>>22214
>papal supremacy
POPE ST. CLEMENT I
Owing, dear brethren, to the sudden and successive calamitous
events that have happened to us, we feel that we have been
somewhat tardy in turning our attention to the points about
which you consulted us; and especially to that shameful and
detestable sedition, utterly abhorrent to the elect of God, that a
few rash and self-confident persons have kindled to such a
pitch of frenzy that your venerable and illustrious name, worthy
to be universally loved, has suffered grievous injury. . . . It is
right and holy, therefore, men and brethren, to obey God
rather than to follow those who, through pride and sedition,
have become the leaders of a detestable emulation. For we
shall incur no slight injury, but rather great danger, if we
rashly yield ourselves to the inclinations of men who aim at
exciting strife and tumults, to draw us away from what is good
. . . we may reach the goal set before us in truth wholly free
from blame. Joy and gladness you will afford us, if you
become obedient to the words written by us and through the
Holy Spirit root out the lawless wrath of your jealousy
according to the intercession we have made for peace and
unity in this letter [
Letter to the Corinthians I, 14, 63 (A.D.
70)].
HERMAS OF ROME
You will write two books, and you will send the one to
Clemens and the other to Grapte. And Clemens will send his to
foreign countries, for permission has been granted to him to do
so [
The Shepherd 1:2:4 (c. A.D. 80)].
ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH
Ignatius . . . to the Church that has obtained mercy, through
the majesty of the most high Father, and Jesus Christ, his
only-begotten Son; the Church that is beloved and enlightened
by the will of him that wills all things according to the love of
Jesus Christ our God, that presides in the place of the
Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of the
highest happiness, worthy of praise, worthy of obtaining her
every desire, worthy of being deemed holy, and that presides
over love, and is named from Christ, and from the Father [
Letter to the Romans, Greeting (c. A.D. 110)].
You have never envied any one; you have taught others. Now
I desire that those things may be confirmed [by your conduct],
which in your instructions you enjoin [on others] [ibid., 3].
ST. DIONYSIUS OF CORINTH
From the beginning it has been your practice to do good to all
the brethren in various ways, and to send contributions to
many churches in every city. Thus relieving the want of the
needy, and making provision for the brethren in the mines by
the gifts you have sent from the beginning, you Romans keep
up the hereditary customs of the Romans, which your blessed
Bishop Soter has not only maintained, but added to, furnishing
an abundance of supplies to the saints, and encouraging the
brethren from abroad with blessed words, as a loving father his
children [
Letter to Pope Soter (c. A.D. 170), in Eusebius,
Church History 4:23:10].
Today we have passed the Lord’s holy day, in which we have
read your letter. Whenever we read it, we shall be able to
draw advice, as also from the earlier letter, which was written
to us through Clement [ibid., 4:23:11].
The same witnesses also recommended Irenaeus, who was at
that time a presbyter of the parish of Lyons, to the bishop of
Rome [Pope St. Eleutherius], saying many favorable things
about to him, as the following shows: “We pray, father
Eleutherius, that you may rejoice in God in all things and
always. We have requested our brother and comrade Irenaeus
to carry this letter to you, and we ask you to hold him in
esteem, as zealous for the covenant of Christ” [ibid., 5:4:1–2].
ST. IRENAEUS OF LYONS
Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as
this, to reckon up the successions of all the churches, we put
to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an
evil self-pleasing, by vanity, or by blindness and perverse
opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings, by indicating that
Tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very
ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized
at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul;
also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes
down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops.
For it is a matter of necessity that every church agree with this
church, on account of its preeminent authority, that is, the
faithful everywhere, in so far as the apostolic Tradition has
been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist
everywhere [
Against Heresies 3:3:2 (c. A.D. 189)].
ST. CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE
If anyone considers and examines these things, there is no
need for a long discussion and arguments. There is easy proof
of faith in a short summary of the truth. The Lord says to
Peter: “I say to you,” he says, “that you are Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not
overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of
heaven . . .” [Mt 16:18–19]. On him he builds the Church, and
commands him to feed the sheep [Jn 21:17], and although he
assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single
chair [
cathedra], and he established by his own authority a
source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the
others were also what Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy
is given to Peter, by which it is made clear that there is one
Church and one chair. . . . If someone does not hold fast to
this unity of Peter, can he think that he holds the faith? If he
deserts the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built,
can he be confident that he is in the Church? [
Unity of the
Catholic Church 4; first edition (Treatise 1:4) (
A.D. 251)].
Cyprian to [Pope St.] Cornelius his brother, greeting. You have
acted, dearest brother, with diligence and love, in quickly
sending us Nicephorus the acolyte, who told us the glorious
gladness for the return of the confessors, and most fully
instructed us against the new and mischievous devices of
Novatian and Novatus for attacking the Church of Christ [
Letters 48:1 (
A.D. 251)].
Cyprian to Antonianus his brother, greeting. . . . You wrote . . .
for me to transmit a copy of those same letters to [Pope St.]
Cornelius our colleague, so that he might lay aside all anxiety,
and know at once that you held communion with him, that is,
with the Catholic Church [
Letters 51:1 (
A.D. 252)].
[Pope St.] Cornelius was made bishop by the judgment of God
and of Christ, by the testimony of almost all the clergy, by the
suffrage of the people who were then present, and by the
assembly of ancient priests and good men . . . when the place
of Fabian, that is, the place of Peter and the degree of the
sacerdotal throne was vacant, which being occupied by the will
of God, and established by the consent of all of us, whoever
now wishes to become a bishop, must needs be made from
without; and he cannot have the ordination of the Church who
does not hold the unity of the Church [
Letters 51:8 (A.D.
252)].
After such things as these, moreover, they still dare—a false
bishop having been appointed for them by heretics—to set sail
and bear letters from schismatic and profane persons to the
throne of Peter, and to the chief Church from which priestly
unity takes its source [
Letters 54:14 (
A.D. 252)].
FIRMILIAN OF CAESAREA
[Pope] Stephen [I] . . . boasts of the place of his episcopate,
and contends that he holds the succession from Peter, on
whom the foundations of the Church were laid [Mt 16:18]. . . .
[Pope] Stephen . . . announces that he holds by succession the
throne of Peter [quoted in St. Cyprian’s Letters 74:17 (c. A.D.
255)].
EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA
A question of no small importance arose at that time. For the
parishes of all Asia, held from an older tradition that the
fourteenth day of the moon, on which the Jews were
commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should be observed as the
feast of the Savior’s passover. . . . But it was not the custom of
the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this time, as
they observed the practice that, from apostolic Tradition, has
prevailed to the present time, of terminating the fast on the
day of the Resurrection of our Savior. Synods and assemblies
of bishops were held on this account, and all, with one
consent, through mutual correspondence, drew up an
ecclesiastical decree that the mystery of the Resurrection of the
Lord should be celebrated on the Lord’s Day, and that we
should observe the close of the paschal fast on this day
only. . . . Thereupon Victor, who presided over the church at
Rome, immediately attempted to cut off from the common unity
the parishes of all Asia, and the churches that agreed with
them, as heterodox; and he wrote letters and declared all the
brethren there excommunicated. But this did not please all the
bishops. And they asked him to consider the things of peace,
and of neighborly unity and love. . . . [St. Irenaeus of Lyons]
fittingly admonished Victor that he should not cut off whole
churches of God that observed the tradition of an ancient
custom [
Church History 5:23:1–5:24:11 (c. A.D. 312)].
Thus Irenaeus, who truly was well named, became a
peacemaker in this matter, exhorting and negotiating on behalf
of the peace of the churches. And he conferred by letter about
this question, not only with Victor, but also with most of the
other rulers of the churches [ibid., 5:24:18].
POPE ST. JULIUS I
[The] judgment [against Athanasius] ought to have been made,
not as it was, but according to the ecclesiastical canon. . . . Are
you ignorant that the custom has been for word to be written
first to us, and then for a just decision to be passed from this
place [Rome]? If any suspicion rested upon the bishop there,
notice of it ought to have been sent to the church here; but,
after neglecting to inform us, and proceeding on their own
authority as they pleased, they now desire to obtain our
agreement with their decisions, though we never condemned
him. Not so have the constitutions of Paul, or the traditions of
the Fathers directed; this is another form of procedure, a novel
practice. . . . [W]hat I write is for the common good. For what
we have received from the blessed apostle Peter is what I
signify to you [
Letter on Behalf of Athanasius (
A.D. 341),
contained in St. Athanasius, Apology Against the Arians
1:2:35].
COUNCIL OF SARDICA
It is necessary to add this—that bishops shall not pass from
their own province to another province in which there are
bishops, unless upon invitation from their brethren, that we
seem not to close the door of charity. But if in any province a
bishop has a matter in dispute against his brother bishop, one
of the two shall not call in a bishop from another province as
judge. But if judgment has gone against a bishop in any cause,
and he thinks he has a good case, in order that the question
may be reopened, let us honor the memory of St. Peter the
apostle, and let those who tried the case write to Julius, the
bishop of Rome, and if he judges that the case should be
retried, let it be done, and let him appoint judges; but if he
finds that the former decision need not be disturbed, what he
has decreed shall be confirmed. Is this the pleasure of all? The
synod answered, It is our pleasure [Canon 3 (
A.D. 342)].
If it seems good to you, it is necessary to add to this decision
full of sincere charity you have pronounced, that if any bishop
be deposed by the sentence of these neighboring bishops, and
asserts that he has fresh matter in his defense, a new bishop
not be settled in his see unless the bishop of Rome judge and
render a decision [Canon 4 (c. A.D. 342)].
ST. OPTATUS OF MILEVIS
You cannot then deny that you know that upon Peter first in
the city of Rome was bestowed the episcopal cathedra, on
which he sat, the head of all the apostles (for which reason he
was called Cephas), that, in this one cathedra, unity should be
preserved by all. Neither do the apostles proceed individually on
their own, and anyone who would [presume to] set up another
chair in opposition to that single chair would, by that very fact,
be a schismatic and a sinner. . . . Recall, then, the origins of
your chair, those of you who wish to claim for yourselves the
title of holy Church [
Schism of the Donatists 2:2 (c. A.D.
367)].
ST. JEROME
As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with none
but your blessedness, that is, with the chair of Peter. For this,
I know, is the rock on which the church is built [Mt 16:18]!
This is the only house where the Paschal Lamb can be rightly
eaten [Ex 12:22]. This is the Ark of Noah, and he who is not
found in it shall perish when the flood prevails [
Letters 15:2 (
A.D. 376)].
The Church is rent into three factions, and each of these is
eager to seize me for its own. The influence of the monks is
of long standing, and it is directed against me. I meantime
keep crying: “He who clings to the chair of Peter is accepted
by me.” Meletius, Vitalis, and Paulinus all profess to cleave to
you, and I could believe the assertion if it were made by one
of them. As it is, either two of them or else all three are guilty
of falsehood. Therefore I implore your blessedness, by our
Lord’s cross and Passion, those necessary glories of our faith,
as you hold an apostolic office, to give an apostolic decision.
Only tell me by letter with whom I am to communicate in
Syria (ibid., 16:2).
COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE I
The bishop of Constantinople however shall have the
prerogative of honor after the bishop of Rome, because
Constantinople is new Rome [Canon 3 (
A.D. 381)].
ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
[T]here are many other things that most justly keep me in her
bosom. The consent of peoples and nations keeps me in the
Church; so does her authority, inaugurated by miracles,
nourished by hope, enlarged by love, established by age. The
succession of priests keeps me, beginning from the very seat of
the apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after his Resurrection, put
in charge of feeding his sheep, down to the present episcopate
[of Pope Siricius] [
Against the Letter of Mani Called “ The
Foundation” 4:5 (
A.D. 397)].
[On this matter of the Pelagians] two councils have already
been sent to the Apostolic See [the bishop of Rome], and from
there replies too have come. The matter is at an end; would
that the error too might be at an end! [
Sermons 131:10 (c.
A.D. 411)].
POPE ST. CELESTINE I
We enjoin upon you [my legates to the Council of Ephesus]
the necessary task of guarding the authority of the Apostolic
See. And if the instructions handed to you have to mention
this and if you have to be present in the assembly, if it comes
to controversy, it is not yours to join the fight but to judge of
the opinions [on my behalf] [
Letters 17 (
A.D. 414)].
COUNCIL OF EPHESUS
Philip, presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See, said: We offer
our thanks to the holy and venerable synod, that when the
writings of our holy and blessed pope had been read to you,
the holy members, by our [or your] holy voices, you joined
yourselves to the holy head by your holy acclamations. For
your blessedness is not ignorant that the head of the whole
faith, the head of the apostles, is blessed Peter the apostle. And
since now our mediocrity, after being tempest-tossed and much
vexed, has arrived, we ask that you order that there be laid
before us what things were done in this holy council before
our arrival; in order that according to the opinion of our
blessed pope and of this present holy assembly, we may ratify
their determination [Session 2 (
A.D. 431)].
POPE ST. LEO I
Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . instituted the observance of the
divine religion. . . . But this mysterious function the Lord wished
to be the concern of all the apostles, but in such a way that
he has placed the principal charge on the blessed Peter, chief
of all the apostles, and from him, as from the head, wishes his
gifts to flow to all the body: so that anyone who dares to
secede from Peter’s solid rock may understand that he has no
part or lot in the divine mystery. . . . And so we would have
you recollect, brethren, as we do, that the Apostolic See, such
is the reverence in which it is held, has numerous times been
consulted by the priests of your province as well as others, and
in the various matters of appeal, as the old usage demanded, it
has reversed or confirmed decisions [
Letters 10:1–2 (A.D.
445)].
As for the resolution of the bishops that is contrary to the
Nicene decree, in union with your faithful piety, I declare it to
be invalid and annul it by the authority of the holy apostle
Peter [ibid., 105:3].
But if in what you believed necessary to be discussed and
settled with the brethren, their opinion differs from your own
wishes, let all be referred to us. . . . And though [the bishops]
have a common dignity, yet they have not uniform rank;
because even among the blessed apostles, notwithstanding the
similarity of their honorable estate, there was a distinction of
power, and while the election of them all was equal, yet it was
given to one to take the lead. From this model a distinction
has arisen among bishops also, and by an important ordinance
it has been provided that everyone should not claim everything
for himself, but that there should be in each province one
whose opinion has priority among the brethren, and again that
those whose appointment is in the greater cities should
undertake a fuller responsibility, through whom the care of the
universal Church should converge towards Peter’s one seat, and
nowhere should be separated from its head [ibid., 14:12].
ST. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
We exhort you in every respect, honorable brother, to heed
obediently what has been written by the most blessed pope of
the city of Rome, for blessed Peter, who lives and presides in
his own see, provides the truth of faith to those who seek it.
For we, by reason of our pursuit of peace and faith, cannot
try cases on the faith without the consent of the bishop of
Rome [
Letters 25:2 (
A.D. 449)].
COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON
Bishop Paschasinus, guardian of the Apostolic See, stood in the
midst [of the Council Fathers] and said, “We received directions
at the hands of the most blessed and apostolic bishop of the
Roman city [Pope St. Leo I], who is the head of all the
churches, that say that Dioscorus is not to be allowed to sit in
the [present] assembly, but that if he should attempt to take
his seat, he is to be cast out. This instruction we must carry
out” [Session 1 (
A.D. 451)].
After the reading of the foregoing letter [i.e., the Tome of Leo],
the most reverend bishops cried out: This is the faith of the
fathers, this is the faith of the apostles. So we all believe, thus
the orthodox believe. Anathema to him who does not thus
believe. Peter has spoken thus through Leo [Session 2 (A.D.
451)].