to lick up the dust of her feet " (Isa. xlix.
23). " We must ever keep in view," says Hergenrother, " that
the primacy was never as a ready-made system traced out for the
constitution of the ancient Church, but was deposited in it like a
fructifying germ, which developed with the life of the Church. . . .
According to the will of Providence, the primacy was to enter on
the domain of history ; hence it could not be circumscribed within
exact and sharply-defined limits, but must be allowed such 2i freedom
of moi'ement ?iv\^ of development as would enable it to enforce in
i
\
■AV^' ■■;■
Appendix.
123.
every sphere its divine power, according to the various circumstances
and special needs of diff'erent ages."
" It is true," says Dr. Newman, " that St. Ignatius is silent m his
Epistles on the subject of the Pope's authority ; but if that authority
was not, and could not be, in active operation then, such silence is
not so difficult to account for as the silence of Seneca or Plutarch
about Christianity itself, or of Lucian about 'the Roman people.
St. Ignatius directed his doctrine according to the need. While
Apostles were on earth there was need neither of Bishop or Pope ;
their power was dormant, or exercised by Apostles. In course of
time, first the power of the Bishop awoke, and then the power of
the Pope. When the Apostles were taken away, Christianity did
not at once break into portions ; yet separate localities might begin
to be the scene of internal dissensions, and a local arbiter in conse-
quence would be wanted. Christians at home did not yet quarrel
with Christians abroad ; they quarrelled at home amongst them-
selves. St. Ignatius applied the fitting remedy. The Sacramentum
Unitatis was acknowledged on all hands ; the mode of fulfilling and
the means of securing it would vary with the occasion ; and the
determination of its essence, its seat, and its laws would be a gradual
consequence of a gradual necessity. ... For St Ignatius to speak
of Popes, when it was a matter of Bishops, would have been like
sending an army to arrest a housebreaker. ...
** When the Church, then, was thrown upon her own resources,
first local disturbances gave rise to Bishops, and next oecumenical
disturbances gave rise to Popes. ... It is not a greater difficulty
that St Ignatius does not write to the Asian Greeks about Popes
than that St Paul does not write to the Corinthians about Bishops.
And it is a less difficulty that the Papal Supremacy was not formally
acknowledged in the second century than that there was no formal
acknowledgment of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity till the fourth.
No doctrine is defined until it is violated. And, in hke manner, it
was natural for Christians to direct their course in matters of doctrine
by the guidance of mere floating, and, as it were, endemic, tradition,
while it was fresh and strong ; but in proportion as it languished, or
was broken in particular places, did it become necessary to fall back
upon its special homes, first the Apostolic Sees, and then the See of
Peter. Moreover, an international bond and a common authority
could not be consolidated, were it ever so certainly provided, while
persecutions lasted. If the Imperial power checked the development
of Councils, it availed also for keeping back the 'power of the Papacy.
The Creed, the Canon of Scripture, in like manner both remained
undefined. The Creed, the Canon, the Papacy, CEcumenical Coun-
cils—all began to form, as soon as the Empire relaxed its tyrannous
II '
t
\
Appendix,
124
oppression of the Church. And as it was natural that her monarchi-
cal power should rise when the Empire became Christian, so was it
natural also that further developments of that power should take
place when that Empire fell. Moveover, when the power of the
Holy See began to exert itself, disturbance and collision would be
the necessary consequence As St. Paul had to plead, nay, to
strive, for his Apostolic authority, and enjoined St. Timothy, as
Bishop of Ephesus, to let no man despise him,— so Popes too have
not therefore been ambitious, because they did not establish their
authority without a struggle " (Newman, On Development of Doct.
pp. 165-168). ^ „ V •.
The Rev. H. Milman, D.D. (late Dean of St. Pauls;, writes as
follows regarding the necessity of a development of the Papal authority
in the time of Pope Gregory the Great, and during the mediaeval
period : — ,
" Now was the crisis in which th ■ Papacy must reawaken us
obscured and suspended life. It was the only power which lay not
entirely and absolutely prostrate before the disasters of the times-a
power which had an inherent strength, and might resume its majesty
It was this power which was most imperatively required to preserve all
which was to survive out of the crumbling wreck of Roman civilisation.
To Western Christianity Avas absolutely necessary a centre, standing
alone, strong in traditionary reverence, and in acknowledged claims
to supremacv. Even the perfect organisation of the Christian hier-
archy might 'in all human probability have fallen to pieces in per-
petual conflict : it might have degenerated into a half secular feudal
caste with hereditary benefices, more and more entirely subservient
to the civil authority, a priesthood of each nation or each tribe,
gradually sinking to' the intellectual or religious level of the nation
or tribe. On the rise of a power, both eontroUins and conservative,
hung, humanly speaking, the life and death of Christiantty-of Chrts-
tianity as a permanent, aggressive, expansive, and to a certain extent,
uniform system. There must be a counterbalance to barbaric force
to the unavoidable anarchy of Teutonism, with its tribal, or at the
utmost national independence, forming a host of small, conflicting
antagonistic kingdoms. ... It is impossible to conceive what had
been the confusion, the lawlessness, the chaotic state of the Middle
Ac^es, without the medieval Papacy ; and of the medieval Papacy
the real father is Gregory the Great" {Hist, of Latin Christ, b. 111.
c. vii. vol. ii. pp. 100-102, ed. 1867).
FINIS.
I,
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