119

SEVENTH DIALOGUE.

PROTESTANT.-Supposing that Christ really conferred on St. Peter a decided pre-eminence of honor and jurisdiction, by constituting him the corner-stone of his building, how can it be proved that this primacy was transmitted to the successors of St. Peter?

CATHOLIC.-Most satisfactory and very forcible reasons, particularly from the testimony of the ancient Church, are not wanting to prove this. If our Redeemer judged it proper to appoint a head over his Church, in the person of St. Peter, in order to remove the occasion of disunion, agreeably to the doctrine of St. Jerome, the same reason not only subsists in its full force during the subsequent ages of the Church, but also acquires a tenfold weight. What was expedient during the period of fervour, when a general spirit of piety, humility and religion prevailed, must be deemed altogether indispensable when this spirit relaxed. Further, if the Church of Christ must always be one, she cannot be subject to any substantial change, and, consequently, she will preserve, until the end of the world, that form of ecclesiastical government which Christ deemed proper, from her commencement, to establish for the preservation of her unity.

If we consult the earliest monuments of christian antiquity, and ascertain the real doctrine of the Church from ber general councils, we cannot entertain a shadow of doubt that the successors of St. Peter filling the See of Rome have always possessed and lawfully exercised the primacy of honor and jurisdiction over the whole Church of Christ.

The council of Sardica, in 347, in the synodical

epistle to Pope Julius, says: "It will appear best, and most proper, if the priests of the Lord do refer to the headship, the chair of Peter the apostle, respecting each province, and all provinces whatever."

In the second general council, held at Constantinople in 381, the fathers addressed a letter to Pope Damasus, in which they distinctly declare that they assembled in consequence of a requisition addressed to them by the Apostolic See, and "acknowledge the summons addressed to members belonging to their head." (Hist. Eccles. Theodoret. lib. 5. cap. 9.)

In the third general council, held at Ephesus in 431, the fathers thus pronounce against Nestorius: "Compelled by the sacred canons, and the epistle of our most holy father and fellow minister, Celestine, bishop of the Roman Church, bathed in tears, we are reduced of necessity to pronounce this mournful sentence against him." (Act 1.) The fact of the fathers admitting themselves to be compelled by the Pontiff, must, consequently, imply that they acknowledge a special authority in him. In the second act, or session, Philip, one of the Pope's legates, spoke in these terms: "We give thanks to this holy and venerable synod, that after the letters of our holy and blessed Pope were read to you, you expressed your joyful feelings to your holy head by acclamation. For you are not ignorant that the blessed apostle Peter is the head of all the faithful, even of the apostles." The same legate spoke more explicitly on this subject, in the third act. There is no doubt," says he, "indeed it is known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and chief of the apostles, and the pillar of faith, and the foundation of the Catholic Church, received from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind,

the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and that the power of binding and loosing was given to him; who, down to this time, and always, lives and exercises judgment in his successors. Hence, our holy and most blessed Pope Celestine, who is the successor in order, and holds the place of Peter, has sent us to this synod to supply his presence." Juvenal, patriarch of Jerusalem, spoke thus, in the fourth act: "It was the duty of John, the most reverend bishop of Antioch, considering this holy, and great, and general synod, to come without delay, and clear himself of those things which are laid to his charge, before the Apostolic See of Rome, which is with us here; and to shew obedience, and to do honor to the apostolic, holy Roman Church of God, by which the church of Antioch must be directed and judged, as custom, derived from the apostolic rule and tradition, requires.'

In the council of Chalcedon, held in 451, Paschasinus, one of the legates of the Supreme Pontiff, spoke as follows: "Of the most blessed and apostolic man, Pope of the city of Rome, which is the chief of all the churches, we hold the precepts in our hand, in which he vouchsafes to ordain that Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, do not take his seat in council, but be admitted to speak. Be this of necessity observed; therefore let him depart, or we ourselves go hence." In the second act of the council, after the epistle of St. Leo was read, the fathers of the council exclaimed: "This is the faith of the fathers-the faith of the apostles. Thus we all believe-thus all orthodox christians believe. Anathema to him who does not thus believe. Peter, by Leo, has thus spoken-thus the apostles taught." The fathers having discussed the charges brought against Dioscorus, a sentence of condemnation is pronounced against him, in act

G

3, by the legates, in the name of the Pope and the council, in these words: "Wherefore, the holy and most blessed Pope Leo, head of the Universal Church, invested with the dignity of the apostle Peter, who is named the foundation of the Church, and the rock of the faith, and the keeper of the gate of the kingdom of heaven, hath, by us his legates, with the consent of the holy synod, stripped him (Dioscorus) of his episcopal dignity, and removed him from every sacerdotal function." (Vide Epist. Sti. Leonis ad Episcopos Galliæ.) In the sixteenth act, the most reverend bishops said: "From all that has been done, and from the disposition of each individual, we consider that all primacy and chief honor, according to the canons, must be reserved to the most beloved of God, the archbishop of ancient Rome."

In the sixth general council, held at Constantinople in 680, the fathers, in synodical letters to Agatho, which are to be found after the 18th act, thus address the Roman Pontiff: "The most malignant diseases require the more powerful aid; and therefore Christ, our true God, gave a wise physician, your holiness, honored by God, strenuously repelling the contagion of heretical pestilence, and conferring vigour of health on the members of the Church: to thee, therefore, as to the chief bishop of the Universal Church, standing upon the firm rock of faith, we leave what is to be transacted. Having gladly perused the letters of confession, transmitted by your paternal blessedness to our most pious emperor, which we acknowledge as written divinely by the chief head of the apostles, we have by them dispersed the sect of multiplied error that recently sprung up..... We have anathematized the nefarious doctrine of the heretics.....by the decrees first conveyed by your sacred letters concerning them." And farther:

"We have announced manifestly

with you the splendid light of the orthodox faith: which we pray your paternal holiness again to confirm by your most honored writings."

In addition to documents so clear and decisive on this subject, it is easy to collect other evidences, no less demonstrative, from the Greek and Latin Fathers, as well as from other ancient writers.

In the first century, St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, the second from St. Peter, thus begins. his epistle to the Romans: "Ignatius, to the Church that is sanctified, which presides in the region of the Romans."

"As

In the second century, St. Irenæus, who was instructed by St. Polycarp, the disciple of St. John the evangelist, and died in the year 202, thus expresses himself on this subject: it would be tedious to enumerate the whole list of successors in all the episcopal sees, I shall confine myself to that of Rome, the greatest and most ancient, and most illustrious Church, founded by the glorious apostles Peter and Paul, receiving from them her doctrine, which was announced to all men, and which, through the succession of her bishops, is come down to us. With this Church, on account of her superior headship, it is necessary that every other Church, that is, the faithful of all countries, be in communion." (Advers. Hæres. lib. iii. c. 3.) Tertullian, who flourished near the same period, styles the Roman Pontiff "the high priest, the chief of the bishops." (Lib. de Pudicitia.) In the same century, Pope Victor, in order to maintain unity in the Church, insisted on the churches of Lesser Asia conforming to the observance of the Church of Rome, and of other christian churches, respecting the time of celebrating Easter. Several councils, held at Rome, in Palestine, in Gaul, and other places, had unanimously determined the point according to the