erred concerning the faith" [cf. I Tim. 6:20 f.]. "O foolish and slow of heart in all things" which the protectors of divine grace, namely "the prophets" the evangelists and the apostles "have spoken" (cf. Luke 24:25], since nature in itself cannot (work) anything for salvation unless it is helped by grace [ see n. ro5, 138]. Let presumers of this kind speak, who embracing the doctrine of natural things offer the leaves and not the fruit of words to their hearers, whose minds as if fed with husks remain empty and vacant; and their soul cannot be "delighted in fatness" [Isa. 55:2], because thirsty and dry it cannot drink "from the waters of Siloe running with silence" [ cf. Isa. 8 :6] but rather from those which are drawn from the philosophical torrents, of which it is said: "The more they are drunk, the more the waters are thirsted for, because they do not bring satiety, but rather anxiety and labor. And while by extorted, nay rather distorted, expositions they turn the sacred words divinely inspired to the sense of the doctrine of philosophers who are ignorant of God, "do they not place the ark of the covenant by Dagon" [I Kings 5:2], and set up the image of Antiochus to be adored in the temple of the Lord? And while they try to add to faith by natural reason more than they ought, do they not render it in a certain way useless and empty since "faith does not have merit for one to whom human reason furnishes proof?" 1 Finally, nature believes what is understood, but faith by its freely given power comprehends what is believed by the intelligence, and bold and daring it penetrates where natural intellect is not able to reach. Will such followers of the things of nature, in whose eyes grace seems to be proscribed, say that "the Word which was in the beginning with God, was made flesh, and dwelt in us" [John 1] is of grace or of nature? As for the rest, God forbid that a "most beautiful woman" (Cant. 5:9], with "eyes painted with stiblic" [IV Kings 9:30] by presumers, be adorned with false colors, and that she who "girded with clothes" [Ps. 44:ro] and "adorned with jewels" [Isa. 6r:10] proceeds splendid as a queen, be clothed with stitched semi-girdles of philosophers, sordid apparel. God forbid that "cows ill favored" and consumed with leanness, which "give no mark of being full would devour the beautiful" [Gen. 41:18 ff.] and consume the fat. Therefore, lest a rash and perverse dogma of this kind "as a canker spreads" [II Tim. 2: 17], and infects many and makes it necessary that "Rachel bewail her lost sons" [Jer. 31:15], we order and strictly com- mand by the authority of those present that, entirely forsaking the poison mentioned above, without the leaven of worldly knowledge, that you teach theological purity, not "adulterating the word of God" [II Cor. 2: 17] by the creations of philosophers, lest around the altar of God you seem to wish to plant a grove contrary to the teaching of the Lord, and 1 St. Gregory the Great, In evang. horn. 1. 2, horn. 26, n. I [ML 76, 1197].
1 77
by a commingling of honey to cause the sacrifice of doctrine to ferment which is to be presented "with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" [I Cor. 5:8]. But content with the terminology established by the Fathers, you should feed the minds of your listeners with the fruit of heavenly words, so that after the leaves of the words have been re- moved, "they may draw from the fountains of the Savior" [Isa. 12:3]; the clear and limpid waters which tend principally to this, that they may build up faith or fashion morals, and refreshed by these they may be delighted with internal richness. 1
Condemnation of Various Heretics 2 [From the form of anathema published Aug. 20, 1229 (?)]
"We excommunicate and anathematize . . . all heretics": the Cathari, 444 the Patareni, the Pauperes of Lyons, the Passagini, the Josephini, the Arnoldistae, the Speronistae, and others, "by whatever names they may be known; having different faces indeed, but "tails coupled to each other" fJudg. 15:4], because from vanity they come together at the same point." 3
The Matter and Form of Ordination 4 [From the letter to Olaus, Bishop of Lyons, Dec. 9, 1232]
When a priest and deacon are ordained, they receive the imposition 445 of a hand by corporal touch, by the rite introduced by the Apostles; and if this shall be omitted, it must not be partially repeated, but at an established time for conferring orders of this kind, what through error was omitted must be carefully supplied. Moreover, the suspension of hands over the head must be made, when the prayer of ordination is uttered over the head.
The Invalidity of Marriage Subject to Conditions 15 [From fragments of the Decrees n. 104, about the years 1227-1234]
If conditions contrary to the nature of marriage are inserted, for 446 example, if one says to the other: "I contract marriage with you, if you 1 Cf. Greg. IX and John XXII in Bar(Th) ad 1231 n. 48 (21, 46a), and ad 1317 n. 15 (24, 49 b £.).
avoid the generation of children," or "until I find another more worthy by reason of reputation or riches," or, "if you surrender yourself to adultery for money," the marriage contract, however favorable it may be, is lacking in effect; although some conditions appended in matri- mony, if they are disgraceful or impossible, because of its esteem, are to be considered as not added.
The Matter of Baptism 1 [From the letter "Cum, sicut ex" to Sigurd, Archbishop of Nidaros,2 July 8, 1241]
Since as we have learned from your report, it sometimes happens be- cause of the scarcity of water, that infants of your lands are baptized in beer, we reply to you in the tenor of those present that, since according to evangelical doctrine it is necessary "to be reborn from water and the Holy Spirit" [John 3:5] they are not to be considered rightly baptized who are baptized in beer.
Usury 3 [From a letter to brother R. in fragments of Decree n. 69, of uncertain date]
He who loans a sum of money to one sailing or going to market, since he has assumed upon himself a risk, is [not] to be considered a usurer who will receive something beyond his lot. He also who gives ten solidi, so that at another time just as many measures of grain, wine, and oil may be payed back to him, and although these are worth more at the present time, it is probably doubtful whether at the time of payment they will be worth more or less, for this reason should not be con- sidered a usurer. By reason of this doubt he also is excused, who sells clothing, grain, wine, oil, or other wares so that at a set time he receives for them more than they are worth at that time, if, however, he had not intended so to sell them at the time of the contract.
COUNCIL OF LYONS I 1245 Ecumenical XIII (against Frederick II) He did not send out dogmatic decrees. The Rites of the Greeks 1 [From the letter "Sub Catholicae" to the Bishop of Tusculum, of the Legation of the Apostolic See among the Greeks, March 6, 1254]
1. And so concerning these matters our deliberation has resulted 449 thus, that Greeks of the same kingdom in the anointings, which are made with respect to baptism, should hold to and observe the custom of the Roman Church.-2. But the rite or custom which they are said to have, of anointing completely the bodies of those to be baptized may be tolerated, if it cannot be given up or be removed without scandal, since, whether or not it be done, it makes no great difference with regard to the efficacy or effect of baptism.-3. Also it makes no difference whether they baptize in cold or in hot water, since they are said to affirm that baptism has equal power and effect in each. 4. Moreover, let bishops alone mark the baptized on the forehead with 450 chrism, because this anointing is not to be given except by bishops, since the apostles alone, whose places the bishops take, are read to have im- parted the Holy Spirit by the imposition of the hand, which confirma- tion, or the anointing of the forehead represents.-5. Also all bishops individually in their own churches on the day of the Lord's Supper can, according to the form of the Church, prepare chrism from balsam and olive oil. For the gift of the Holy Spirit is given in the anointing with chrism. And particularly the dove, which signifies the Spirit Himself, is read to have brought the olive branch to the ark. But if the Greeks should wish rather to preserve their own ancient rite in this, namely, that the patriarch together with the archbishops and bishops, his suf- fragans and the archbishops with their suffragans, prepare chrism at the same time, let them be tolerated in such a custom of theirs. 6. Moreover no one may merely be anointed with some unction by 451 priests or confessors for satisfaction of penance.-7. But upon the sick according to the word of James the Apostle [Jas. 5:4] let extreme unc- tion be conferred. 1 MBR I (Luxemburg 1742) 100 £.; Msi 23, 574; Pth 15 265; Les registres d'lnnocent IV, by Elie Berger, III ( 1897) n. 7338.
Council of Lyons I, 1245 8. Furthermore in ~he application of water, whether cold or hot or tepid, in the sacrifice of the altar, let the Greeks follow their own custom if they wish, as long as they believe and declare that, when the form of the canon has been preserved, it is accomplished equally by each (kind of water) .-9. But let them not preserve the Eucharist consecrated on the day of the Lord's Supper for a year on the pretext of the sick, that with it they may obviously communicate themselves. It may be permitted them, however, in behalf of the sick themselves, to consecrate the body of Christ and to preserve it for fifteen days, but not for a longer period of time, lest through its long preservation, perchance by a change in the species, it be rendered less suitable to receive, although the truth and its efficacy always remain entirely the same, and never by any length of time or the mutability of time do they grow weak.-ro. But in the celebration of solemn and other Masses, and concerning the hour of celebrating these, as long as in the preparation and in the consecra- tion they observe the form of words expressed and ha.nded down by the Lord, and ( as long as) in celebrating they do not pass the ninth hour, let them be permitted to follow their own custom. 18. Moreover concerning fornication which an unmarried man com- mits with an unmarried woman, there must not be any doubt at all that it is a mortal sin, since the Apostle declares that "fornicators as adulterers are cast out from the kingdom of God" [ I Cor. 6:9]. 19. In addition to this we wish and we expressly command that the Greek bishops in the future confer the seven orders according to the custom of the Roman Church, since they are said to have neglected or to have hitherto omitted three of the minor ones with respect to those to be ordained. But let those who already have been so ordained by them, because of their exceedingly great number, be kept in the orders thus received. 20. Because according to the Apostle "a woman if her husband is dead is freed from the law of her husband" so "that she has the free power of marrying whom she will in the Lord" [ cf. Rom. 7=2; I Cor. 7:39 l, let the Greeks in no measure reprehend second or third or even later marriages; nor should they condemn but rather approve them be- tween persons who otherwise can licitly be united to one another in marriage. Priests, however, should not by any means bless those who marry a second time. 23. Finally, since Truth in the Gospel asserts that "if anyone shall utter blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, neither in this life nor in the future will it be forgiven him'' [ cf. Matt. 12:32 l, by this it is granted that certain sins of the present be understood which, however, are for- given in the future life, and since the Apostle says that "fire will test the work of each one, of what kind it is," and " if any man's work burn,
he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire" [I Cor. 3:13, 15], and since these same Greeks truly and undoubtedly are said to believe and to affirm that the souls of those who after a penance has been received yet not performed, or who, without mortal sin yet die with venial and slight sin, can be cleansed after death and can be helped by the suffrages of the Church, we, since they say a place of purgation of this kind has not been indicated to them with a certain and proper name by their teachers, we indeed, calling it purgatory ac- cording to the traditions and authority of the Holy Fathers, wish that in the future it be called by that name in their area. For in that transitory fire certainly sins, though not criminal or capital, which before have not been remitted through penance but were small and minor sins, are cleansed, and these weigh heavily even after death, if they have been forgiven in this life. 24. Moreover, if anyone without repentance dies in mortal sin, with- 457 out a doubt he is tortured forever by the flames of eternal hell.-25. But the souls of children after the cleansing of baptism, and of adults also who depart in charity and who are bound neither by sin nor unto any satisfaction for sin itself, at once pass quickly to their eternal fatherland.
Errors of William of St. Amour (concerning Mendicants) 1 [From Constit. "Romanus Pontifex," October 5, 1256]
They have published, I say, and they have rushed forth into wicked 458 falsehoods out of an excessive passion of soul, rashly composing an ex- ceedingly pernicious and detestable treatise. After this treatise was care- fully read, and opportunely and rigidly examined, and a complete report concerning it was made to us by these, because in it ( there are) some perverse and wicked things: against the power and authority of the Roman Pontiff and of his bishops; some against those who overcome the world with its riches by volun- tary indigence, and for the sake of God beg in very strict poverty; others even against those who, ardently zealous for the salvation of
TMBR 1,112 a f.; BR(T) 3,644 a ff.; cf. Bar(Th) ad 1256 n. 22 f. (21,508 bf.). Gotti, Verit. relig. clzrist. II 375; Pth 16565; cf. DuPl I, I 168 ff.; DCh I 331 ff.~This condemnation has been repeated many times, e.g., in Const. "Veri solis radiis," Oct. 17, 1256; "Non sine multa cordis amaritudine," Oct. 19, 1256, and "Quidam Scripturae sacrae," Oct. 19, 1256.
souls and caring for sacred interests, bring about much spiritual progress in the Church of God and make much fruit there; moreover, certain statements against the salutary state of the poor or religious mendicants, as are the beloved sons, the Brother Preachers and Minor, who in the vigor of spirit after abandoning the world with its riches, aspire to their heavenly fatherland alone with all effort; and because also we find many other disagreements, certainly worthy of confutation and lasting confusion clearly contained; and because, too, this same treatise was a festering center of great scandal and matter of much disturbance, and induced a loss of souls, since it distracted the faithful from ordinary devotion and the customary giving of alms and from conversion and entrance into religion, We by the advice of our Brethren, by Apostolic authority have thought that this same book which begins thus: "Behold seeing they will cry from abroad," and which according to its title is called "a brief tract concerning the dangers of most recent times" as something wicked, criminal, and detestable, and the rules and documents handed down in it as wicked, false, and impious, must be rejected, and must be co!1demned forever, and we rigidly command that whoever has that treatise will take care to burn it and entirely destroy it immediately in whole and in any of its parts within eight days from the time at which he shall know of such a rejection and condemnation of ours.
CLEMENT
COUNCIL OF LYONS II 1274 Ecumenical XIV ( concerning the union of the Greeks) Declaration Concerning the Procession of the Holy Spirit 1 [The Most Exalted Trinity and the Catholic Faith]
In faithful and devout profession we declare that the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father :rnd the Son, not as from two be- ginnings, but from one beginning, not from two breathings but from one breathing. The most holy Roman Church, the mother and teacher of all the faithful, has up to this time professed, preached, and taught this; this she firmly holds, preaches, declares, and teaches; the unchange- able and true opinion of the orthodox Fathers and Doctors, Latin as well
Council of Lyons II, 1274 as Greek, holds this. But because some through ignorance of the irre- sistible aforesaid truth have slipped into various errors, we in our desire to close the way to errors of this kind, with the approval of the sacred Council, condemn and reject (those) who presume to deny that the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son; as well as (those) who with rash boldness presume to declare that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from two beginnings, and not as from one.
Profession of Faith of Michael Palaeologus 1 We believe that the Holy Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the 461 Holy Spirit, is one God omnipotent and entire Deity in the Trinity, coessential and consubstantial, coeternal and co-omnipotent, of one will, power, and majesty, the creator of all creatures, from whom are all things, in whom are all things, through whom all things which are in the heavens and on the earth, visible, invisible, corporal, and spiritual. We believe that each individual Person in the Trinity is one true God, complete and perfect. We believe that the same Son of God, the Word of God, is eternally 462 born from the Father, consubstantial, co-omnipotent, and equal through all things to the Father in divinity, temporally born from the Holy Spirit and Mary ever Virgin with a rational soul; having two births, one eternal birth from the Father, the other temporal from the mother; true God and true man, proper and perfect in each nature, not adopted nor phantastic, but the one and only Son of God, in two and from two natures, that is divine and human, in the singleness of one person im- passible and immortal in divinity, but in humanity for us and for our salvation having suffered in the true passion of the flesh, died, and was buried, descended to hell, and on the third day arose again from the dead in the true resurrection of the flesh, on the fortieth day after the resurrection with the flesh in which He arose and with His soul as- cended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father, whence
Council of Lyons II, 1274 He will come to judge the living and the dead, and will return to each one according to his works whether they were good or evil. We believe also that the Holy Spirit is complete and perfect and true God, proceeding from the Father and the Son, coequal and consubstan- tial, co-omnipotent, and coeternal through all things with the Father and the Son. We believe that this holy Trinity is not three Gods but one God, omnipotent, eternal, invisible, and unchangeable.
Variant Readings We believe that the true Church is holy, Catholic, apostolic, and one, in which is given one holy baptism and true remission of all sins. We believe also in the true resurrection of this flesh, which now we bear, and in eternal life. We believe also that the one author of the New and the Old Testament, of the Law, and of the Prophets and the Apostles is the omnipotent God and Lord. This is the true Catholic Faith, and this in the above mentioned articles the most holy Roman Church holds and teaches. But because of diverse errors introduced by some through ig- norance and by others from evil, ~t ( the Church) says and teaches that those who after baptism slip into sin must not be rebaptized, but by true penance attain forgiveness of their sins. Because if they die truly repentant in charity before they have made satisfaction by worthy fruits of penance for (sins) committed and omitted, their souls are cleansed after death by purgatorical or purifying punishments, as Brother John 1 has explained to us. And to relieve punishments of this kind, the offer- ings of the living faithful are of advantage to these, namely, the sacrifices of Masses, prayers, alms, and other duties of piety, which have custom- arily been performed by the faithful for the other faithful according to the regulations of the Church. However, the souls of those who after having received holy baptism have incurred no stain of sin whatever, also those souls who, after contracting the stain of sin, either while remaining in their bodies or being divested of them, have been cleansed, as we have said above, are received immediately into heaven. The souls of those who die in mortal sin or with original sin only, however, imme- diately descend to hell, yet to be punished with different punishments. The same most holy Roman Church firmly believes and firmly declares that nevertheless on the day of judgment "all" men will be brought together with their bodies "before the tribunal of Christ" "to render an account" of their own deeds [Rom. 14: 10]. The same holy Roman Church also holds and teaches that the eccle- siastical sacraments are seven: namely, one is baptism, concerning which we have spoken above; another is the sacrament of confirmation which 1 Brother John Parastron, O.F.M.
Council of Lyons II, 1274 the bishops confer through the imposition of hands when anointing the reborn; another is penance; another the Eucharist; another the sacra- ment of orders; another is matrimony; another extreme unction, which according to the doctrine of St. James is given to the sick. The same Roman Church prepares the sacrament of the Eucharist from unleav- ened bread, holding and teaching that in the same sacrament the bread is changed into the body, and the wine into the blood of Jesus Christ. But concerning matrimony it holds that neither one man is permitted to have many wives nor one woman many husbands at the same time. But she ( the Church) says that second and 1 third marriages successively are permissible for one freed from a legitimate marriage through the death of the other party, if another canonical impediment for some reason is not an obstacle. Also this same holy Roman Church holds the highest and complete 466 primacy and spiritual power over the universal Catholic Church which she truly and humbly recognizes herself to have received with fullness of power from the Lord Himself in Blessed Peter, the chief or head of the Apostles whose successor is the Roman Pontiff. And just as to de- fend the truth of Faith she is held before all other things, so if any questions shall arise regarding faith they ought to be defined by her judgm.ent. And to her anyone burdened with affairs pertaining to the ecclesiastical world can appeal; and in all cases looking forward to an ecclesiastical examination, recourse can be had to her judgment, and all churches are subject to her; their prelates give obedience and reverence to her. In her, moreover, such a plentitude of power rests that she re- ceives the other churches to a share of her solicitude, of which many patriarchal churches the same Roman Church has honored in a special way by different privileges-its own prerogative always being observed and preserved both in general Councils and in other places.
INNOCENT V 1276 HADRIAN V 1276
ST. CELESTINE V 1294-(tl295)
1 Thus in the formula subscribed by Palacologus; Clement IV had written so: tertias et deinceps nuptias (third and fourth marriages).
Indulgences 1 [From the Jubilee Bull "Antiquorum habet" Feb. 22, 1300]
A faithful report of the ancients holds that to those approaching the honorable Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles are granted great re- missions of sins and indulgences. We ... confirm and by apostolic authority approve all such remissions and indulgences, holding them all and individually valid and pleasing. . . .
The Unity and Power of the Church 2 [From the Bull "Unam Sanctam" November rS, 1302]
With Faith urging us we are forced to believe and to hold the one, holy, Catholic Church and that, apostolic, and we firmly believe and simply confess this (Church) outside which there is no salvation nor re- mission of sin, the Spouse in the Canticle proclaiming: "One is my dove, my perfect one. One she is of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her" [Cant. 6: 8 J; which represents the one mystical body whose head is Christ, of Christ indeed, as God. And in this, "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" [ Eph. 4:5]. Certainly Noe had one ark at the time of the fl.ood, prefiguring one Church which perfect on one cubit had one ruler and guide, namely Noe, outside which we read all living things on the earth were destroyed. Moreover this we venerate and this alone, the Lord in the prophet saying: "Deliver, 0 God, my soul from the sword; my only one from the hand of the dog" [Ps. 21:21]. For in be- half of the soul, that is, in behalf of himself, the head itself and the body he prayed at the same time, which body he called the "Only one" namely, the Church, because of the unity of the spouse, the faith, the
MER 1, 179 a; Bar(Th) ad 1300 n. 4 (23, 263 bf.).
(23, 303 £.;cf.Hf! VI 346 fI.-Philip IV, King of France, made ill use of this bull when he said that it was defined by it that the Pope had direct power over kings; but Boniface by no means intended this; in a consistory held on this matter he expressly declared that the statement was falsely applied to him, "that we had ordered the king to recog- nize his kingdom as from us. For forty years we have been experienced in the law, and we know that there are two powers ordained by God. Therefore, who should a,- can believe that such foolishness, such folly is or has been in our head? We say that we wish to usurp the jurisdiction of a king in nothing; and this did our brother Portuensis say. It cannot be denied that a king or any other person among the faithful is subject to us by reason or sin." Cf. Du Puy, Histoire du difjerend, etc., 77.
sacraments, and the charity of the Church. This is that "seamless tunic" of the Lord [John 19:23], which was not cut, but came forth by chance. Therefore, of the one and only Church ( there is) one body, one head, not two heads as a monster, namely, Christ and Peter, the Vicar of Christ and the successor of Peter, the Lord Himself saying to Peter: "Feed my sheep" [John 21:17]. He said "My," and generally, not indi- vidually these or those, through which it is understood that He en- trusted all to him. If, therefore, the Greeks or others say that they were not entrusted to Peter and his successors, of necessity let them confess that they are not of the sheep of Christ, since the Lord says in John, "to be one Bock and one Shepherd" [John 10:16]. And we are taught by evangelical words that in this power of his are 469 two swords, namely spiritual and temporal. . . . Therefore, each is in the power of the Church, that is, a spiritual and a material sword. But the latter, indeed, must be exercised for the Church, the former by the Church. The former (by the hand) of the priest, the latter by the hand of kings and soldiers, but at the will and sufferance of the priest. For it is necessary that a sword be under a sword and that temporal authority be subject to spiritual power. . . . It is necessary that we confess the more clearly that spiritual power precedes any earthly power both in dignity and nobility, as spiritual matters themselves excel the temporal. •.. For, as truth testifies, spiritual power has to establish earthly power, and to judge if it was not good . . . . Therefore, if earthly power de- viates, it will be judged by spiritual power; but if a lesser spiritual deviates, by its superior; but if the supreme (spiritual power deviates), it can be judged by God alone, not by man, as the Apostle testifies: '"The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is judged by no one" [I Cor. 2:15]. But this authority, although it is given to man and is exercised by man, is not human, but rather divine, and has been given by the divine Word to Peter himself and to his. successors in- him, whom the Lord acknowledged an established rock, when he said to Peter him- self: "Whatsoever you shall bind" etc. [Matt. 16:19]. Therefore, "who- soever resists this power so ordained by God, resists the order of God" [ cf. Rom. r 3 :2], unless as a Manichaean he imagines that there are two beginnings, which we judge false and heretical, because, as Moses testi- fies, not "in the beginnings" but "in the beginning God created the heaven and earth" [ cf. Gen. r: r]. Furthermore, we declare, say, define, and proclaim to every human creature that they by necessity for salvation are entirely subject to the Roman Pontiff.
The Repeated Confession of Sins 1 [From the order "Inter cunctas sollicitudines" Feb. 17, 1304]
Although . . . it is not necessary to confess the same sins a second time, nevertheless, because of the shame which is a large part of repentance, we consider it of benefit to repeat the confession of the same sins, we strongly enjoin the Brothers [Preachers and Minors] carefully to advise those confessing, and in their sermons exhort that they confess to their own priests at least once in a year, declaring that without doubt this pertains to the advancement of souls.
Ecumenical XV (abolition of the Templars)
The Errors of the Beghards and the Beguines (the State of Perfection) 2 I. That man in the present life can acquire so great and such a degree of perfection that he will be rendered inwardly sinless, and th:tt he will not be able to advance farther in grace; for, as they say, if anyone could always advance, he could become more perfect than Christ. 2. That it is not necessary for man to fast or to pray, after he has attained a degree of such perfection; because then his sensuality is so perfectly subject to the spirit and to reason that man can freely grant to the body whatever it pleases. 3. That those who are in the aforementioned degree of perfection and in that spirit of liberty are not subject to human obedience, nor are they bound to any precepts of the Church, because (as they assert) "where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [II Car. 3:17 ]. 4. That man can so attain final beatitude according to every degree of perfection in the present life, as he will obtain it in the blessed life.
E f.; Gotti, Verit. reliq. christ. II 382; cf. Hf! VI 544; Bar (Th) ad 1312 n. 17 f. (28, 514 a ff.).
Council of Vienne, IJII-IJI2 5. That any intellectual nature in its own self is naturally blessed, and that the soul does not need the light of glory raising it to see God and to enjoy Him beatifically. 6. That it is characteristic of the imperfect man to exercise himself in acts of virtue, and the perfect soul gives off virtues by itself. 7. That a woman's kiss, since nature does not incline to this, is a mortal sin; but the carnal act, since nature inclines to this, is not a sin, especially when the one exercising it is tempted. 8. That in the elevation of the body of Jesus Christ they ought not to arise nor to show reverence to it, declaring that it would be characteristic of the imperfection in them, if from the purity and depth of their con- templations they should descend to such a degree as to think about other things regarding the minister [ other text, mystery] or the sacra- ment of the Eucharist or the passion of the humanity of Christ. A judgment: We with the approval of the Sacred Council condemn and disapprove complete! y that sect together with its past errors, re- straining more strictly lest anyone in the future hold, approve, or defend them.
Usury 1 [From the edict "Ex gravi ad nos"]
If anyone shall fall into that error, so that he obstinately presumes to 479 declare that it is not a sin to exercise usury, we decree that he must be punished as a heretic.
The Errors of Peter John Olivi (The Wounds of Christ, the Union of the Soul and Body,. and Baptism 2 ) [From the edict "De Summa Trinitate et fide catholica"]
(The incarnation). Clinging firmly to the "foundation" of the Cath- 480 olic faith "against which," as the Apostle testifies "no one is able to place anything different" [cf. I Cor. 3:11], we openly acknowledge with holy mother Church that the only begotten Son of God in all these things in which God the Father is, existing eternally together with the
1359 Cf.; cf. Hfl VI 536 f.; Bar(Th) ad 1312 n. 19 f. (23, 522 a ff.).-Pctcr of John Olivi, O.Fr.M., born 1248 in Serignan in Gaul. For his errors on the soul see Quaracchi edition (B. Jansen, S.J.) 1922-1926, tom. II p. 104 ff., 136 ff., 302 ff. He died with a most beautiful profession of faith published March 14, 1298 (or 1297) [Hrt 113 404 ff.]. Cf. Theo/. Quartalschrift (Tiibingen) 113 (1932) 142ff. [I. Koch].
Council of Vienne, IJII-IJI2 Father, parts of our nature as well as unity, from which He Himself existing as true God in Himself became true man, namely, a human body capable of suffering and an intellective or rational soul, forming the body by Himself and essentially, assumed it temporarily in the Virginal womb unto the unity of its substance and person. And that the same Word of God in this assumed nature, for working out the salvation of all, wished not only to be fastened to the Cross and to die on it, but also, after His Spirit had been given up, permitted His side to be pierced with a lance, that in the streams of water and blood which flowed from it there might be formed the one and only immaculate virgin, holy Mother Church, the Spouse of Christ, just as from the side of the first man asleep Eve was formed into a marriage with him, that so truth should respond to a certain figure of the first and ancient Adam "who," according to the Apostle, "is formed for the future" [ cf. Rom. 5:14], in our new Adam, that, is, Christ. That is, I say, the truth, made strong by the testimony of that very great eagle which the prophet Ezechiel saw flying around the other evangelical animals, namely of St. John, the Apostle and Evangelist, who narrating in his Gospel the condition and order of this sacrament said: "But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he that saw it has given testimony and his testimony is true. And he knows that he speaks the truth, that you [also] may believe" [John 19:33-35]. We, therefore, turning our attention to such remarkable testimony and to the common opinion of apostolic reflection of the Holy Fathers and the Doctors in accord with which alone it is proper to declare these things, with the approval of the sacred council we declare that the above mentioned Apostle and Evangelist John had kept the right order of the deed ac- complished in the aforesaid, when he said that Christ "already dead, one of the soldiers opened His side with a lance." [ The soul as a form of the body]. Furthermore, with the approval of the above mentioned sacred council we reprove as erroneous and inimical to the Catholic faith every doctrine or position rashly asserting or turn- ing to doubt that the substance of the rational or intellective soul truly and in itself is not a form of the human body, defining, so that the truth of sincere faith may be known to all, and the approach to all errors may be cut off, lest they steal in upon us, that whoever shall obstinately presume in turn to assert, define, or hold that the rational or intellective soul is not the form of the human body in itself and essen- tially must be regarded as a heretic. Besides, one baptism which regenerates all who are baptized in Christ must be faithfully confessed by all just as "one God and one faith"
John XXII, 1316--1334 [Eph. 4:5], which celebrated in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit we believe to be commonly the perfect remedy for salvation for adults as for children. But because certain theological doctors are found to have contrary 483 opinions as to how great the effect of baptism (is) in the case of chil- dren, certain of these saying that through the power of baptism indeed sin is remitted to children, but grace is not conferred, others asserting on the contrary that sin is remitted for them in baptism and virtues and forming grace are infused as a habit [ see n. 410 ], although not for them at the time as a function, we, however, considering the general efficacy of the death of Christ, which through baptism is applied equally to all the baptized, with the approval of the sacred council, consider the second opinion to be preferred, which says that forming grace and virtue are conferred on children as on adults, as more probable, more consonant and more in agreement with the words of the saints and the modern doctors of theology.
The Errors of the Fraticelli (the Church and the Sacraments) 1 [Condemned in the law "Gloriosam Ecclesiam," January 23, 1318]
As a report worthy of faith holds, the sons of the above mentioned 484 rashness and impiety have been driven to this weakness of mind, that they think impiously in opposition to the most renowned and salutary truth of the Christian faith; they contemn the sacraments of the Church which should be venerated, and in an attack of blind fury they who should be crushed by it, press against the glorious primacy of the Roman Church, saying that it ought to be overthrown by all nations. ( r) Thus, the first error which breaks forth from their dark work- 485 shop invents two churches, the one carnal, packed with riches, over- flowing with riches [ others, luxuries], stained with crimes which they declare the Roman prefect and other inferior prelates dominate; the other spiritual, cleansed by frugality, beautiful in virtue, bound by poverty, in which they only and their companions are held, and which they, because of the merit of their spiritual life, if any faith should be applied to lies, rule. (2) The second error, by which the conscience of the above mentioned 486 insolent is stained, cries out that the venerable priests of the Church and
1 Gatti, Verit. relig. christ. II 379; cf. CIC Extr. JOH. XXII, 7; Frdbg II 1213 £.; Rcht II I128 £.Cf.Theo!. Quartalschrift (Tiibingen) u3 (1932): 145 ff. [I. Koch].
John XXII, 1p6--1334 other ministers of jurisdiction and order 1 are so devoid of authority that they cannot pass sentences, nor perform the sacraments nor in- struct nor teach the subject people, imagining that these have been de- prived of all ecclesiastical power, whom they see are free of their own heresy; because on! y in themselves ( as they themselves vain! y think), just as the sanctity of a spiritual life, so authority remains; and in this matter they are following the error of the Donatists. . . . (3) The third error of these men conspires with the error of the W aldensians, since both declare that an oath was to be taken in no case, propounding that who happen to be bound by the sacredness of an oath are defiled by the contagion of mortal sin and are bound by punishment. ( 4) The fourth blasphemy of such wicked men, breaking forth from the poisoned fount of the Waldensian teachings pretends that priests rightly and even legitimately ordained according to the form of the Church, yet weighed down by any sins cannot consecrate or confer the ecclesiastical sacraments . . . . ( 5) The fifth error so blinds the minds of these that they declare that the Gospel of Christ has been fulfilled in them alone at this time, because up to now (as they foolishly think) it has been concealed or indeed entirely extinct. . . . There are many other things which these very presumptuous men are said to babble against the venerable sacrament of matrimony; many things which they foolishly believe concerning the course of time and the end of time; many things which they propagate with lamentable vanity concerning the coming of the Antichrist which they declare even now to be close at hand. All these things, because we recognize them as partly heretical, partly senseless, partly fabulous, we decree must be condemned together with their authors rather than pursued or refuted with a pen . . . .
The Errors of John of Pouilly ("Confession and the Church") 2 [Examined and condemned in the edict "Vas electionis," July 21, 1321]
( 1 ). That they who have confessed to brothers having the general permission of hearing confessions are bound to confess again those same sins which have been confessed, to their own priest.
1 The clause of the bulls does not have "et ordinis," Dip/. et privil. SS. Rom. Pontificum, Taurensis editio, T. IV., Aug. Taur. 1859, page 264. 2 DCh. II 243 f. and DuPl I, I 301; CIC Extr. comm. V, 3, 2; Frdbg II 291; Rcht
II 1207; Gotti Le. II 377a; Bar(Th) ad 1321 n. 37 (24, 161a.-John of Pouilly wrote the work "Quodlibeta" which embraces almost all theology; he himself re- tracted his own errors. He died after the year 1321 [Hrt 113 488 f.J. Cf. Theo/. Quartalschrift (Ti.ibingen) rr3 (1932) 141 f., 147 ff. [I. Koch].
John XXII, 1p6--1334 (2). That under the existing law "everyone of each sex" published in 492 the General Council [Later. IV. seen. 437] the Roman Pontiff cannot bring it about that parishioners be not bound to confess all their sins once a year to their own priest, who, it says, is the parish curate; indeed neither could God do this, because, as it says, this involves contradiction. (3). That the Pope cannot give the general power of hearing confes- 493 sions, indeed neither can God, without the one who has confessed to one having general power being bound to confess these same sins again to his own priest, who, it says, as we have already indicated, is the parish curate. . . . All the above mentioned articles and each one of them we, by apostolic authority, condemn and reprove as false and erroneous and deviating from sound authority . . . , declaring that the true and Catholic doc- trine is contrary to them.
Hell and Limbo(?) 1 [From the letter "Nequaquam sine dolore" to the Armenians, Nov. 2r, 1321]
It (The Roman Church) teaches . . . that the souls .•. of those 493a who die in mortal sin, or with only original sin descend immediately into hell; however, to be punished with different penalties and in differ- ent places.
The Poverty of Christ 2 [From the edict "Cum inter nonnullos," Nov. 13, 1323]
Since among some learned men it often happens that doubt is again raised as to whether it should be branded as heretical to affirm persist- ently that our Redeemer and Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles did not possess anything either in particular or even in common, even though there are different and adverse opinions on that question, we, in a desire to put an end to this controversy, declare on the advice of our brethren by this perpetual edict that a persistent assertion of this kind shall hence- forth be branded as erroneous and heretical, since it expressly contra- dicts Sacred Scripture, which in many passages asserts that they did have some possessions; and since with regard to the aforementioned it
(1928): 79 ff. (A. Straub); Estudios ecclesiasticos 5 (1926): 438 ff. (F. Segarra). 2 DuPl I, I 2956 f.; CIC Extr. IOH XXII 14, 4: Frdbg II 1229 f.; Rcht II rr43 f.; Bar(Th) about 1323 n. 6r (24, 3326).-As to how this definition of John XXII does not contradict the constitution of Nicholas III, "Exiit qui seminat," see in Natalis Alexander, Hist. eccl. of the 12th and 14th centuries, diss. rr, art. r.
John XXII, 1p6--1334 openly submits that Sacred Scripture itself, by which surely the articles of orthodox faith are approved, contains a ferment of falsehood and consequently, in so far as in it lies, completely voicing the faith of Scrip- ture it renders the Catholic faith, by destroying its approval, doubtful and uncertain. Moreover, in the future to affirm persistently that the right to use these same possessions which S'acred Scripture testifies that they had was by no means appropriate to our aforesaid Redeemer and His apostles, and that they did not have the right to sell or to donate them or to acquire others by means of them, which, nevertheless, Sacred Scripture testifies that they did according to the aforesaid or submits expressly that they could have done, since such an assertion evidently includes use and deeds on their part, in the aforesaid, it is not just; since surely it is wicked, contrary to Sacred Scripture, and inimical to Catholic doctrine about the use, actions, or deeds on the part of our Redeemer, the Son of God, we declare on the advice of our brethren that the persistent assertion shall henceforth be worthily branded as erroneous and heretical.
Errors of Marsilius of Padua and John of Jandun (The Constitution of the Church) 1 [Examined and condemned in the edict "Licet iuxta doctrinam" Oct. 23, 1327]
( r) That what we read about Christ in the Gospel of St. Matthew, that He Himself paid tribute to Caesar, when He ordered the stater which had been taken from the mouth of the fish [ cf. Matt. 17:26] to be given to those who sought a drachma, He did this not with con- descension out of liberality or piety, but forced by necessity. I Thence according to the Bull they concluded]: That all temporal affairs of the Church are subject to the emperor and he can accept these things as his own. ( 2) That blessed Peter the Apostle had no more authority than the other Apostles had nor was he the head of the other apostles. Likewise that God did not send forth any head of the Church, nor did He make anyone His vicar. (3) That it pertains to the emperor to correct, to appoint, to depose, and to punish the pope. ( 4) That all priests, whether the pope or archbishop or a simple 1 Diet. de Theo/. Cath. 10 I col. 167-172. DuPI I, I 304a f.; cf. 3976; cf. Gotti, Verit. reliq. christ. II 385 ff.-Marsilius of Padua, born in the year 1280 (?), was rector of the University of Paris in 1312. He died, unreconciled to the Church, before April ro, 1343. John of Jandun together with Marsilius was excommunicated by name in 1327 [Hrt 113 529 note].
John XXII, 1p6-1334 priest, are by the institution of Christ equal in authority and jurisdiction. (5) That the whole Church joined together can punish no man by 499 forced punishment, unless the emperor permits this. We declare by sentence the above mentioned articles . . . to be con- 500 trary to Sacred Scripture and enemies of the Catholic faith, heretics, or heretical and erroneous, and also that the above mentioned Marsilius and John, will be heretics-rather they will be manifest and notorious archheretics.
Errors of Eckart (The Son of God, etc.) 1 [Examined and condemned in the edict "In agro dominico," Mar. 27, 1329]
( r) And when asked why God did not create the world first, he 501 answered that God was not able to create the world first,2 because He cannot make things before He is; therefore, as soon as God was, He immediately created the world. ( 2) Likewise it can be granted that the world existed from eternity. 502 (3) Likewise at the same time and once, when God was, when He 503 begot the Son coeternal with Himself, through all things coequal God, He also created the world. (4) Likewise in every work, even evil, evil I say, as of punishment 504 and of sin, the glory of God is manifested and reflects equally. (5) Likewi.se he who blames anyone, in the blame itself by the sin 505 of blaming praises God, and the more he blames and the more gravely he sins, the more he praises God. ( 6) Likewise anyone by blaspheming God Himself, praises God. ( 7) Also he seeking anything here or there seeks evil and badly be- 507 cause he seeks the denial of good and the denial of God, and he prays God to be denied to him. (8) In those men who do not seek after wealth, or honors, or utility, 508 or interior devotion, or sanctity or reward, or the kingdom of heaven, but renounce all these things even that which is theirs, God is honored. (9) Recently I have considered whether I would wish to receive or to 509 wish for anything from God; I wish to deliberate exceedingly well about this, because when I was receiving from God, then I was under Hirn
or below Him, as a servant or slave, and He [was] as a master in giv- ing, and thus we ought not to be in eternal life. (10) We are transformed entirely in God, and we are changed into Him; in a similar manner as in the sacrament the bread is changed into the body of Christ; so I am changed into Him because He Himself makes me to be one with Him, not like ( to Him); through the living God it is true that there is no distinction there. ( 11) Whatever God the Father gave to His only begotten Son in hu- man nature, all this He has given to me; here I except nothing, neither union, nor sanctity, but He has given all to me as to Himself. ( 12) Whatever Sacred Scripture says about Christ, all this also is verified with respect to every good and divine man. ( 13) Whatever is proper to divine nature, all this is proper to the just and divine man; because of this that man operates whatever God operates, and together with God he created heaven and earth, and he is the generator of the eternal Word, and God without such a man does not know how to do anything. (14) A good man ought so to conform his will to the divine will that he himself wishes whatever God wishes; because God wishes me to have sinned in some way, I would not wish that I had not committed sins, and this is true repentance. ( 15) If man had committed a thousand mortal sins, if such a man were rightly disposed, he ought not to wish that he had not committed them. ( 16) God proper! y does not prescribe an exterior act. ( 17) An exterior act is not properly good or divine, neither does God properly operate it or produce it. (18) We bring forth the fruit not of exterior actions which do not make us good, but of interior actions which the Father abiding in us does and operates. ( 19) God loves souls, not works outside. ( 20) A good man is the only begotten Son of God. ( 21) A noble man is that only begotten Son of God whom the Father has begotten from eternity. (22) The Father begot me His son and the same Son. Whatever God does, this is one; because of this He Himself begot me His Son with- out any distinction. ( 2 3) God is one in all ways and according to every reason, so that in Himself He cannot find any multitude in intellect or outside intellect; for he who sees two, or sees a distinction, does not see God, for God is one beyond the above number, neither is He counted one [ read: num- ber J with anyone. It follows, therefore, that no distinction can exist or be understood in God Himself.
1 97
(24) Every distinction is foreign to God, either in nature or in person; 524 it is proved that nature itself is one and this oneness, and any person is one and the oneness which is nature. (25) When it is said: "Simon, do you love me more than these?" 525 [I John 21:15 f.], the sense is: That is, more than those and indeed well but not perfectly. For in the first and the second and more and less there is both a degree and a rank; in oneness, however, there is no degree nor rank. Therefore, he who loves God more than his neighbor, (loves) in- deed well but not yet perfectly. (26) All creatures are one pure nothing; I do not say that they are 526 something ordinary or anything, but that they are one pure nothing. In addition there is an objection against the above said Eckart, be- cause he preached two other articles under these words: (I) Something is in the soul which is uncreated and incapable of 527 creation; if the entire soul were such, it would be uncreated and in- capable of creation, and this is the intellect. (2) That God is not good nor better nor best; so I speak badly when- 528 ever I call God good, as if I should call white black . . . . We condemn and expressly disapprove the first fifteen articles 529 and also the two last ones as "heretical," but the eleven others already mentioned as "evil-sounding, rash, and suspected of heresy," and no less any books or works of this Eckart containing the above mentioned articles or any one of them.
The Beatific Vision of God and the Last Days 1 [From the edict "Benedictus Deus," Jan. 29, 1336]
By this edict which will prevail forever, with apostolic authority we 530 declare: that according to the common arrangement of God, souls of all the saints who departed from this world before the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; also of the holy apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, virgins, and the other faithful who died after the holy baptism of Christ had been received by them, in whom nothing was to be purged, when they departed, nor will there be when they shall depart also in the future; or if then there was or there will be anything to be purged m these when after their death they have been purged; and the souls of children departing before the use of free will, reborn and baptized m
1 DuPl I, I 321b £.; cf. Msi XXV 986 D; BR(T) 4, 346b; MBR 1, 217b; Bar(Th) ad 1336 n. 3 (25, 50b £.).
Benedict XII, I 334-I 342 that same baptism of Christ, when all have been baptized, immediately after their death and that aforesaid purgation in those who were in need of a purgation of this kind, even before the resumption of their bodies and the general judgment after the ascension of our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, into heaven, have been, are, and will be in heaven, in the kingdom of heaven and in celestial paradise with Christ, united in the company of the holy angels, and after the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ have seen and see the divine essence by intuitive vision, and even face to face, with no mediating creature, serving in the capacity of an object seen, but divine essence immediately revealing itself plainly, clearly, and openly, to them, and seeing thus they enjoy the same divine essence, and also that from such vision and enjoyment their souls, which now have departed, are truly blessed and they have eternal life and rest; and also [ the souls] of those who afterwards will depart, will see that same divine essence, and will enjoy it before the general judgment; and that such vision of the divine essence and its enjoyment makes void the acts of faith and hope in them, inasmuch as faith and hope are proper theological virtues; and that after there has begun or will be such intuitive and face-to-face vision and enjoyment in these, the same vision and enjoyment without any interruption [intermission] or departure of the aforesaid vision and enjoyment exist continuously and will continue even up to the last judgment and from then even unto eternity. Moreover, we declare that according to the common arrangement of God, the souls of those who depart in actual mortal sin immediately after their death descend to hell where they are tortured by infernal punishments, and that nevertheless on the day of judgment all men with their bodies will make themselves ready to render an account of their own deeds before the tribunal of Christ, "so that everyone may receive the proper things of the body according as he has done whether it be good or evil" [II Cor. 5:10].
Errors of the Armenians 1 [From the book "Jam dudum" sent to the Armenians in the year 1341]
(4) Also that the Armenians say and hold that the personal sin of our first parents themselves was so serious that all of their children propagated from their seed up to the passion of Christ have been de- servedly condemned for the aforesaid personal sin, and they have been
1 99
thrust into hell after death, not because they themselves have contracted some original sin from Adam, since they say that children have no original sin at all, neither before the passion of Christ nor after, but that the aforementioned condemnation before the passion of Christ followed them by reason of the gravity of the personal sin which Adam and Eve committed by transgressing the divine precept which had been given to them; but after the passion of our Lord, by which the sin of our first parents was erased, the children who are born from the sons of Adam are not subject to this condemnation, nor are they to be thrust into hell by reason of the aforesaid sin, because Christ erased entire! y the sin of our first parents in His passion. ( 5) Also that a certain teacher of the Armenians called Mechitriz, which is interpreted the paraclete, has again introduced and taught that the human soul of the son is propagated from the soul of his father, as the body from his body; and also one angel from another, because since a human soul is rational and an angel is of intellectual nature, they are in a way spiritual lights, and from themselves they propagate other spiritual lights. ( 6) Also the Armenians say that the souls of children who are born from Christian parents after the passion of Christ, if they die before they are baptized, go to a terrestial Paradise in which Adam was before sin; but the souls of children who are born after the passion of Christ from non-Christian parents and who die without baptism go to the place where the souls of their parents are. ( 17) Also that the Armenians commonly believe and hold that in another world there is no purgation of souls, because, as they say, if a Christian confesses his sins, all his sins and the punishments of his sins are forgiven him. They do not even pray for the dead, that their sins may be forgiven them in another world, but in general they pray for all the dead, as for blessed Mary, the apostles ...• ( 18) Also that the Armenians believe and hold that Christ descended from heaven and became incarnate for the salvation of men, not on account of the fact that the sons propagated from Adam and Eve after their sin contracted from them original sin, from which through the incarnation and death of Christ they will be saved, since they say that no such sin exists in the sons of Adam; but they say that Christ for the salvation of man became incarnate and suffered, because through His passion the sons of Adam who preceded the aforesaid passion have been freed from hell in which they were, not because of original sin which was in them, but because of the gravity of the personal sin of our first parents. They also believe that Christ for the salvation of children who were born after His passion became incarnate and suffered, because by His passion He entirely destroyed hell. .••
(19) In such a degree they (the Armenians) say that (the aforesaid) concupiscence of the flesh is a sin and evil, that even Christian parents when they lie together in marriage commit a sin . . . , because they say that the marriage act and even matrimony itself is a sin . . . . ( 40) Some indeed say that bishops and priests of the Armenians do nothing toward the remission of sins either principally or ministerially, but God alone remits sins; neither bishops nor priests are employed to perform the aforesaid remission of sins, except that they have received the power of speaking from God, and so when they absolve they say: "May God forgive you your sins" or, "I forgive you your sins on earth and God forgives you in heaven." ( 42) Also the Armenians hold and say that the passion of Christ alone, without any other gift of God, even grace, suffices for the remis- sion of sins; they do not say that sanctifying grace is required for the granting of remission of sins, nor that in the sacraments of the new law sanctifying grace is given. (48) Also the Armenians say and hold that, if the Armenians com- mit any crime whatsoever once, certain ones excepted, their church can absolve them, as far as the fault and the punishment of the aforesaid sins are concerned; but, if afterwards anyone should commit the afore- said sins again, he could not be absolved by their church. (49) Also they say that if any one . . . takes a third [wife] or a fourth, one after another, he cannot be absolved by their church, because they say that such a marriage is fornication . . . . (58) Also the Armenians hold and say that for what is true baptism, these three things are required: namely water, chrism ... and the Eucharist, so that if anyone should baptize another in water while say- ing: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen" and afterwards he should not be anointed with the (aforesaid) chrism, he would not be baptized . . . . ( 64) Also the Catholicon of lesser Armenia says that the sacra- ment of confirmation is of no value, and if it has any value he him- self has given permission to his priests that they confer the same sacra- ment. ( 67) Also that the Armenians do not say that, after the aforesaid words of the consecration of bread and wine are said, the transubstan- tiation of bread and wine into the true body and blood of Christ, which was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, and arose again, is accomplished; but they hold that this sacrament is an example or likeness or figure of the true body and blood of the Lord . . . on account of which they do not call the sacrament of the Altar the body and blood of the Lord, but a victim or sacrifice or communion . . . . .545 (68) Also the Armenians say and hold that if an ordained priest or
20[ bishop commits fornication, even in secret, he loses the power of con- secrating and of administering all the sacraments. ( 70) Also the Armenians do not say nor hold that the sacrament of 546, the Eucharist worthily received operates in him who receives remission of sin, or the relaxation of punishments due to sin, or that through it the grace of God or its increase is granted; but . . . the body of Christ enters into his body and is changed into him as other foods are changed in the one who has been fed . . . . (92) Also that among the Armenians there are only three orders, 547 namely the offices of acolyte, deacon, and priest, which orders the bishops confer after money has been promised or received. And in the same manner the aforesaid orders of the priesthood and diaconate are con- firmed, that is, through the imposition of the hands, by saying certain words, with this change only, that in the ordination of the deacon the order of diaconate is expressed, and in the ordination of the priest the order of the priesthood. For no bishop among them can ordain another bishop except the Catholicon alone. . . . (95) Also that the Catholicon of lesser Armenia gave power to a cer- 548', tain priest that he might be able to ordain to the diaconate those of his subjects whom he wished. ( 109) Also that among the Armenians no one is punished for any 549' error whatsoever which he may hold ..•• [117 numbers are extantl.
CLEMENT VI I 342- I 352 The Satisfaction of Christ, the Treasure of the Church, Indulgences 1 [From the Bull of Jubilee, "Unigenitus Dei Filius," Jan. 25, 1343]
The only begotten Son of God . . . "made unto us from God, wis- dom, justice, sanctification and redemption" [I Cor. 3], "neither by the blood of goats or of calves, but by His own blood entered once into the holies having obtained eternal redemption" [Heb. 9:12]. "For not with corruptible things as gold or silver, but with the precious blood of His very (Son) as of a lamb unspotted and unstained He has redeemed us"· [cf. I Pet. 1: 18-19], who innocent, immolated on the altar of the Cross. is known to have poured out not a little drop of blood, which however on account of union with the Word would have been sufficient for the redemption of the whole human race, but copiously as a kind of fl.owing stream, so that "from the soles of His feet even to the top of His Head no soundness was found in Him" [Isa. 1:6]. Therefore, how great a
treasure did the good Father acquire from this for the Church militant, so that the mercy of so great an effusion was not rendered useless, vain or superfluous, wishing to lay up treasures for His sons, so that thus the Church is an infinite treasure to men, so that they who use it, be- come the friends of God [Wisd. 7:r4]. Indeed this treasure . . . through blessed Peter, the keeper of the keys of heaven and his successors, his vicars on earth, He has committed to be dispensed for the good of the faithful, both from proper and reasonable causes, now for the whole, now for partial remission of temporal punish- ment due to sins, in general as in particular ( according as they know to be expedient with God), to be applied mercifully to those who truly re- pentant have confessed. Indeed, to the mass of this treasure the merits of the Blessed Mother of God and of all the elect from the first just even to the last, are known to give their help; concerning the consumption or the diminution of this there should be no fear at any time, because of the infinite merits of Christ ( as was mentioned before) as well as for the reason that the more are brought to justification by its application, the greater is the increase of the merits themselves.
Errors (philosophical) of Nicholas of Autrecourt 1 [Condemned and publicly recalled by him in the year 1347]
r ••• That through natural appearances no certainty, as it were, be had regarding things; yet that measure can be had in a short time, if men turn their intellect to things and not to the intellect of Aristotle and his commentator. 2 • • • That clearly from the above mentioned evidence from one mat-
ter another matter cannot be inferred or concluded, or from the non- existence of one, the nonexistence of another. 3 . . . That the propositions: "God is" and "God is not" signify en- tirely the same thing, although in a different way. 9 . . . That the certainty of evidence does not have degrees. ro . . . That we do not have from our soul the certainty of evidence concerning another material substance.
1 DCh II 580 £.; DuPl I, I 355 a £.-William called "of the four crowned saints," presbyter, cardinal in the year 1346 on the <lay before the nineteenth of May, as the legate of Clement VI, decreed that the books of Nicholas of Autrecourt be burned, as "containing many false, dangerous, presumptuous, suspected together with erroneous and heretical" statements, and the propositions from which these, which we have placed above, have been taken he ordered to be recalled as "erroneous, false, doubtful, presumptuous, and suspected," and this Nicholas did in the year 1347. This genuine text is drawn from DCh II 576 ff. n. I I 24.
II ••• That with the certainty of faith excepted there was not an- other certainty except the certainty of the first principle, or that which can be resolved into the first principle. 14 ..• That we do not know clearly that other things can be from God because of some effect-that some cause works efficiently which is not God-that some efficient cause is or can be natural. 15 . . . That we do not know clearly whether any effect is or can be produced naturally. 17 ... That we do not know clearly that in any production the sub- ject concurs. 21 • . • That in any demonstrated matter whatever no one knows clearly that in truth it surpasses all others in nobility. 22 . • • That in any demonstrated matter no one knows clearly that this thing is not God, if by God we understand the most noble substance. 25 •.. That one does not know clearly that in truth it can be reason- ably conceded, "if any matter has been produced, God has been pro- duced." 26 ... That it cannot be shown clearly that in truth any matter at all is eternal. 30 . . • That these consequences are not clear: "An act of understand- ing exists; therefore intelligence exists. An act of willing exists, therefore will exists." 31 . . . That it cannot be shown clearly that in truth all thing~ which are apparent are true. That God and the creature are not something. That whatever exists in the universe is better that, than not that. That this is the first principle and not another: "If something is, it is something."
The Primacy of the Roman Pontiff 1 [From the letter "Super quibusdam" to the Consolator, the Catholicon of the Armenians, Sept. 20, 1351]
3 . . . We ask: In the first place, whether you and the Church of the 570a Armenians which is obedient to you, believe that all those who in baptism have received the same Catholic faith, and afterwards have with- drawn and will withdraw in the future from the communion of this same Roman Church, which one alone is Catholic, are schismatic and heretical, if they remain obstinately separated from the faith of this Roman Church. In the second place, we ask whether you and the Armenians obedient to 570b
you believe that no man of the wayfarers outside the faith of this Church, and outside the obedience of the Pope of Rome, can finally be saved. 570c But in the second chapter . . . we ask: First, whether you have believed, believe, or are prepared to believe with the Church of the Armenians which is obedient to you, that blessed Peter received complete power of jurisdiction over all faithful Christians from our Lord Jesus Christ; and that every power of jurisdiction, which in certain lands and provinces and in different parts of the world especially and particularly Jude Thaddeus and the other Apostles had, was com- pletely subject to the authority and power which blessed Peter received from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, over whomsoever are believers in Christ in all parts of the world, and that no apostle or any other one whosoever received that very complete power over all Christians except Peter alone. 570d In the second place, whether you have believed, have held, or are pre- pared to believe and to hold with the Armenians subject to you that all the Roman Pontiffs, who succeeding blessed Peter have entered canonically and will enter canonically, have succeeded blessed Peter the Roman Pontiff and will succeed in the ~ame plentitude in the jurisdiction of power over the complete and universal body of the militant church which blessed Peter himself received from our Lord Jesus Christ. 570e In the third place, if you and the Armenians subject to you have be- lieved and do believe that the Roman Pontiffs who have been and we who now are the Roman Pontiff and, those who in future will be succes- sively as legitimate vicars of Christ and full of power in the highest degree, have received immediately from Christ Himself over the complete and universal body of the church militant, every jurisdiction of power which Christ as fitting head had in human life. 570£ In the fourth place, if you have believed and now believe that all the Roman Pontiffs who have been and we who are, and others who will be in the future from the plentitude of past power and authority have been able, are able, and will be able directly by our own power and theirs both to judge all those subject to our jurisdiction and theirs, and to establish and delegate ecclesiastical judges to judge whomsoever we wish. 570g In the fifth place, if you have believed and now believe that to such an extent has been, is, and will be both pre-eminent authority together with juridical power of the Roman Pontiffs who have been, of us who are, and of those who in future will be, has been, is, and will be so extensive, that by no one have they been, can we be, or will they in the future be able to be judged; but they have been, we are, and they will be reserved for judgment by God alone; and that from our sentences and judgments it has not been possible nor will it be possible for an appeal to be made to any judges.
In the sixth place, if you have believed and still believe that the plentitude 570b of the power of the Roman Pontiff extends so far that it is possible to transfer patriarchs, the Catholicon, the archbishops, bishops, abbots, and whatsoever other prelates from the offices in which they have been estab- lished to other offices of greater or lesser jurisdiction, or, as their sins demand, to demote, to depose, excommunicate, or to surrender them to Satan. In the seventh place, if you have believed and still believe that the 570i Pontifical authority cannot or ought not to be subject to any imperial or regal or other secular power, in so far as pertains to a judicial institu- tion, to correction or to deposition. In the eighth place, if you have believed and now believe that the Roman 570k Pontiff alone is able to establish sacred general canons, to grant plenary indulgences to those who visit the thresholds of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, or to those who go to the Holy Land, or to any of the faithful who are truly and fully repentant and have confessed. In the ninth place, if you have believed and do believe that all who have 5701 raised themselves against the faith of the Roman Church and have died in final impenitence have been damned and have descended to the eternal punishments of hell. In the tenth place, if you have believed and still believe that the Roman 570m Pontiff regarding the administration of the sacraments of the Church, can tolerate and even permit different rites of the Church of Christ, in order that they may be saved, provided that those matters are always preserved which belong to the integrity and necessity of the sacraments. In the eleventh place, if you have believed and now believe that the 5700 Armenians, who are obedient to the Roman Pontiff in different parts of the world and who observe studiously and with devotion the forms and rites of the Roman Church in the administration of the sacraments and in ecclesiastical duties, fasts, and other ceremonies do well, and by doing this merit eternal life. In the twelfth place, if you have believed and now believe that no one 570p, can be transferred from episcopal offices to the archiepiscopal, patriarchal, or to the Catholicon by his own authority, nor even by the authority of any secular leader whomsoever, whether he be king or emperor, or any one also distinguished by any such power or earthly office. In the thirteenth place if you have believed, and still believe that the 570q Roman Pontiff alone, when doubts arise regarding the Catholic faith, through authentic decision can impose the limit to which all must in- violably adhere, and that whatever by the authority of the keys handed to him by Christ, he determines to be true is true and Catholic, and what he determines to be false and heretical, must be so regarded. In the fourteenth place, if you have believed and now believe that the
New and Old Testaments in all their books, which the authority of the Roman Church has given to us, contain undoubted truth in all things.
Purgatory 1 [From the same letter to Consolator]
570s We ask if you have believed and now believe that there is a purgatory to which depart the souls of those dying in grace who have not yet made complete satisfaction for their sins. Also, if you have believed and now believe that they will be tortured by fire for a time and that as soon as they are cleansed, even before the day of judgment, they may come to the true and eternal beatitude which consists in the vision of God face to face and in love.
The Matter and Minister of Confirmation 2 [From the same letter to Consolator]
( 12) You have given responses which influence us to ask the following from you: first, concerning the consecration of chrism, whether you be- lieve that the chrism can rightly and deservedly be consecrated by no priest who is not a bishop. Second, whether you believe that the sacrament of c0nfirmation cannot ordinarily be administered by any other than by the bishop by virtue of his office. Third, whether you believe that by the Roman Pontiff alone, having a plentitude of power, the administration of the sacrament of confirma- tion can be granted to priests who are not bishops. Fourth, whether you believe that those confirmed by any priests whatso- ever, who are not bishops and who have not received from the Roman Pontiff any commission or concession regarding this, must be anointed again by a bishop or bishops.
The Errors of the Armenians [From the same letter to Consola tor]
574a (15) After all the above mentioned, we are forced to wonder strongly that in a certain letter, which begins, "To the honorable Fathers in Christ," you retract fourteen chapters from the first fifty-three chapters. First, that
the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Third, that chil- dren contract original sin from their first parents. Sixth, that souls sep- arated from their bodies, when entirely cleansed, clearly see God. Ninth, that the souls of those departing in mortal sin descend into hell. Twelfth, that baptism destroys original and actual sins. Thirteenth, that Christ did not destroy a lower hell by descending into hell. Fifteenth, that the angels were created good by God. Thirtieth, that the pouring out of the blood of animals works no remission of sins. Thirty-second, those who eat of fish and oil on the days of fasts, shall not judge. Thirty-ninth, that having been baptized in the Catholic Church, if they become unfaithful and afterwards are converted, they must not be baptized again. Fortieth, that children can be baptized before the eighth day and that baptism cannot be by any liquid other than pure water. Forty-second, that the body of Christ after the words of consecration is the same in number as the body born from the Virgin and immolated on the Cross. Forty-fifth, that no one even a saint can consecrate the body of Christ, unless he is a priest. Forty-sixth, that it is necessary for salvation to confess all mortal sins perfectly and distinctly to one's own priest or with his permission (to another priest).
Errors of Dionysius Foullechat (Perfection and Poverty) 1 [Condemned in the order "Ex supremae clementiae dono," Dec. 23, 1368]
( r) This blessed, indeed most blessed and sweetest law, namely, the 575 law of love, takes away all propriety and power,-false, erroneous, hereti- cal. ( 2) The actual renunciation of sincere will and temporal powers shows 576 and produces the most perfect state of dominion or authority-false, erroneous, heretical. (3) That Christ did not renounce such possession and right in temporal 577 things is not held according to the New Law, but rather the opposite- false, erroneous, heretical. 1 DuPl I, I 382 b ff. 384 b ff.; cf. D Ch III 187 ff.; Bar(Th) ad 1368 n. 16 (26, 158 a £.).-Dennis Foullechet (Soulechet), 0. Fr. M., a Gaul, a Doctor of Paris, put forth these errors for the first time in the year 1363; he publicly retracted them [Hrt II3 626] afterwards on two occasions (1364 and 1369).
Errors of Peter of Bonageta and of John of Lato (The Most Holy Eucharist) 1 [Examined and condemned by the Inquisitor:; according to the mandate of the Pontiff]
( 1) That if a consecrated host fall or is cast int0 a sewer, into mud, or some disgraceful place, that, while the species remain, the body of Christ ceases to be under them and the substance of bread returns. 2. That if the consecrated host is gnawed by a mouse or is consumed by an animal, that, while the so-called species remains, the body of Christ ceases to be under them and the substance of bread returns. 3. That if the consecrated host is consumed by a just man or by a sinner, that while the species is being crushed by the teeth, Christ 1s snatched up to heaven and He is not cast into the stomach of man.
INNOCENT VII 1404-1406 GREGORY
COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE 1414-1418 Ecumenical XVI (against Wycliffe, Hus, etc.) SEssroN vm (May 4, 1415)
Errors of John Wycliffe 2 [Condemned in Council and by the Bulls "Inter Cunctas" and "In eminentis" Feb. 22, 1418]
1. In the sacrament of the altar the material substance of bread and likewise the material substance of wine remain. 1 DuPl I, I 390 b £.-Each from the Order of Brothers Minor.
2. In the same sacrament the accidents of the bread do not remain with- 582 out a subject. 3. In the same sacrament Christ is not identically and really with His 583 own bodily presence. 4. If a bishop or priest is living in mortal sin, he does not ordain, nor 584 consecrate, nor perform, nor baptize. 5. It is not established in the Gospel that Christ arranged the Mass. 6. God ought to obey the devil. 7. If man is duly contrite, every exterior confession on his part 1s 587 superfluous and useless. 8. If the pope is foreknown and evil, and consequently a member of 588 the devil, he does not have power over the faithful given to him by anyone, unless perchance by Caesar. 9. After Urban VI no one should be received as pope, unless he live 589 according to the customs of the Greeks under their laws. IO. It is contrary to Sacred Scripture that ecclesiastical men have 590 possess10ns. 11. No prelate should excommunicate anyone, unless first he knows 591 that he has been excommunicated by God; and he who so excommuni- cates becomes, as a result of this, a heretic or excommunicated. 12. A prelate excommunicating a cleric who has appealed to the king, 592 or to a council of the kingdom, by that very act is a traitor of the king and the kingdom. 13. Those who cease to preach or to hear the word of God because of 593 the excommunication of men, are themselves excommunicated, and in the judgment of God they will be considered traitors of Christ. 14. It is permissible for any deacon or priest to preach the word of God 594 without the authority of the Apostolic See or a Catholic bishop. 15. No one is a civil master, no one a prelate, no one a bishop, as long 595 as he is in mortal sin. 16. Temporal rulers can at their will take away temporal goods from 596 the Church, when those who have possessions habitually offend, that is, offend by habit, not only by an act. 17. People can at their will correct masters who offend. 18. The tithes are pure alms and parishioners can take these away at 598 will because of the sins of their prelates. 19. Special prayers applied to one person by prelates or religious are not 599 of more benefit to that person than general (prayers), all other things being equal. 20. One bringing alms to the Brothers is excommunicated by that very 600 thing. 21. If anyone enters any private religious community of any kind, of 601
those having possessions or of the mendicants, he is rendered unfit and unsuited for the observance of the laws of God. 22. Saints, instituting private religious communities, have sinned by instituting them. 23. Religious living in private religious communities are not of the Christian religion. 24. Brothers are bound to acquire their food by the labor of hands and not by begging. 25. All are simoniacs who oblige themselves to pray for others who assist them in temporal matters. 26. The prayer for the foreknown is of avail to no one. 27. All things happen from absolute necessity. 28. The confirmation of youths, ordination of clerics, and consecra- tion of places are reserved to the pope and bishops on account of their desire for temporal gain and honor. 29. Universities, studies, colleges, graduations, and offices of instruction in the same have been introduced by a vain paganism; they are of as much value to the Church as the devil. 30. The excommunication of the pope or of any prelate whatsoever is not to be feared, because it is the censure of the Antichrist. 31. Those who found cloisters sin and those who enter (them) are diabolical men. 32. To enrich the clergy is contrary to the rule of Christ. 33. Sylvester, the Pope, and Constantine, the Emperor, erred in en- riching the Church. 34. All of the order of mendicants are heretics, and those who give alms to them are excommunicated. 35. Those entering religion or any order, by that very fact are unsuited to observe divine precepts, and consequently to enter the kingdcm of heaven, unless they apostatize from these. 36. The pope with all his clergy who have possessions are heretics, because they have possessions; and all in agreement with these, namely all secular masters and other laity. 37. The Roman Church is a synagogue of Satan, and the pope is not the next and immediate vicar of Christ and His apostles. 38. The decretal letters are apocryphal and they seduce from the faith of Christ, and the clergy who study them are foolish. 39. The emperor and secular masters have been seduced by the devil to enrich the Church with temporal goods. 40. The election of the pope by cardinals was introduced by the devil. 41. It is not necessary for salvation to believe that the Roman Church is supreme among other churches. 42. It is foolish to believe in the indulgences of the pope and bishops.
2[[
43. Oaths are illicit which are made to corroborate human contracts and 623 civil commerce. 44. Augustine, Benedict, and Bernard have been damned, unless they 624 repented about this, that they had possessions and instituted and entered religious communities; and thus from the pope to the last religious, all are heretics. 45. All religious communities without distinction have been introduced 625 by the devil. See the theologital censures of these 45 articles to be proposed to the Wyclif- fites and Hussites, n. II (661 below).
SESSION xm (June 15, 1415) Definition of Communion under One Species 1 Since in some parts of the world certain ones have rashly presumed 626 to assert that Christian people should receive the sacrament of the Eucharist under both species of bread and wine, and since they give communion to the laity indiscriminately, not only under the species of bread, but also under the species of wine, after dinner or otherwise when not fasting, and since they pertinaciously assert that communion should be enjoyed contrary to the praiseworthy custom of the Church reasonably approved which they try damnably to disprove as a sacrilege, it is for this reason that this present Council ..• declares, decides, and defines, that, although Christ instituted that venerable sacrament after supper and administered it to His disciples under both species of bread and wine; yet, notwith- standing this, the laudable authority of the sacred canons and the approved custom of the Church have maintained and still maintain that a sacra- ment of this kind should not be consecrated after supper, nor be received by the faithful who are not fasting, except in case of sickness or of another necessity granted or admitted by law or Church; and although such a sacrament was received by the faithful under both species in the early Church, yet since then it is received by those who consecrate under both species and by the laity only under the species of bread [ another reading: And similarly, although this sacrament was received by the faithful in the early Church under both species, nevertheless this custom has been rea- sonably introduced to avoid certain dangers and scandals, namely, that it be received by those who consecrate it under both species, and by the laity only under the species of bread], since it must be believed most firmly and not at all doubted that the whole body of Christ and the blood are truly contained under the species of bread as well as under the species of wine. Therefore, to say that to observe this custom or law is a sacrilege
or illicit must be considered erroneous, and those pertinaciously asserting the opposite of the above mentioned must be avoided as heretics and should be severely punished, either by the local diocesan officials or by the in- quisitors of heretical depravity.
SEssroN xv (July 6, 1415) Errors of John Hus 1 [Condemned in the Council and by the above mentioned Bulls in 1418]
1. One and only is the holy universal Church which is the aggregate of the predestined. 2. Paul never was a member of the devil, although he did certain acts similar to the acts of those who malign the Church. 3. The foreknown are not parts of the Church, since no part of it finally will fall away from it, because the charity of predestination which binds it will not fall away. 4. Two natures, divinity and humanity, are one Christ. 2 5. The foreknown, although at one time he is in grace according to the present justice, yet is never a part of the holy Church; and the pre- destined always remains a member of the Church, although at times he may fall away from additional grace, but not from the grace of predestina- tion. 6. Assuming the Church as the convocation of the predestined, whether they were in grace or not according to the present justice, in that way the Church is an article of faith. 7. Peter is not nor ever was the head of the Holy Catholic Church. 8. Priests living criminally in any manner whatsoever, defile the power of the priesthood, and as unfaithful sons they think unfaithfully regard- ing the seven sacraments of the Church, the keys, the duties, the censures, customs, ceremonies, and sacred affairs of the Church, its veneration of relics, indulgences, and orders. 9. The papal dignity has sprung up from Caesar, and the perfection and institution of the pope have emanated from the power of Caesar. ro. No one without revelation would have asserted reasonably regard- ing himself or anyone else that he was the head of a particular church, nor is the Roman Pontiff the head of a particular Roman Church. I 1. It is not necessary to believe that the one whosoever is the Roman
Pontiff, is the head of any particular holy church, unless God has pre- destined him. 12. No one takes the place of Christ or of Peter unless he follows 638 him in character, since no other succession is more important, and not otherwise does he receive from God the procuratorial power, because for that office of vicar are required both conformity in character and the au- thority of Him who institutes it. 13. The pope is not the true and manifest successor of Peter, the first 639 of the apostles, if he lives in a manner contrary to Peter; and if he be avaricious, then he is the vicar of Judas Iscariot. And with like evidence the cardinals are not the true and manifest successors of the college of the other apostles of Christ, unless they live in the manner of the apostles, keeping the commandments and counsels of our Lord Jesus Christ. 14. Doctors holding that anyone to be emended by ecclesiastical cen- 640 sure, if he is unwilling to be corrected, must be handed over to secular judgment, certainly are following in this the priests, scribes, and pharisees, who, saying that "it is not permissible for us to kill anyone" (John 18:31), handed over to secular judgment Christ Himself, who did not wish to be obedient to them in all things, and such are homicides worse than Pilate. 15. Ecclesiastical obedience is obedience according to the invention of 641 the priest of the Church, without the expressed authority of Scripture. 16. The immediate division of human works is: that they are either 642 virtuous or vicious, because, if a man is vicious and does :mything, then he acts viciously; and if he is virtuous and does anything, then he acts virtuously; because as vice, which is called a crime or mortal sin, renders the acts of man universally vicious, so virtue vivifies all the acts of the virtuous man. 17. Priests of Christ, living according to His law and having a know!- 643 edge of Scripture and a desire to instruct the people, ought to preach without the impediment of a pretended excommunication. But if the pope or some other prelate orders a priest so disposed not to preach, the subject is not obliged to obey. 18. Anyone who approaches the priesthood receives the duty of a 644 preacher by command, and that command he must execute, without the impediment of a pretended excommunication. 19. By ecclesiastical censures of excommunication, suspension, and in- 645 terdict, the clergy for its own exaltation supplies for itself the lay populace, it multiplies avarice, protects wickedness, and prepares the way for the Antichrist. Moreover, the sign is evident that from the Antichrist such censures proceed, which in their processes they call fulminations, by which the clergy principally proceed against those who uncover the wickedness of the Antichrist, who will make use of the clergy especially for himself.
20. If the pope is wicked and especially if he is foreknown, th:m as Judas, the Apostle, he is of the devil, a thief, and a son of perdition, and he is not the head of the holy militant Church, since he is not a member of it. 2r. The grace of predestination is a chain by which the body of the Church and any member of it are joined insolubly to Christ the Head. 22. The pope or prelate, wicked and foreknown, is equivocally pastor and truly a thief and robber. 23. The pope should not be called "most holy" even according to his office, because otherwise the king ought also to be called "most holy" according to his office, and torturers and heralds should be called holy, indeed even the devil ought to be called holy, since he is an official of God. 24. If the pope lives in a manner contrary to Christ, even if he should ascend through legal and legitimate election according to the common human constitution, yet he would ascend from another place than through Christ, even though it be granted that he entered by an election made principally by God; for Judas Iscariot rightly and legitimately was elected by God, Jesus Christ, to the episcopacy, and yet he ascended from another place to the sheepfold of the sheep. 25. The condemnation of the forty-five articles of John Wycliffe made by the doctors is irrational and wicked and badly made; the cause alleged by them has been feigned, namely, for the reason that "no one of them is a Catholic but anyone of them is either heretical, erroneous, or scandalous." 26. Not for this reason, that the electors, or a greater part of them, agreed by acclamation according to the observance of men upon 50me person, is that person legitimately elected; nor for this reason is he the true and manifest successor or vicar of the Apostle Peter, or in the ecclesias- tical office of another apostle. Therefore, whether electors have chosen well or badly, we ought to believe in the works of the one elected; for, by the very reason that anyone who operates for the advancement of the Church in a manner more fully meritorious, has from God more fully the faculty for this. 27. For there is not a spark of evidence that there should be one head ruling the Church in spiritual affairs, which head always lives and is pre- served with the Church militant herself. 28. Christ through His true disciples scattered through the world would rule His Church better without such monstrous heads. 29. The apostles and faithful priests of the Lord strenuously in neces- sities ruled the Church unto salvation, before the office of the pope was introduced; thus they would be doing even to the day of judgment, were the pope utterly lacking.
30. No one is a civil master, no one is a prelate, no one 1s a bishop 656 while he is in mortal sin [see n. 595]. See the theological censures of these thirty articles among "Questions of Wycliffe and Hus to be proposed" n. II (66! below).
Questions to be Proposed to the Wycliffites and Hussites 1 [From the Bull above mentioned "Inter Cunctas," Feb. 22, 1418]
Articles 1-4, 9-10 treat of communion with said heretics. 5. Likewise, whether he believes, holds, and declares, that every general Council, including that of CONSTANCE, represents the universal Church.2 6. Likewise, whether he believes that what the sacred Council of Con- stance, which represents the Catholic Church, has approved and does approve in favor of faith, and for the salvation of souls, must be approved and maintained by all the faithful of Christ; and that what (the Council) has condemned and does condemn to be contrary to faith and good morals, this must be believed and proclaimed by the same as considered worthy of condemnation. 7. Likewise, whether he believes that the condemnations of John Wy- cliffe, John Hus, and Jerome of Prague, made by the sacred general Coun- cil of CONSTANCE, concerning their persons, books, and documents have been duly and justly made, and that they must be considered and firmly declared as such by every Catholic whatsoever. 8. Likewise, whether he believes, holds, and declares, that John Wycliffe of England, John Hus of Bohemia, and Jerome of Prague have been
heretics and are to be considered and classed as heretics, and that their books and doctrines have been and are perverse; and because of these books and these doctrines and their obstinacy, they have been condemned as heretics by the sacred Council of CONSTANCE. 11. Likewise, let the especially learned person be asked, whether he believes that the decision of the sacred Council of CONSTANCE passed concerning the forty-five articles of John Wycliffe and the thirty of John Hus described above, would be true and Catholic: namely, that the above mentioned forty-five articles of John Wycliffe and the thirty of John Hus are not Catholic, but some of them are notedly heretical, some erroneous, others audacious and seditious, others offensive to the ears of the pious. 12. Likewise, whether he believes and maintains that in no case one may take an oath. 13. Likewise, whether he believes that by the order of a judge an oath must be uttered regarding truth, or anything else suitable for a cause be allowed, even if it must be done for the purification of infamy. 14. Likewise whether he believes, that perjury knowingly committed, for whatever cause or occasion, for the conservation of one's own bodily life or that of another, even in favor of faith, is a mortal sin. 15. Likewise, whether he believes that anyone deliberately despising the rite of the Church, the ceremonies of exorcism and catechism, of con- secrated baptismal water, sins mortally. 16. Likewise, whether he believes, that after the consecration by the priest in the sacrament of the altar under the semblance of bread and wine, it is not material bread and material wine, but the same Christ through all, who suffered on the Cross and sitteth at the right (hand) of the Father. 17. Likewise, whether he believes and maintains that after the consecra- tion by the priest, under the sole species of bread only, and aside from the species of wine, it is the true body of Christ and the blood and the soul and the divinity and the whole Christ, and the same body absolutely and under each one of these species separately. 18. Likewise, whether he believes that the custom of giving com- munion to lay persons under the species of bread only, which is observed by the universal Church, and approved by the sacred Council of CON- STANCE, must be preserved, so that it be not allowed to condemn this or to change it at pleasure without the authority of the Church, and that those who obstinately pronounce the opposite of the aforesaid should be arrested and punished as heretics or as suspected of heresy. 19. Likewise, whether he believes that a Christian who rejects the re- ception of the sacraments of confirmation, or extreme unction, or the solemnization of marriage sins mortally. 20. Likewise, whether he believes that a Christian in addition to con- trition of heart is obligated out of necessity for salvation to confess to
a priest only ( the priest having the proper faculties), and not to a lay- man or laymen however good and devout. 21. Likewise, whether he believes, that the priest in cases permitted 671 to him can absolve from sins a sinner who has confessed and become contrite, and enjoin a penance upon him. 22. Likewise, whether he believes that a bad priest, employing the 672 proper matter and form and having the intention of doing what the Church does, truly consecrates, truly absolves, truly baptizes, truly confers the other sacraments. 23. Likewise, whether he believes that blessed Peter was the vicar 673 of Christ, possessing the power of binding and loosing on earth. 24. Likewise, whether he believes that the pope canonically elected, 674 who lived for a time, after having expressed his own name, is the suc- cessor of the blessed Peter, having supreme authority in the Church of God. 25. Likewise, whether he believes that the authority of jurisdiction of 675 the pope, archbishop, and bishop in loosing and binding is greater than the authority of the simple priest, even if he has the care of souls. 26. Likewise, whether he believes that the pope, for a pious and just 676 reason, especially to those who visit holy places and to those who extend their helping hands can grant indulgences for the remission of sins to all Christians truly contrite and having confessed. 27. And whether he believes that from such a concession they who 677 visit these very churches and they who lend helping hands can gain in- dulgences of this kind. 28. Likewise, whether he believes that individual bishops can grant in- 678 dulgences of this kind to their subjects according to the limitation of the sacred canons. 29. Likewise, whether he believes or maintains that it is lawful that 679 the relics and images of the saints be venerated by the faithful of Christ. 30. Likewise, whether he believes that objects of religious veneration 680 approved by the Church were duly and reasonably introduced by the holy Fathers. 31. Likewise, whether he believes that a pope or another prelate, the 681 proper titles of the pope for the time having been expressed, or whether their vicars can excommunicate their ecclesiastical or secular subject for disobedience or contumacy, so that such a one should be considered as excommunicated. 32. Likewise, whether he believes that with the growing disobedience 682 or contumacy of the excommunicated, the prelates or their vicars in spiritual matters have the power of oppressing and of oppressing him again, of imposing interdict and of invoking the secular arm; and that these censures must be obeyed by his inferiors.
33. Likewise, whether he believes that the pope and other prelates and their vicars in spiritual matters have the power of excommunicating priests and disobedient and contumacious lay men and of suspending them from office, benefaction, entrance to a church, and the administration of the sacraments of the Church. 34. Likewise, whether he believes that it is permissible for ecclesiastical personages to hold possessions and temporal goods of this world without sm. 35. Likewise, whether he believes that it is not permissible for the laity to take away these temporal goods by their own power; that on the con- trary, if they do take them away, seize, and lay hold on these ecclesiastical goods, they are to be punished as sacrilegious persons, even if the ecclesias- tical personages possessing goods of this kind were living bad lives. 36. Likewise, whether he believes that a seizure and an attack of this kind thoughtlessly or violently committed or wrought against any priest whatsoever, even though living an evil life, leads to sacrilege. 37. Likewise, whether he believes that it is permissible for the laity of both sexes, namely men and women, freely to preach the word of God. 38. Likewise, whether he believes that it be freely permitted to individ- ual priests to preach the word of God, wheresoever, and whenever, and to whomsoever it may be pleasing, even though they are not sent. 39. Likewise, whether he believes that all mortal sins, particularly manifest, should be publicly corrected and eradicated.
Condemnation of the Proposition Concerning Tyrannicide 1 The holy Synod, July 6, r4r5 declares and defines this opinion: "Any tyrant can lawfully and meritoriously be kllled and ought so to be killed by any vassal or subject of his, even by secret plots, and subtle flattery and adulation, regardless of any oath of fealty or any pact made with him, without waiting for an opinion or command of any judge whatsoever" . . . is erroneous in faith and morals, and it ( the Synod) condemns and rejects it as heretical, scandalous, and as offering a way to frauds, decep- tions, lies, treasons, and false oaths. In addition it declares, decrees, and defines that those who persistently sow this most pernicious doctrine are heretics . . . .
Ecumenical XVII (Union with the Greeks, Armenians, Jacobites) Decree for the Greeks 1 (From the Bull "Laetentur coeli," July 6, 1439]
[The procession of the Holy Spirit] In the name of the Holy Trinity, 691 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, with the approbation of this holy general Council of Florence we define that this truth of faith be believed and accepted by all Christians, and that all likewise profess that the Holy Spirit is eternally from the Father and the Son and has His essence and His subsistent being both from the Father and the Son, and proceeds from both eternally as from one principle and one spiration; we declare that what the holy Doctors and Fathers say, namely, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son, tends to this meaning, that by this it is signified that the Son also is the cause, according to the Greeks, and according to the Latins, the principle of the subsistence of the Holy Spirit, as is the Father also. And that all things, which are the Father's, the Father Himself has given in begetting His only begotten Son; without being Father, the Son Himself possesses this from the Father, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son from whom He was moreover eternally begotten. We define in addition that the explanation of the words "Filioque" for the sake of declaring the truth and also because of imminent necessity has been lawfully and reasonably added to the Creed. We have likewise defined that the body of Christ is truly effected in 692 unleavened or leavened wheaten bread; and that priests ought to effect the body of our Lord in either one of these, and each one namely according to the custom of his Church, whether that of the West or of the East. [ De novissimis] 2 It has likewise defined, that, if those truly penitent 693 have departed in the love of God, before they have made satisfaction by worthy fruits of penance for sins of commission and omission, the souls of these are cleansed after death by purgatorial punishments; and so that they may be released from punishments of this kind, the suffrages of the living faithful are of advantage to them, namely, the sacrifices of Masses,
41 a f.; MBR 1, 335 bf.; Hf! VII 737 (746) ff.; cf. Bar(Th) about 1439 n. 1 ff.; n. 8 (28, 282 hf.); cf. M Th Cc 5, 452 ff. 2 On the origin of this definition, cf. "Gregorianum" 18 (1937) 337 ff. [G. Hof-
mann, S.J.].
prayers, and almsgiving, and other works of piety, which are customarily performed by the faithful for other faithful according to the institutions of the Church. And that the souls of those, who after the reception of baptism have incurred no stain of sin at all, and also those, who after the contraction of the stain of sin whether in their bodies, or when released from the same bodies, as we have said before, are purged, are immediately received into heaven, and see clearly the one and triune God Himself, just as He is, yet according to the diversity of merits, one more perfectly than another. Moreover, the souls of those who depart in actual mortal sin or in original sin only, descend immediately into hell but to undergo punishments of different kinds [ see n. 464]. We likewise define that the holy Apostolic See, and the Roman Pontiff, hold the primacy throughout the entire world; and that the Roman Pontiff himself is the successor of blessed Peter, the chief of the Apostles, and the true vicar of Christ, and that he is the head of the entire Church, and the father and teacher of all Christians; and that full power was given to him in blessed Peter by our Lord Jesus Christ, to feed, rule, and govern the universal Church; just as is contained in the acts of the ecumenical Councils and in the sacred canons.
Decree for the Armenians 1 [From the Bull "Exultate Deo," Nov. 22, r439]
In the fifth place we have reduced under this very brief formula the truth of the sacraments of the Church for the sake of an easier instruction of the Armenians, the present as well as the future. There are seven sacra- ments of the new Law: namely, baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony, which differ a great deal from the sacraments of the Old Law. For those of the Old Law did not effect grace, but only pronounced that it should be given through the passion of Christ; these sacraments of ours contain grace, and confer it upon those who receive them worthily. Of these the five first ones are ordained for
cf. Hfl VII 788 ff.; Bar(Th) ad 1439 n. 12 ff.; n. 15 (28, 289 a ff.).-This decree contains the Nicean Constantinopolitan creed, the decree regarding the acceptance of the Chalcedonian Synod and the letter of Leo the Great, an instruction on the sacra- ments, which we include, the Athanasian creed, the decree of the union of the Greeks, and the decree on celebrating feasts. On this decree, cf. Bulletin de litt. eccles. (Toulouse) 1919: Sr ff., 195 ff. (J. de Guibert). The decree at the end distinguishes between chapters ( capitula), declarations ( declarationes), definitions ( diffinitzones), traditions (traditiones), precepts (praecepta), statutes (statuta), and doctrine ( doc- trinam) which are contained in it.-This instruction is taken almost word for word from St. Thomas' work "On the Articles of Faith and the Sacraments of the Church" (De articulis fidei et Ecclesiae sacramentis).
the spiritual perfection of each and every one in himself, the last two for the government and increase of the entire Church. For, through baptism we are spiritually reborn; through confirmation we increase in grace, and are made strong in faith; reborn, however, we are strengthened and nourished by the divine sustenance of the Eucharist. But if through sin we incur the disease of the soul, through penance we are spiritually healed; spiritually and corporally, according as is expedient to the soul, through extreme unction; through orders the Church is truly governed and spiritually propagated; through matrimony corporally increased. All these sacraments are dispensed in three ways, namely, by things as the matter, by words as the form, and by the person of the minister conferring the sacrament with the intention of doing as the Church does; if any of these is lacking the sacrament is not fulfilled. Among these sacraments there are three, baptism, confirmation, and orders, which imprint an indelible sign on the soul, that is, a certain character distinctive from the others. Hence they should not be repeated in the same person. The remaining four do not imprint a sign and admit of repetition. Holy baptism, which is the gateway to the spiritual life, holds the 696 first place among all the sacraments; through it we are made members of Christ and of the body of the Church. And since death entered into the universe through the first man, "unless we are born of water and the Spirit, we cannot," as the Truth says, "enter into the kingdom of heaven" (cf. John 3:5). The matter of this sacrament is real and natural water; it makes no difference whether cold or warm. The form is: I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Yet we do not deny that through these words: Such a (this) servant of Christ is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Holy Ghost 1 or: Such a one is baptized by my hands in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, a true baptism is administered since the principal causes, from which baptism has its power is the Holy Trinity; the instrume,1tal cause, however, is the minister, who bestows the sacrament externally; if the act which is performed through the minister himself, is expressed with the invocation of the Holy Trinity, the sacrament is effected. The minister of this sacrament is a priest, who is competent by office to baptize. In case of necessity, however, not only a priest or a deacon, but even a layman or a woman, yes even a pagan and a heretic can baptize, so long as he preserves the form of the Church and has the intention of doing as the Church does. The effect of this sacrament is the remission of every sin, original and actual, also of every punishment which is due to the sin it- self. Therefore, no satisfaction must be enjoined for past sins upon those who immediately attain to the kingdom of heaven and the vision of God.
1 Many Greeks so baptize.
The second sacrament is confirmation; its matter is the chrism pre- pared from the oil, which signifies the excellence of conscience, and from the balsam, which signifies the fragrance of a good reputation, and is blessed by a bishop. The form is: I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. The ordinary minister is a bishop. And although a simple priest has the power in regard to other anointings, only a bishop can confer this sacrament, because according to the apostles, whose place the bishops hold, we read that through the imposition of hands they conferred the Holy Spirit, just as the lesson of the Acts of the Apostles reveals: "Now, when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that the Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Who, when they were come, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For He was not as yet come upon any of them: but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands upon them; and they received the Holy Ghost" [ Acts 8:14 ff.]. But in the Church confirmation is given in place of this im- position of hands. Nevertheless we read that at one time, by dispensation of the Apostolic See for a reasonable and urgent cause, a simple priest administered this sacrament of confirmation after the chrism had been prepared by the bishop. The effect of this sacrament, because in it the Holy Spirit is given for strength, was thus given to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, so that the Christian might boldly confess the name of Christ. The one to be confirmed, therefore, must be anointed on the forehead, which is the seat of reverence, so that he may not be ashamed to confess the name of Christ and especially His Cross, which is indeed a "stumbling- block to the Jews and unto the Gentiles foolishness" [ cf. I Cor. r :23] according to the Apostle; for which reason one is signed with the sign of the Cross. The third is the sacrament of the Eucharist; its matter is wheat bread and wine of grape, with which before consecration a very slight amount of water should be mixed. Now it is mixed with water because according to the testimonies of the holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church in a disputation made public long ago, it is the opinion that the Lord Himself instituted this sacrament in wine mixed with water; and, moreover, this befits the representation of the Lord's passion. For blessed Alexander,1 the fifth Pope after blessed Peter, says: "In the offerings of the sacraments which are offered to the Lord within the solemnities of Masses, let only bread and wine mixed with water be offered as a sacrifice. For either wine alone or water alone must not be offered in the chalice of the Lord, but both mixed, because it is read that both, that is, blood and water, flowed 1 From Pseu<lo-Isidore (P. Hinschius, Decretales Pseudo-lsidorianae, Lipsiae: 1863,
p. 99).
from the side of Christ." Then also, because it is fitting to signify the effect of this sacrament, which is the union of the Christian people with Christ. For water signifies the people, according to the passage in the Apocalypse: "the many waters . . . are many people" [cf. Apoc. 17:15]. And Julius,1 the second Pope after blessed Sylvester, says: "The chalice of the Lord according to the precept of the canons, mixed with wine and water, ought to be offered, because we see that in water the people are understood, but in wine the blood of Christ is shown. Therefore, when wine and water are mixed in the chalice the people are made one with Christ, and the multitude of the faithful is joined and connected with Him in whom it believes." Since, therefore, the holy Roman Church taught by the most blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, as well as all the rest of the churches of the Latins and the Greeks, in which the lights of all sanctity and doctrine have shown, have so preserved this from the beginning of the nascent church and are now preserving it, it seems very unfitting that any other region differ from this universal and reasonable observance. We order, therefore, that the Armenians themselves also conform with all the Christian world, and that their priests mix a little water with the wine in the offering of the chalice, as has been said. The words of the Savior, by which He instituted this sacrament, are the form of this sacrament; for the priest speaking in the person of Christ effects this sacrament. For by the power of the very words the substance of the bread is changed into the body of Christ, and the substance of the wine into the blood; yet in such a way that Christ is contained entire under the species of bread, and entire under the species of wine. Under any part also of the consecrated host and consecrated wine, although a separation has taken place, Christ is entire. The effect of this sacrament which He operates in the soul of him who takes it worthily is the union of man with Christ. And since through grace man is incorporated with Christ and is united with His members, it follows that through this sacrament grace is increased among those who receive it worthily; and every effect that material food and drink accomplish as they carry on corporal life, by sustaining, increasing, re- storing, and delighting, this the sacrament does as it carries on spiritual life, in which, as Pope Urban says, we renew the happy memory of our Savior, are withdrawn from evil, are greatly strengthened in good, and proceed to an increase of the virtues and the graces. The fourth sacrament is penance, the matter of which is, as it were, 699 the acts of the penitent, which are divided into three parts. The first of these is contrition of heart, to which pertains grief for a sin committed together with a resolution not to sin in the future. The second is oral confession, to which pertains that the sinner confess integrally to his
1 Julius I (ML 8, 970 BG).
priest all sins of which he has recollection. The third is satisfaction for sins according to the decision of the priest, which is accomplished chiefly by prayer, fasting, and alms. The words of absolution which the priest utters when he says: Ego te absolvo, etc., are the form of this sacrament, and the minister of this sacrament is the priest who has either ordinary authority for absolving or has it by the commission of a superior. The effect of this sacrament is absolution from sins. The fifth sacrament is extreme unction, whose matter is the olive oil blessed by the bishop. This sacrament should be given only to the sick of whose death there is fear; and he should be anointed in the following places: on the eyes because of sight, on the ears because of hearing, on the nostrils because of smell, on the mouth because of taste and speech, on the hands because of touch, on the feet because of gait, on the loins because of the delight that flourishes there. The form of this sacrament is the following: Per istam sanctam unctionem et suam piissimam misericordiam indulgeat tibi Dominus, quidquid per visum, etc. (Through this holy anointing and his most kind mercy may the Lord forgive you whatever through it, etc.). And similar! y on the other members. The minister of this sacrament is the priest. Now the effect is the healing of the mind and, moreover, in so far as it is expedient, of the body itself also. On this sacra- ment blessed James, the Apostle says: "Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anoint- ing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man; and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him" [Jas. 5:14, 15]. The sixth sacrament is that of order, the matter of which is that through whose transmission the order is conferred: 1 just as the priesthood is transmitted through the offering of the chalice with wine and of the paten 1 On the sense and force of this part see what is set forth by G. M. Card. van
Rossum, De essentia sacramenti Ordinis, Friburgi, Brisq., ed. 2 (1931): 174 ff. On the same subject Benedict XIV [De Synodo l. 8, c. 10, n. 8 ff. (ed. Meehl. II, 223 ff.)] had already acted, but it is not clear from his words to what opinion he decrees that adherence should be given [ see ibid. n. II]. It is established that for nine centuries earlier the imposition of hands alone prevailed in the Church, not only Western but also Eastern, and that this is the only matter even to the present day among some Easterners, as, for example, the Greeks. Clement VIII in Instr. "Presbyteri Graeci," August 31, 1595 [MBR 3, 53 a sect. 7], ordered that a Greek bishop be always present in Rome to confer orders on Greek students in this rite, and Urban VIII in a brief "Universalis Ecclesiae," Nov. 23, 1624 (MBR 4, 172 a ff.] confirmed this. Benedict XIV in the Bull "Etsi pastoralis," May 26, 1742, issued for Italo-Greeks, said: "Let Greek bishops in conferring orders preserve their own Greek rite as described in the Euchologium," and in Const. "Demandatum coelitus," Dec. 24, 1743, he forbade that any innovation be made in the rites of the Greeks [cf. BB (M) 1, 342 ff.; 2, 148 ff.; MBR 16, 99 a ff.; 166 b ff.]. Finally Leo XIII in the Bull "Orientalium dignitas Ecclesiarum," Nov. 30, 1894, confirmed this Constitution of Benedict XIV [cf. ASS 27 (1894/95) 257; AL V 303 ff.].
with bread; the diaconate, however, by the giving of the book of the Gospels; but the subdiaconate by the giving of the empty chalice with the empty paten superimposed; and similarly with regard to the others by allotment of things pertaining to their ministry. The form of such priest- hood is: Accipe potestatem ofjerendi sacrificium in ecclesia pro vivis et mortuis, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. And thus with regard to the forms of the other orders, as is contained extensively in the Roman Pontifical. The ordinary minister of this sacrament is the bishop. The effect is increase of grace, so that the one ordained be a worthy minister. The seventh is the sacrament of matrimony, which is the sign of the 702 joining of Christ and the Church according to the Apostle who says: "This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the church" [Eph. 5:32 ]. The efficient cause of matrimony is regularly mutual consent expressed by words in person. Moreover, there is allotted a threefold good on the part of matrimony. First, the progeny is to be accepted and brought up for the worship of God. Second, there is faith which one of the spouses ought to keep for the other. Third, there is the indivisibility of marriage, because it signifies the indivisible union of Christ and the Church. Al- though, moreover, there may be a separation of the marriage couch by reason of fornication, nevertheless, it is not permitted to contract another marriage, since the bond of a marriage legitimately contracted is perpetual.
A Decree in Behalf of the Jacobites 1 [From the Bull "Cantata Domino," February 4, Florentine style, 144r, modern, 1442]
The sacrosanct Roman Church, founded by the voice of our Lord and 703 Savior, firmly believes, professes, and preaches one true God omnipotent, unchangeable, and eternal, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; one in essence, three in persons; Father unborn, Son born of the Father, Holy Spirit proceeding from Father and Son; that the Father is not Son or Holy Spirit, that Son is not Father or Holy Spirit; that Holy Spirit is not Father or Son; but Father alone is Father, Son alone is Son, Holy Spirit alone is Holy Spirit. The Father alone begot the Son of His own substance; the Son alone was begotten of the Father alone; the Holy Spirit alone proceeds at the same time from the Father and Son. These three persons are one God, and not three gods, because the three have one substance, one essence, one nature, one divinity, one immensity, one eternity, where no opposition of relationship interferes. 2
deed, according to the Doctors, Greek as well as Latin, it is the only relation which
"Because of this unity the Father is entire in the Son, entire in the Holy Spirit; the Son is entire in the Father, entire in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is entire in the Father, entire in the Son. No one either excels another in eternity, or exceeds in magnitude, or is superior in power. For the fact that the Son is of the Father is eternal and without beginning; and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son is eternal and without beginning." 1 Whatever the Father is or has, He does not have from another, but from Himself; and He is the principle without principle. Whatever the Son is or has, He has from the Father, and is the principle from a principle. Whatever the Holy Spirit is or has, He has simultaneously from the Father and the Son. But the Father and the Son are not two principles of the Holy Spirit, but one principle, just as the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of the creature, but one principle. Whoever, therefore, have adverse and contrary opinions the Church dis- approves and anathematizes and declares to be foreign to the Christian body which is the Church. Hence it condemns Sabellius who confuses the persons and completely takes away their real distinction. It condemns the Arians, the Eunomians, the Macedonians who say that only the Father is the true God, but put the Son and the Holy Spirit in the order of creatures. It condemns also any others whatsoever who place grades or inequality in the Trinity. Most strongly it believes, professes, and declares that the one true God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, is the creator of all things visible and invisible, who, when He wished, out of His goodness created all creatures, spiritual as well as corporal; good indeed, since they were made by the highest good, but changeable, since they were made from nothing, and it asserts that nature is not evil, since all nature, in so far as it is nature, is good. It professes one and the same God as the author of the Old and New Testament, that is, of the Law and the Prophets and the Gospel, since the saints of both Testaments have spoken with the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, whose books, which are contained under the follow- ing titles it accepts and venerates. [The books of the canon follow, cf. n. 784; EB n. 32 ]. Besides it anathematizes the madness of the Manichaeans, who have established two first principles, one of the visible, and another of the
multiplies the persons in the divine processions, which is called the relation of ori- gin, to which only two pertain: the one from whom, and the one who from another." . Similarly, the very learned Cardinal Bessarion, Archbishop of Nicea, theologian of the Greeks in the same Council declared: "No one is ignorant of the fact that the personal names of the Trinity are relative" (Hrd IX 339). Cf. St. Anselm, De proc. Spiritus S. c. 2 [ML 158, 288]. 1 Cf. St. Fulgentius, De fide, ad Petrum c. 1 1 n. 4 [MI 65, 674].
invisible; and they have said that there is one God of the New Testament, another God of the Old Testament. It believes, professes, and proclaims that one person of the Trinity, true 708 God, Son of God born from the Father, consubstantial and coeternal with the Father, in the plenitude of time which the inscrutable depth of divine counsel has disposed for the salvation of the human race, assumed true and complete human nature from the immaculate womb of the Virgin Mary, and joined with itself in the unity of person, with such unity that whatever is of God there, is not separated from man, and whatever is of man, is not divided from the Godhead; He is one and the same undivided, both natures, God and man, remaining in their own peculiar properties, God and man, Son of God and Son of man, equal to the Father according to divinity, less than the Father according to humanity, immortal and eternal from the nature of divinity, passible and temporal from the con- dition of assumed humanity. It firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that the Son of God in 709 the assumed humanity was truly born of the Virgin, truly suffered, truly died and was buried, truly rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, and will come at the end of time to judge the living and the dead. It, moreover, anathematizes, execrates, and condemns every heresy that 710 suggests contrary things. And first it condemns Ebion, Cerinthus, Mar- cion, Paul of Samosata, Photinus, and all similar blasphemers, who, being unable to accept the personal union of humanity with the Word, denied that our Lord Jesus Christ was true God, proclaiming Him pure man, who was called divine man by reason of a greater participation in divine grace, which He had received by merit of a more holy life. It anathematizes also Manichaeus with his followers, who, thinking vainly that the Son of God had assumed not a true but an ephemeral body, entirely do away with the truth of the humanity in Christ. And also Valentin us who asserts that the Son of God took nothing from the Virgin Mary, but assumed a heavenly body and passed through the womb of the Virgin just as water flows and runs through an aqueduct. Arius also, who asserted that the body assumed from the Virgin lacked a soul, and would have the God- head in place of the soul. Also Apollinaris, who, understanding that there was no true humanity if in Christ the soul is denied as giving the body form, posited only a sensitive soul, but held that the Godhead of the Word took the place of a rational soul. It also anathematizes Theodore of Mopsuestia and Nestorius who assert that humanity was united with the Son of God through grace, and hence there are two persons in Christ, just as they confess that there are two natures, since they were unable to understand that the union of humanity with the Word was hypostatic, and so refused to accept the subsistence of God. For according to this
blasphemy, the Word was not made flesh, but the Word through grace lived in the flesh; that is, He was made not the Son of God, but rather the Son of God lived in man. It anathematizes also, execrates, and con- demns Eutyches the archimandrite; since he believed according to the blasphemy of Nestorius that the truth of the Incarnation is excluded, and therefore it is fitting that humanity was so united to the Word of God that the person of the Godhead and of humanity were one and the same, and also, he could not grasp the unity of person as long as a plurality of natures existed, just as he established that there was one person of the Godhead and humanity in Christ, so he asserted that there was one nature, mean- ing that before the union there was a duality of natures, but in the assump- tion they passed over into one nature, with the greatest blasphemy and impiety granting either that humanity was turned into Godhead, or God- head into humanity. It also anathematizes, execrates, and condemns Macarius of Antioch and all who hold similar views; although he had a correct understanding of the duality of natures and the unity of person, yet he erred greatly concerning the operations of Christ when he said that in Christ there was one operation and one will on the part of both natures. All these, together with their heresies, the Holy Roman Church anath- ematizes, affirming that there are two wills and two operations in Christ. It firmly believes, professes, and teaches that no one conceived of man and woman was ever freed of the domination of the Devil, except through the merit of the mediator between God and men, our Lord Jesus Christ; He who was conceived without sin, was born and died, through His death alone laid low the enemy of the human race by destroying our sins, and opened the entrance to the kingdom of heaven, which the first man by his own sin had lost with all succession; and that He would come some- time, all the sacred rites of the Old Testament, sacrifices, sacraments, and ceremonies disclosed. It firmly believes, professes, and teaches that the matter pertaining to the law of the Old Testament, of the Mosiac law, which are divided into ceremonies, sacred rites, sacrifices, and sacraments, because they were established to signify something in the future, although they were suited to the divine worship at that time, after our Lord's coming had been signified by them, ceased, and the sacraments of the New Testament began; and that whoever, even after the passion, placed hope in these matters of the law and submitted himself to them as necessary for salva- tion, as if faith in Christ could not save without them, sinned mortally. Yet it does not deny that after the passion of Christ up to the promulgation of the Gospel they could have been observed until they were believed to be in no way necessary for salvation; but after the promulgation of the Gospel it asserts that they cannot be observed without the loss of eternal
salvation. All, therefore, who after that time observe circumcision and the Sabbath and the other requirements of the law, it declares alien to the Christian faith and not in the least fit to participate in eternal salvation, unless someday they recover from these errors. Therefore, it commands all who glory in the name of Christian, at whatever time, before or after baptism, to cease entirely from circumcision, since, whether or not one places hope in it, it cannot be observed at all without the loss of eternal salvation. Regarding children, indeed, because of danger of death, which can often take place, when no help can be brought to them by another remedy than through the sacrament of baptism, through which they are snatched from the domination of the Devil and adopted among the sons of God, it advises that holy baptism ought not to be deferred for forty or eighty days, or any time according to the observance of certain people, but it should be conferred as soon as it can be done conveniently, but so that, when danger of death is imminent, they be baptized in the form of the Church, early without delay, even by a layman or woman, if a priest should be lacking, just as is contained more fully in the decree of the Armenians [ n. 696]. It believes firmly, professes, and proclaims that "every creature of God 713 is good, and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving" [ I Tim. 4 :4], since, according to the word of the Lord [ Matt. r 5: II ] , "not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man"; and it asserts that the indifference of clean and unclean foods of the Mosiac law pertains to the ceremonials which, with the rise of the Gospel passed out of existence and ceased to be efficacious. And it says also that the prohibition of the apostles "from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood and from things strangled [ Acts r 5 :29] befitted that time in which one Church arose from the Jews and the Gentiles, who before lived according to different cere- monies and customs, so that even the Gentiles observed some things in common with the Jews, and occasion was furnished for coming together into one worship of God and one faith, and ground for dissension was removed; since to the Jews, by reason of an ancient custom, blood and things strangled seemed abominable, and they could think that the Gentiles would return to idolatry because of the eating of things sacrificed. But when the Christian religion is so propagated that no carnal Jew appears in it, but all passing over to the Church, join in the same rites and cere- monies of the Gospel, believing "all things clean to the clean" [Tit. r:15], with the ending of the cause for this apostolic prohibition, the effect also ended. Thus it declares that the nature of no food, which society admits, is to be condemned, and no distinction is to be made by anyone at all, whether man or woman, between animals, and by whatever kind of death they meet their end; although for the health of body, for the exercise of
virtue, for regular and ecclesiastical discipline many things not denied should be given up, since, according to the Apostle, "all things are law- ful, but all things are not expedient" [I Cor. 6: 12; ro:22 ]. It firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart "into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels" [Matt. 25:41], unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church. 1
(The decrees for Greeks and Armenians of the ecumenical Synod accepted by the Roman Church follow.) But since in the above written decree of the Armenians the form of the words, which in the consecration of the body and blood of the Lord the holy Roman Church confirmed by the teaching and authority of the Apostles had always been accustomed to use, was not set forth, we have thought that it ought to be inserted here. In the consecration of the body the Church uses this form of the words: "For this is my body"; but in the consecration of the blood, it uses the following form of the words: "For this is the chalice of my blood, the new and eternal testament, the mystery of faith, which will be poured forth for you and many for the remission of sins." But it makes no difference at all whether the wheaten bread in which the sacrament is effected was cooked on that day or before; for, provided that the substance of bread remains, there can be no doubt but that after the aforesaid words of the consecration of the body have been uttered with the intention of effecting, it will be changed immedi- ately into the substance of the true body of Christ. The decrees for the Syrians, Chaldeans, Meronites contain nothing new
NICHOLAS
1 Cf. St. Fulgentius, De fide, ad Petrum c. 37 ff., n. 78 ff. [ML 65, 703 £.].
2]1
Usury and Contract for Rent 1 [From the Constitution "Regimini universalis," May 6, 1455]
A petition recently addressed to us proposed the following matter: For 716 a very long time, and with nothing in memory running to the contrary, in various parts of Germany, for the common advantage of society, there has been implanted among the inhabitants of those parts and maintained up to this time through constant observance, a certain custom. By this custom, these inhabitants---or, at least, those among them, who in the light of their condition and indemnities, seemed likely to profit from the arrangement-encumber their goods, their houses, their fields, their farms, their possessions, and inheritances, selling the revenues or annual rents in marks, florins, or groats ( according as this or that coin is current in those particular regions), and for each mark, florin, or groat in question, from those who have bought those coins, whether as revenues or as rents, have been in the habit of receiving a certain price appropriately fixed as to size according to the character of the particular circumstances, in con- formity with the agreements made in respect of the relevant properties between themselves and the buyers. As guarantee for the payment of the aforesaid revenues and rents they mortgage those of the aforesaid houses, lands, fields, farms, possessions, and inheritances that have been expressly named " in the relevant contracts. In the favor of the sellers it is added to the contract that in proportion as they have, in whole or in part, re- turned to the said buyers the money thus received, they are entirely quit and free of the obligation to pay the revenues and rents corresponding to the sum returned. But the buyers, on the other hand, even though the said goods, houses, lands, fields, possessions, and inheritances might by the passage of time be reduced to utter destruction and desolation, would not be empowered to recover even in respect of the price paid. Now, by some a certain doubt and hesitation is entertained as to whether contracts of this kind are to be considered licit. Consequently, certain debtors, pretending these contracts would be usurious, seek to find thereby an occasion for the nonpayment of revenues and rents owed by them in this way . . . . We, therefore, . . . in order to remove every doubt spring- ing from these hesitations, by our Apostolic authority, do declare by
these present letters that the aforesaid contracts are licit and in agreement with law, and that the said sellers, yielding all opposition, are effectively bound to the payment of the rents and revenues in conformity with the terms of the said contracts. [The reader is referred to the discussion of this text given by L. Choupin in A.Vacant-£ Mangenot, Diet. de theol. cath. 2 (Paris, 1905) 1351-1362 (art. 'Calliste III,' sec. ii). The Translator.]
Appeal to the General Council 1 [From the Bull "Exsecrabilis," 2 Jan. 18; in the ancient Roman opinion 1459; that of today 1460]
The execrable and hitherto unheard of abuse has grown up in our day, that certain persons, imbued with the spirit of rebellion, and not from a desire to secure a better judgment, but to escape the punishment of some offense which they have committed, presume to appeal to a future council from the Roman Pontiff, the vicar of Jesus Christ, to whom in the person of the blessed PETER was said: "Feed my sheep" [John 21 :17 ], and, "Whatever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven" [Matt. 16:19] . . . . Wishing therefore to expel this pestiferous poison far from the Church of Christ and to care for the salvation of the flock entrusted to us, and to remove every cause of offense from the fold of our Savior . . . we condemn all such appeals and disprove them as er- roneous and detestable.
Errors of Zanini de Solcia 3 [Condemned in the letter "Cum sicut," Nov. 14, 1459]
717a ( r) That the world should be naturally destroyed and ended by the heat of the sun consuming the humidity of the land and the air in such a way that the elements are set on fire. 717b (2) That all Christians are to be saved. 717c (3) That God created another world than this one, and that in its time many other men and women existed and that consequently Adam was not the first man. 717d ( 4) Likewise, that Jesus Christ suffered and died not for the redemp- 1 BR(T) 5, 149 b; MBR 1, 369 b f. 2 This Bull was confirmed by the Highest Pontiffs, Sixtus IV and Julius II; then the prohibition of appeal from the Highest Pontiff to the general Council was ac- cepted in the Bull "Coenae" (art. 2). 3 DuPl I, II 254 a; Bar(Th) ad 1459, n. 31 (29, 192 b).
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tion because of His love of the human race, but by the law of the stars. (5) Likewise, that Jesus Christ, Moses, and Mohammed ruled the 717e world by the pleasure of their wills. (6) And that the same Lord our Jesus is illegitimate, and that He 717£ exists in the consecrated hosts not with respect to His humanity but with respect to His divinity only. ( 7) That wantonness outside of matrimony is not a sin, unless by 717g the prohibition of positive laws, and that these have not disposed of the matter well, and are checked by ecclesiastical prohibition only from fol- lowing the opinion of Epicurus as true. (8) Moreover that the taking away of another's property is not a 717h mortal sin, even though against the will of the master. (9) Finally that the Christian law through the succession of another 717i law is about to have an end, just as the law of Moses has been terminated by the law of Christ. Zaninus, Canon of Pergamum, is said to have presumed to affirm these propositions "in a sacrilegious attempt against the dogmas of the holy Fathers and later to assert them rashly with polluted lips," but after- wards to have freely renounced "these aforesaid errors."
The Blood of Christ 1 [From the Eull "Ineffabilis summi providentia Patris," Aug. r, 1464]
••. By apostolic authority by the tenor of these presents we state and 718 ordain that none of the aforesaid Brethren (Minors and Preachers) l:ere- after be allowed to dispute, to preach, to make a statement either publicly or privately, concerning the above mentioned doubt, or to persuade oth- ers, that it may be heretical or a sin to hold or to believe that the most sacred blood itself ( as is set before us) in the three days of the passion of the same Lord Jesus Christ from the divinity Himself was or was not divided or separated in some way, until beyond a question of a doubt of this kind what must be held has been defined by us and the Apostolic See.
PAUL
1 BR(T) 5, 181 a f.; MBR r, 380 b.
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Errors of Peter de Rivo (concerning the Truth of Future Contingencies) 1 [Condemned in the Bull "Ad Christi vicarii," Jan. 3, r474]
( r) When Elizabeth spoke to the Blessed Virgin Mary saying: "Blessed art thou that hast believed because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord" [Luke r:45], she seemed to inti- mate that those propositions, namely: "Thou shalt bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus: He shall be great, etc." [ Luke r: 3I], do not yet contain truth. (2) Likewise, when Christ after His resurrection said: "All things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning me" [Luke 24:44] seems to have implied that such propositions were devoid of truth. (3) Likewise, when the Apostle said: "For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of things [Heb. ro:r], he seems to imply that the propositions of the Old Law which concerned the future, did not yet contain the prescribed truth. ( 4) Likewise, that it does not suffice for the truth of the proposition concerning the future, that the thing will be, but there is required that it will be without impediment. ( 5) Likewise, it is necessary to say one of two things, either that in the articles of faith concerning the future actual truth is not present, or that what is signified in them through divine power could not have been hindered. They were condemned as "scandalous and deviating from the path of Catholic faith"; they were revoked by the written word of Peter him- self.
Indulgence for the Dead [From the Bull in favor of the Church of St. Peter of Xancto, Aug. 3, r476] 2
723a In order that the salvation of souls may be procured rather at that time when they need the prayers of others more, and when they can be 1 DuPl I, II 279 b ff.-Peter de Rivo of Alost, taught at Louvain from the year 1460 [Hrt !13 1034]. 2 Archives historiques de la Saintonge et de l'Aunis, T.X Saintes 1882, p. 56 ff.;
N. Paulus in: Historisc/1es fahrbuch XX! (1900), p. 649 f., note 4.
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of benefit to themselves less, by Apostolic authority from the treasure of the Church wishing to come to the aid of the souls who departed from the life united with Christ through charity, and who, while they lived, merited that they be favored by such indulgence; desiring this with pa- ternal affection, in so far as with God's help we can, confident in the mercy of God and in the plenitude of His power, we both concede and grant that, if any parents, friends, or other faithful of Christ, moved in behalf of these souls who are exposed to purgatorial fire for the expiation of punishments due them according to divine justice, during the afore- mentioned ten year period give a certain sum of money for the repair of the church of Xancto, or a value according to an arrangement with the dean or overseer of said church, or our collector by visiting said church or send it during said ten year period through messengers delegated by the same, we grant as a suffrage a plenary remission to assist and inter- cede for the souls in purgatory, in whose behalf they paid the said sum of money or the value, as mentioned above, for the remission of punish- ments.
Errors of Peter de Osma ( the Sacrament of Penance) 1 [Condemned in the Bull "Licet ea," August 9, 1479]
( 1) That the confession of sins in species will be found really m a 724 statute of the universal Church, not in divine law; ( 2) that mortal sins with respect to blame and punishment of the 725 other world are abolished without confession, by contrition of heart only; (3) moreover, bad thoughts are forgiven by displeasure only; ( 4) that it is not demanded of necessity that confession be secret; 2 727 (5) that those who confess should not be absolved, if penance has not 728 been done; ( 6) that the Roman Pontiff cannot remit the punishment A purga- 729 tory; 3 1 MER 1, 416 f.; DuPl I, II 298 b ff.; Gatti, Verit. ,·el. christ. II 4ro b; cf. Aguirre, Coll. Cone. Hisp. III 687 a; BR(T) 5, 265 a.-Peter Martinez, called "of Osma" from his native city, taught at Salamanca. His errors (among which also is "The Church of the city of Rome can err" [ n. 730 in former editions)), rejected by a gathering of theologians at Alcala and afterwards condemned by the Archbishop of Toledo (which condemnation Sixtus IX confirmed by this Bull), he retracted publicly before the publication of the Bull. Cf. Rom. Quartalschr. 43 (1935) 205 ff. [Fr. Stegmuller]. 2 The Archbishop of Toledo by authority of the Holy Pontiff had proscribed the opinion of Peter of Osma in this sense, that "confession ought to be secret, that is about secret sins, not manifest sins." Cf. Rom. Quartalschr. Le. 244. 3 Cf. Zeitschr. f. kath. Theo/. 33 (1909) 599-608, where Nie. Paulus proves that
Peter of Osma denied that the Highest Pontiff could so concede indulgences to the
( 7) and cannot dispense with respect to what the universal Church has established; (8) also that the sacrament of penance, as far as concerns the accumu- lation of grace, is of nature, but not of the institution of the New or Old Testament. On these propositions we read in the Bull, Sect. 6: . . . We declare each and all the above mentioned propositions to be false, contrary to the holy Catholic faith, erroneous, and scandalous, and entirely at variance with the truth of the Gospels, also contrary to the decrees of the holy Fathers and other apostolic constitutions and to con- tain manifest heresy.
The Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. 1 [From the Constitution "Cum praeexcelsa," Feb. 28, 1476]
While in an examination of devout deliberation we are thoroughly investigating the distinguished marks of merit, by which the Queen of Heaven, the glorious Virgin Mother of God, is preferred to all in the heavenly courts; just as among the stars the morning star foretells the dawn, we consider it just, even a duty, that all the faithful of Christ for the miraculous conception of this immaculate Virgin, give praise and thanks to Almighty God ( whose providence beholding from all eternity the humility of this same Virgin, to reconcile with its author human nature exposed to eternal death because of the fall of the first man, by the preparation of the Holy Spirit constituted her the habitation of His Only-begotten Son, from whom He took on the flesh of our mortality for the redemption of His people, and the Virgin remained immaculate even after childbirth), and therefore that they say Masses and other divine offices instituted in the Church of God, and that they attend them to ask by indulgences and by the remission of sins to become more worthy of divine grace by the merits of and by the intercession of this same Vir- gm.
[From the Constitution "Grave nimis," Sept. 4, 1483 l Although the Holy Roman Church solemnly celebrates the public feast of the conception of the immaculate Mary ever Virgin, and has or- dained a special and proper office for this feast, some preachers of dif- ferent orders, as we have heard, in their sermons to the people in public throughout different cities and lands have not been ashamed to affirm
living, and accordingly that by the power of the keys, the penalties of purgatory themselves are certainly wiped out.
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up to this time, and daily cease not to affirm, that all those. who hold or assert that the same glorious and immaculate mother of God was con- ceived without the stain of original sin, sin mortally, or that they are heretical, who celebrate the office of this same immaculate conception, and that those who listen to the sermons of those who affirm that she was conceived without this sin, sin grievously . . . . We reprove and condemn assertions of this kind as false and erroneous and far removed from the truth, and also by apostolic authority and the tenor of these prnsent [letters] we condemn and disapprove on this point published books which contain it . . . [but these also we reprehend] who have dared to assert that those holding the contrary opinion, namely, that the glorious Virgin Mary was conceived with original sin are guilty of the crime of heresy and of mortal sin, since up to this time there has been no decision made by the Roman Church and the Apostolic See. Prns III 1503
Ecumenical XVIII (The Reform of the Church) The Human Soul (against the Neo-Aristotelians) 1 [From the Bull "Apostolici Regiminis" (Session VIII), Dec. 19, 1513]
Since in our days ( and we painfully bring this up) the sower of cockle, 738 ancient enemy of the human race, has dared to disseminate and advance in the field of the Lord a number of pernicious errors, always rejected by the faithful, especially concerning the nature of the rational soul, namely, that it is mortal, or one in all men, and some rashly philosophizing af- firmed that this is true at least according to philosophy, in our desire to offer suitable remedies against a plague of this kind, with the approval of this holy Council, we condemn and reject all who assert that the intel- lectual soul is mortal, or is one in all men, and those who cast doubt on these truths, since it [ the soul] is not on! y truly in itself .. nd essentially the form of the human body, as was defined in the canon of Pope
CLEMENT V our predeces;or of happy memory published in the (gen- eral) Council of VIENNE [ n. 48 r] but it is also multiple according to the multitude of bodies into which it is infused, multiplied, and to be multiplied . . . . And since truth never contradicts truth, we declare [ see n. r 797] every assertion contrary to the truth of illumined faith to be altogether false; and, that it may not be permitted to dogmatize other- wise, we strictly forbid it, and we decree that all who adhere to errors of this kind are to be shunned and to be punished as detestable and abom- inable infidels who disseminate most damnable heresies and who weaken the Catholic faith.
"Mountains of Piety" and Usury 1 (From the Bull "Inter multiplices," April 28 (Session X, May 4), r5r5]
With the approval of the holy Council, we declare and define that the aforesaid "Mountains of piety" established by the civil authorities and thus far approved and confirmed by the authority of the Apostolic See, in which a moderate rate of interest is received exclusively for the ex- penses of the officials and for other things pe~taining to their keeping, as is set forth, for an indemnity of these as far as this matter is concerned, beyond the capital without a profit for these same Mountains, neither offer any species of evil, nor furnish an incentive to sin, nor in any way are condemned, nay rather that such a loan is worthwhile and is to be praised and approved, and least of all to be considered usury . . . . More- over, we declare that all religious and ecclesiastics as well as secular per- sons, who henceforth shall dare to preach or dispute in word or in writing against the form of the present declaration and sanction, incur the penalty of excommunication of a sentence [automatically] imposed [latae sententiae], a privilege of any nature whatsoever notwithstanding.
The Relation Between the Pope and the Councils 2 [From the Bull "Pastor Aeternus" (Session XI) Dec. r9, r5r6]
Nor should this move us, that the sanction [pragmatic] itself, and the things contained in it were proclaimed in the Council of Basie . . . , since all these acts were made after the translation of that same Council of Basie from the place of the assembly at Basie, and therefore could have
ad 1516 n. 25 (31,121 a); cf. Hfl VIII 710 ff.
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no weight, since it is clearly established that the Roman Pontiff alone, pos- sessing as it were authority over all Councils, has full right and power of proclaiming Councils, or transferring and dissolving them, not only according to the testimony of Sacred Scripture, from the words of the holy Fathers and even of other Roman Pontiffs, of our predecessors, and from the decrees of the holy canons, but also from the particular acknowl- edgment of these same Councils.
Indulgences 1 [From the Bull "Cum postquam" to the Legate Cajetan de Vio, Nov. 9, 1518]
And lest in the future anyone should allege ignorance of the doctrine 740a of the Roman Church concerning such indulgences and their efficacy, or excuse himself under pretext of such ignorance, or aid himself by pretended protestations, but that these same persons may be convicted as guilty of notorious lying and be justly condemned, we have decided that you should be informed by these presents that the Roman Church, which the other churches are bound to follow as their mother, has decreed that the Roman Pontiff, the successor of PETER the key bearer, and the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, by the power of the keys, to which it belongs to open the kingdom of heaven, by removing the ob- stacles in the faithful of Christ ( namely the fault and punishment due to actual sins, the fault by means of the sacrament of penance, but the temporal punishment due for actual sins according to divine justice by means of the indulgence of the Church), for the same reasonable causes can concede indulgences from the superabundant merits of Christ and the saints to these same faithful of Christ, who belong to Christ by the charity that joins the members, whether they be in this life or in purga- tory; and by granting an indulgence by apostolic authority to the living as well as to the dead, has been accustomed to dispense from the treasury of the merits of Jesus Christ and the saints, and by means of absolution to confer that same indugence or to transfer it by means of suffrage. And for that reason that all, the living as well as the dead, who have truly gained such indulgences, are freed from such temporal punishment due for their actual sins according to divine justice, as is equivalent to the indulgence granted and acquired. And thus by apostolic authority in accordance with the tenor of these letters we decree that it should be held by all and be preached under punishment of excommunication, of a sentence [automatically] imposed [latae sententiae] . .•. 1 Iod. le Plat, a very full collection II of records pertaining to the history of the
Council of Trent (Lovanii 1782) 23 f.; cf. Caietanus de Vio, In 3 P., f. 48, as (1903, 469) et Zeitschr. f. kath. Theologie 37 (1913): 394 ff. (N. Paulus.)