Christen Dom Church and Society in Tensive Unity #8

8/3/2019 Christen Dom Church and Society in Tensive Unity #8

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Christendom: Church and

Society in Tensive Unity

#8

Rev. Dr. Patrick Okafor


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Papacy

The position of the papacy varied

considerably throughout the period: the

rise and decline of the monarchicalpapacy.

The varying strength of the papacy was

closely intertwined with the second theme

mentioned above- the tension between the

spiritual and temporal, or secular, powers.


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Primacy of Rome

The early church regarded the see of

Rome as the place of martyrdom of Peter

and Paul, and therefore should beaccorded a measure of primacy.


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Primacy of Rome contd.

Cyprian and Augustine argued that

communion with Rome was a criterion for

the true church. J. N. D. Kelly observes The real framers

and Promoters of the theory of Roman

Primacy were the popes themselves.


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The Popes and the Primacy of

Rome Particular mention is made of Popes

Damasus (366-84), Siricius (384- 99), and

Innocent (402-17), because theychampioned the claim of primacy of Rome

on both the theoretical and practical

planes.


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Pope Leo I, the Great (440-61)and

Primacy of Rome The pope Leo I in his famous Tome of Leo,

which was accepted at the Council of Chalcedon

451, summarized the doctrine of papal primacy.

He maintains that:

1. Christ chose Peter and gave him precedence

over the other apostles

2. the Matthean text 16: 18 (upon this rock)refers to Peter himself and not his faith


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Pope Leo I, the Great (440-61)and

Primacy of Rome contd.3. Peter was actually bishop of Rome and hisauthority is perpetuated in his successors;

4. the authority of the other apostles came

through Peter, and that of the bishops is derivednot immediately from Christ but through thebishop of Rome, who is a kind ofPetrusredivivus; and therefore

5. the bishop of Rome has a plenitude of powerover the whole church, whereas the otherbishops only share in this responsibility.


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Gregory I, the Great (590- 604) and

Primacy of Rome By his energetic pastoral activity, Gregory

I defended Rome from the invading

Lombards, fought famine and plague and

promoted missions for conversion of the

barbarians, and he exercised his authority

with humility and a deep spirituality.


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It was not just the claims of the popes that

gave rise to the papal monarchy but its

prestige was enhanced by the character

and energy of the popes themselves(Jay

& Yves Congar)


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Other factors that boost the growth

of papal authority

1. Popular Piety: there was a great devotion

to St. Peter and to relics.

Southern in his book, Church In TheMiddle Ages, holds that the pope in

practice owed most of his authority to the

fact that he was the guardian of the body

of St. Peter.


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Other factors that boost the growth

of papal authority contd. 2. The rise of Islam from 650 to 750 graduallycut off parts of the Eastern church from contactwith Rome. The three ancient patriarchates of

Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem wereisolated and ceased to have influence in thechurch as a whole, with the consequent growthin importance of Rome.

The pope ruled Rome as the secular deputy ofthe emperor in Constantinople.


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Donation of Constantine

Documented in a letter from the Emperor

Constantine to Pope Silvester I, dated

March 30, 315, stating the gifts of the

emperor to the pope in gratitude for being

cured of leprosy through the popes

intercession.


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Content of the donation

1. The grant of pre-eminence over thepatriarchal sees of Antioch, Alexandria,Jerusalem, and Constantinople, and all

other churches;2. The gift of the imperial insignia, together

with the Lateran palace in Rome;

3. The transfer to the pope of the imperialpower in Rome; Italy, and all theprovinces of the West.


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An exercise of Imperial Insignia:

The temporal power vested on the pope in

the West gained a wide acceptance, and it

culminated in the crowning of

Charlemagne as emperor of the Romans

by Leo III on Christmas Day of the Year

800.


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The struggle between the spiritual

and temporal powers The temporal powers were represented by

the Emperors and local feudal lords.

The local feudal lords gained control overbishops and abbots by gifts of land and

church building.

The Bishops and Abbots became

overlords and Vassals concurrently.


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A clash of authority between

Spiritual and Temporal Powers: The papal claims to temporal authority were

ignored by (Otto the Great. 973) and his

successors, and popes were required to take an

oath of allegiance to the emperor. Bishops were nominated by the temporal power

and were employed as officials of the crown.

The Church stipulation that a bishop is to be

elected by clergy and people was ignored


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Simony

Simony is the buying and selling of

spiritual goods often to the highest bidder.


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Gregorian Reform

Laymen should obey the clergy

Bishops should be elected by the clergy

and confirmed by the metropolitan andneighboring bishops

Lay persons must obey the clergy not only

inside the church but outside, in the

temporal order as well.


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Pope Nicholas II (d. 1061) and

Reform It excluded the emperor and the nobles

from papal elections and stipulated that

from that time on only the cardinals were

to elect the pope, although some form of

confirmation by the emperor was allowed.


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Pope Gregory VII and his Dictatus

Papae The pope can be judged by no one;

The Roman church has never erred and never will err tillthe end of time;

The Roman church was founded by Christ alone

The pope alone can depose and restore bishops

He alone can call general councils and authorize canonlaw;

He alone can use the imperial insignia

He can depose emperors All princes should kiss his feet; a duly ordained pope is

undoubtedly made a saint by the merits St Peter.


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Implementation of the Gregorian

Decree

Gregory excommunicated and deposed

Emperor Henry IV and forced him to stand

penitentially in the snow outside a castle at

Canossa in 1077.

Pope Innocent III ( 1198-1216)

excommunicated King John of England in

(1209) and made him a papal vassal


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Pope Boniface VIII and supremacy

of spiritual over temporal power

Used the image of two swords (Lk. 22: 38) to

express the theory of supremacy of spiritual over

the temporal power.

Both swords are in the power of the church: thespiritual sword is to be used by the church and

the temporal sword for the church; the spiritual

by the hand of the priest, the other by the hand

of kings and knights, but at the approval of thepriest (cf. Class Text, p.72).

Christen Dom Church and Society in Tensive Unity #8

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