Chapter I. Of the Qualities of a True Council

We will begin with the words of S. Leo: * (" Although the definition of the Apostolic See in matters of faith is certain and irrefragable), still what Our Lord had first decided by our ministry he irrefragably confirmed by the assent of the whole brotherhood; so that he might show that that truly proceeded from him which, having been defined by the first of all the Sees, had been received by the judgment of the whole Christian world, the members in this also agreeing with their head.... And truth itself appears more clearly and is held more firmly when examination afterwards confirms what faith had first taught, (so that he would indeed be an impious and sacrilegious man who should leave anything to be decided by his own opinion after the sentence of so many priests.")

One could not better trace out a true and holy Council than on the pattern of that which the Apostles held in Jerusalem.

Now let us see ( i.) who convoked it; and we shall find that it was assembled by authority itself, by the pastors: The Apostles and ancients came together to consider of this matter.\ And in truth it is the pastors

• Ep. 63. We do uot find the parts placed in brackets. [Tr.] t Acts. XV.

who are charged to instruct the people and to provide for their salvation by resolving the doubts which arise touching Christian doctrine. Emperors and princes ought to be zealous about it, but according to their office, which is after the manner of justice, of police, and of the, sword which they hear not in vain* Those therefore who will have that the Emperor possessed this authority find no foundation either in Scripture or in reason. For what are the principal causes why General Councils are assembled, save to put down and cast out the heretic, the schismatic, the scandalizer, as wolves from the sheep-fold? — as that first Assembly was held in Jerusalem to resist those who belonged to the heresy of the Pharisees. And who has the charge of driving away the wolf? And who is shepherd save he to whom Our Lord said: Feed my sheep? Find that a similar charge was given to Tiberius. He who has the authority for feeding the sheep has the authority for calling the shepherds together to learn what pasturage and what waters are wholesome for the flock. This is properly to assemble the pastors in the name of Jesus Christ,t that is, by the authority of Our Lord. Eor what else is it to assemble the estates in the name of the prince but to convoke them by the authority of the prince? And who has received this autliority except him who as lieutenant has received the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven? This made the good Father, Bishop Lucentius, legate of the holy Apostolic See, say that Dioscorus had done greatly wrong in having assembled a council without Apostolic authority. " Having dared," said he, " to convoke a synod without the

• Rom. xiii. 4. f Matt, xviii. 20.

ART. IV. c. I.] The Rtile of Faith. 2 1 9 authority of the Apostolic See, a thing which had never been nor could be lawfully done: " and he said these words in the full assembly of the great Council of Chalcedon.

Still it is necessary that if the town where the meeting is held be subject to the Emperor or to some prince, and a public collection has to be made for the expenses of a Council, the prince in whose territory they meet should have permitted and authorised the meeting, and the collections must be authorised by the princes in whose States they are made. And when the Emperor wishes to assemble a Council [he may do so], provided that the Holy See, consenting thereto, makes the convocation legitimate. Such have been the convocations of some most authentic Councils, and such was that which Herod ordered at Jerusalem to know when the Christ should be born, the priests and scribes consenting. But to go on thence to attribute to princes the right to command the convocation of a Council would be as unreasonable as to draw an argument from his cruelty to S. John the Baptist, or his massacre of the infants.

We next (2.) come to examine in this first Christian Council which was held by the Apostles, who they were that were called: The Apostles and ancients, says the text, came together to consider of this matter. The Apostles and the priests — in a word. Churchmen. So reason required, for the old proverb ever holds good: — the cobbler not beyond his last; as does the word recorded by S. Athanasius,* which the good Father Hosius wrote to the Emperor Constantius: " To thee God has committed the Empire, to us what

• E'p. ad Solit.

belongs to the Church." It is then for Ecclesiastics to be called, although princes, the Emperor, kings and others find a place as protectors of the Church.

(3.) Who is to be judge? Now we do not see that any one gave judgment except four of the Apostles, — S. Peter, S. Paul, S. Barnabas and S. James, in whose sentence every one acquiesced. Whilst they were deliberating, the elders or priests spoke, as appears probable from these words: " And when there was much disputing" which shows that the question was most earnestly discussed. But when it came to resolving and passing sentence, we do not find that any one speaks who is not an Apostle; as we find in the ancient and canonical Councils that none but Bishops have subscribed and defined. Take heed, says S. Paul,* to yourselves and to all the flock; but who is thus to take heed to themselves and to the general body? — in which the Holy Ghost has placed you Bishops to rule the Church of God? It belongs to the pastors to provide wholesome doctrine for the sheep, and this was the reason why the Fathers of the Council of Chalcedon, when they saw monks and laymen enter, cried out repeatedly: " Cast out those who are not members; it is a Council of Bishops."

(4.) If we consider who presided, we shall find that it was S. Peter, who first gives sentence and is then followed by the rest, as S. Jerome says, t And indeed he had the chief pastoral charge: Feed my sheep, — and he was the grand steward over the rest: To thee I will give the keys of the kingdom; further, he was the confirmer of the brethren, an office which properly belongs to the president or superintendent

• Acts XX. 28, t ad Aug.

ART. IV. 0. 1.] The Rule of Faith. 221

From that time, therefore, the successor of S. Peter, the Bishop of Rome, has always presided at Councils by his legates. At the Council of Nice the first who subscribed are Hosius, Bishop, Vitus, and Modestus, priests, envoys of the Holy See.* And, in truth, how could these two priests have come to subscribe before the Patriarchs except because they were holding the place of the Supreme Patriarch? As for S. Athanasius, so far from his having presided, he did not even sit, nor subscribe, being at that time only a deacon. And the great Constantine not only did not preside, but sat below the Bishops, and would not be there as pastor but as a sheep.t

In the Council of Constantinople though he was not there nor any legate for him, — because he was treating the same matter with the Western Bishops at Rome which was being treated at Constantinople by the Easterns, who were thus able to join them only in spirit and deliberation, — still by letters which were mutually exchanged between the Fathers, Dama-sus, Bishop of Rome, was acknowledged as lawful head and president.;];

In the Council of Ephesus S. Cyril presided as legate and lieutenant of Pope Celestine. Here are the words of S. Prosper of Aquitaine \ "By this man " (he is speaking of Pope Celestine) " the Eastern Churches also were purged of a double pestilence when he helped Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, a most glorious defender of the Catholic faith, to cut off with the Apostolic sword the Nestorian impiety." Which the same Prosper says again in the Chronicle:

• Prmf, Cone. Sard. f Theod. i. 7. Miifin. x. 2, t Theod. V. 8, 10. § Contra CoU.

" The Nestorian impiety is opposed by the signal energy of Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, and the authority of Pope Celestine."

Throughout the Council of Chalcedon everything proclaims that the legates of the Holy See, Paschasinus and Lucentius, presided. One has but to read the acts.

Here then you have Scripture, reason, and the practice of the four most legitimate Councils that ever were, presided over by S. Peter and his successors when they were present. I could show the same of all the others which have been received in the universal Church as legitimate. But this will quite suffice.

(5.) There remain the approval, acceptance, and execution of the decrees of the Council, which were made, as they ought still now to be made, by all those who assisted. Whence it was said: Tli&n it 'pleased the Apostles and ancients with the whole Church to choose men, &c. But as to the authority in virtue of which the decree of that Council was promulgated it was only that of ecclesiastics: The Apostles and ancients... to those... that are at Antioch and in Syria and Cilicia. The authority of the sheep is not there appealed to, but only that of the shepherds. There may indeed be lay persons present at the Council if it be expedient, but not sitting as judges therein.

ART. IV. 0. II.] The R^ile of Faith, 223