DOCUMENTS OF THE FIRST VATICAN COUNCIL
Decree of Opening of the Council
Pius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the
sacred council, for an everlasting record. Most Reverend Fathers, is
it your pleasure that, to the praise and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father,
Son and holy Spirit, for the increase and exaltation of the Catholic
faith and religion, for the uprooting of current errors, for the reformation of the clergy and the
Christian people, and for the common peace and concord of all, the holy ecumenical Vatican Council should be opened,
and be declared to have been opened?.
[They replied: Yes]
Pius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the
sacred council, for an everlasting record. Most Reverend Fathers, is
it your pleasure that the next session of the holy ecumenical Vatican Council should be
held on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, that is 6 January 1870?.
[They replied: Yes]
Profession of faith
1. I, Pius, bishop of the Catholic Church, with firm faith believe and
profess each and every article contained in the profession of faith
which the holy Roman church uses, namely: I believe in one God the
Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things seen and
unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ the only-begotten Son of God.
Born of the Father before all ages. God from God, light from light,
true God from true God. Begotten not made, of one substance with the
Father: through whom all things were made. Who for us humans and for
our salvation came down from heaven. He was incarnate by the holy
Spirit of the virgin Mary: and became man. He was crucified also for
us, he suffered under Pontius Pilate and was buried. The third day he
rose again according to the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and
sits at the right hand of the Father. He shall come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead, and of his kingdom there shall be no
end. And in the holy Spirit, the lord and the giver of life, who
proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and
the Son is adored and glorified: who spoke through the prophets. And
one holy, catholic and apostolic church. I confess one baptism for the
remission of Sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead. And
the life of the world to come Amen.
2. Apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions and all other observances
and constitutions of that same church I most firmly accept and
embrace.
3. Likewise I accept sacred scripture according to that sense which
holy mother church held and holds, since it is her right to judge of
the true sense and interpretation of the holy scriptures; nor will I
ever receive and interpret them except according to the unanimous
consent of the fathers.
4. I profess also that there are seven sacraments of the new law,
truly and properly so called, instituted by our lord Jesus Christ and
necessary for salvation, though each person need not receive them all.
They are:
1. baptism,
2. confirmation,
3. the Eucharist,
4. penance,
5. last anointing,
6. order and
7. matrimony;
and they confer grace. Of these baptism, confirmation and order may
not be repeated without sacrilege.
5. I likewise receive and accept the rites of the catholic church
which have been received and approved in the solemn administration of
all the aforesaid sacraments.
6. I embrace and accept the whole and every part of what was defined
and declared by the holy council of Trent concerning original sin and
justification. Likewise
7. I profess that in the mass there is offered to God a true, proper
and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in
the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really and
substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity,
of our lord Jesus Christ; and that there takes place the conversion of
the whole substance of the bread into his body, and of the whole
substance of the wine into his blood, and this conversion the catholic
church calls transubstantiation.
8. I confess that under either species alone the whole and complete
Christ and the true sacrament are received.
9. I firmly hold that purgatory exists, and that the souls detained
there are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise, that the
saints reigning with Christ are to be honoured and prayed to, and that
they offer prayers to God on our behalf, and that their relics should
be venerated.
10. I resolutely assert that images of
1. Christ and
2. the ever virgin mother of God, and likewise those of
3. the other saints,
are to be kept and retained, and that due honour and reverence is to
be shown them.
11. I affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the
church, and that their use is eminently beneficial to the Christian
people.
12. I acknowledge the holy, catholic, apostolic and Roman church, the
mother and mistress of all the churches.
13. Likewise all other things which have been transmitted, defined and
declared by the sacred canons and the ecumenical councils, especially
the sacred Trent, I accept unhesitatingly and profess; in the same way
whatever is to the contrary, and whatever heresies have been
condemned, rejected and anathematised by the church, I too condemn,
reject and anathematise.
This true catholic faith, which I now freely profess and truly hold,
is what I shall steadfastly maintain and confess, by the help of God,
in all its completeness and purity until my dying breath, and I shall
do my best to ensure that all others do the same. This is what I, the
same Pius, promise, vow and swear. So help me God and these holy
gospels of God.
Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith
Pius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the
sacred council, for an everlasting record.
1. The Son of God, redeemer of the human race, our lord Jesus Christ,
promised, when about to return to his heavenly Father, that he would
be with this church militant upon earth all days even to the end of
the world. Hence never at any time has he ceased to stand by his
beloved bride, assisting her when she teaches, blessing her in her
labours and bringing her help when she is in danger.
2. Now this redemptive providence appears very clearly in unnumbered
benefits, but most especially is it manifested in the advantages which
have been secured for the Christian world by ecumenical councils,
among which the council of Trent requires special mention, celebrated
though it was in evil days.
3.Thence came
1. a closer definition and more fruitful exposition of the holy dogmas
of religion and 2. the condemnation and repression of errors; thence
too, 3. the restoration and vigorous strengthening of ecclesiastical
discipline, 4. the advancement of the clergy in zeal for learning and
piety, 5. the founding of colleges for the training of the young for
the service of religion; and finally
6. the renewal of the moral life of the Christian people by a more
accurate instruction of the faithful, and a more frequent reception of
the sacraments. What is more, thence also came
7. a closer union of the members with the visible head, and an
increased vigour in the whole mystical body of Christ. Thence came
8. the multiplication of religious orders and other organizations of
Christian piety; thence too
9. that determined and constant ardour for the spreading of Christ's
kingdom abroad in the world, even at the cost of shedding one's blood.
4. While we recall with grateful hearts, as is only fitting, these and
other outstanding gains, which the divine mercy has bestowed on the
church especially by means of the last ecumenical synod, we cannot
subdue the bitter grief that we feel at most serious evils, which have
largely arisen either because the authority of the sacred synod was
held in contempt by all too many, or because its wise decrees were
neglected.
5. Everybody knows that those heresies, condemned by the fathers of
Trent, which rejected the divine magisterium of the church and allowed
religious questions to be a matter for the judgment of each
individual, have gradually collapsed into a multiplicity of sects,
either at variance or in agreement with one another; and by this means
a good many people have had all faith in Christ destroyed.
6. Indeed even the holy Bible itself, which they at one time claimed
to be the sole source and judge of the Christian faith, is no longer
held to be divine, but they begin to assimilate it to the inventions
of myth.
7. Thereupon there came into being and spread far and wide throughout
the world that doctrine of rationalism or naturalism, - utterly
opposed to the Christian religion, since this is of supernatural
origin, - which spares no effort to bring it about that Christ, who
alone is our lord and saviour, is shut out from the minds of people
and the moral life of nations. Thus they would establish what they
call the rule of simple reason or nature. The abandonment and
rejection of the Christian religion, and the denial of God and his
Christ, has plunged the minds of many into the abyss of pantheism,
materialism and atheism, and the consequence is that they strive to
destroy rational nature itself, to deny any criterion of what is right
and just, and to overthrow the very foundations of human society.
8. With this impiety spreading in every direction, it has come about,
alas, that many even among the children of the catholic church have
strayed from the path of genuine piety, and as the truth was gradually
diluted in them, their catholic sensibility was weakened. Led away by
diverse and strange teachings and confusing nature and grace, human
knowledge and divine faith, they are found to distort the genuine
sense of the dogmas which holy mother church holds and teaches, and to
endanger the integrity and genuineness of the faith.
9. At the sight of all this, how can the inmost being of the church
not suffer anguish?. For just as God wills all people to be saved and
come to the knowledge of the truth, just as Christ came to save what
was lost and to gather into one the children of God who were scattered
abroad, so the church, appointed by God to be mother and mistress of
nations, recognizes her obligations to all and is always ready and
anxious to raise the fallen, to steady those who stumble, to embrace
those who return, and to strengthen the good and urge them on to what
is better.
Thus she can never cease from witnessing to the truth of God which
heals all and from declaring it, for she knows that these words were
directed to her: My spirit which is upon you, and my words which I
have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth from this
time forth and for evermore.
10. And so we, following in the footsteps of our predecessors, in
accordance with our supreme apostolic office, have never left off
teaching and defending catholic truth and condemning erroneous
doctrines.
But now it is our purpose to profess and declare from this chair of
Peter before all eyes the saving teaching of Christ, and, by the power
given us by God, to reject and condemn the contrary errors.
This we shall do with the bishops of the whole world as our
co-assessors and fellow-judges, gathered here as they are in the holy
Spirit by our authority in this ecumenical council, and relying on the
word of God in scripture and tradition as we have received it,
religiously preserved and authentically expounded by the catholic
church.
Chapter : On God the Creator of All Things
1. The holy, catholic, apostolic and Roman church believes and
acknowledges that there is one true and living God, creator and lord
of heaven and earth, almighty, eternal, immeasurable,
incomprehensible, infinite in will, understanding and every
perfection.
2. Since he is one, singular, completely simple and unchangeable
spiritual substance, he must be declared to be in reality and in
essence, distinct from the world, supremely happy in himself and from
himself, and inexpressibly loftier than anything besides himself which
either exists or can be imagined.
3. This one true God, by his goodness and almighty power, not with the
intention of increasing his happiness, nor indeed of obtaining
happiness, but in order to manifest his perfection by the good things
which he bestows on what he creates, by an absolutely free plan,
together from the beginning of time brought into being from nothing
the twofold created order, that is the spiritual and the bodily, the
angelic and the earthly, and thereafter the human which is, in a way,
common to both since it is composed of spirit and body.
4. Everything that God has brought into being he protects and governs
by his providence, which reaches from one end of the earth to the
other and orders all things well. All things are open and laid bare to
his eyes, even those which will be brought about by the free activity
of creatures.
Chapter 2: On Revelation
1. The same holy mother church holds and teaches that God, the source
and end of all things, can be known with certainty from the
consideration of created things, by the natural power of human reason:
ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature has been
clearly perceived in the things that have been made.
2. It was, however, pleasing to his wisdom and goodness to reveal
himself and the eternal laws of his will to the human race by another,
and that a supernatural, way. This is how the Apostle puts it: In many
and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but
in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son.
3. It is indeed thanks to this divine revelation, that those matters
concerning God which are not of themselves beyond the scope of human
reason, can, even in the present state of the human race, be known by
everyone without difficulty, with firm certitude and with no
intermingling of error.
4. It is not because of this that one must hold revelation to be
absolutely necessary; the reason is that God directed human beings to
a supernatural end, that is a sharing in the good things of God that
utterly surpasses the understanding of the human mind; indeed eye has
not seen, neither has ear heard, nor has it come into our hearts to
conceive what things God has prepared for those who love him.
5. Now this supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the
universal church, as declared by the sacred council of Trent, is
contained in written books and unwritten traditions, which were
received by the apostles from the lips of Christ himself, or came to
the apostles by the dictation of the holy Spirit, and were passed on
as it were from hand to hand until they reached us.
6. The complete books of the old and the new Testament with all their
parts, as they are listed in the decree of the said council and as
they are found in the old Latin Vulgate edition, are to be received as
sacred and canonical.
7. These books the church holds to be sacred and canonical not because
she subsequently approved them by her authority after they had been
composed by unaided human skill, nor simply because they contain
revelation without error, but because, being written under the
inspiration of the holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and
were as such committed to the church.
8. Now since the decree on the interpretation of holy scripture,
profitably made by the council of Trent, with the intention of
constraining rash speculation, has been wrongly interpreted by some,
we renew that decree and declare its meaning to be as follows: that in
matters of faith and morals, belonging as they do to the establishing
of Christian doctrine, that meaning of holy scripture must be held to
be the true one, which holy mother church held and holds, since it is
her right to judge of the true meaning and interpretation of holy
scripture.
9. In consequence, it is not permissible for anyone to interpret holy
scripture in a sense contrary to this, or indeed against the unanimous
consent of the fathers.
Chapter 3: On Faith
1. Since human beings are totally dependent on God as their creator
and lord, and created reason is completely subject to uncreated truth,
we are obliged to yield to God the revealer full submission of
intellect and will by faith.
2. This faith, which is the beginning of human salvation, the catholic
church professes to be a supernatural virtue, by means of which, with
the grace of God inspiring and assisting us, we believe to be true
what He has revealed, not because we perceive its intrinsic truth by
the natural light of reason, but because of the authority of God
himself, who makes the revelation and can neither deceive nor be
deceived.
3. Faith, declares the Apostle, is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.
4. Nevertheless, in order that the submission of our faith should be
in accordance with reason, it was God's will that there should be
linked to the internal assistance of the holy Spirit external
indications of his revelation, that is to say divine acts, and first
and foremost miracles and prophecies, which clearly demonstrating as
they do the omnipotence and infinite knowledge of God, are the most
certain signs of revelation and are suited to the understanding of
all.
5. Hence Moses and the prophets, and especially Christ our lord
himself, worked many absolutely clear miracles and delivered
prophecies; while of the apostles we read: And they went forth and
preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the
message by the signs that attended it. Again it is written: We have
the prophetic word made more sure; you will do well to pay attention
to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place.
6. Now, although the assent of faith is by no means a blind movement
of the mind, yet no one can accept the gospel preaching in the way
that is necessary for achieving salvation without the inspiration and
illumination of the holy Spirit, who gives to all facility in
accepting and believing the truth.
7. And so faith in itself, even though it may not work through
charity, is a gift of God, and its operation is a work belonging to
the order of salvation, in that a person yields true obedience to God
himself when he accepts and collaborates with his grace which he could
have rejected.
8. Wherefore, by divine and catholic faith all those things are to be
believed which are contained in the word of God as found in scripture
and tradition, and which are proposed by the church as matters to be
believed as divinely revealed, whether by her solemn judgment or in
her ordinary and universal magisterium.
9. Since, then, without faith it is impossible to please God and reach
the fellowship of his sons and daughters, it follows that no one can
ever achieve justification without it, neither can anyone attain
eternal life unless he or she perseveres in it to the end.
10. So that we could fulfill our duty of embracing the true faith and
of persevering unwaveringly in it, God, through his only begotten Son,
founded the church, and he endowed his institution with clear notes to
the end that she might be recognized by all as the guardian and
teacher of the revealed word.
11. To the catholic church alone belong all those things, so many and
so marvelous, which have been divinely ordained to make for the
manifest credibility of the Christian faith.
12. What is more, the church herself by reason of her astonishing
propagation, her outstanding holiness and her inexhaustible fertility
in every kind of goodness, by her catholic unity and her unconquerable
stability, is a kind of great and perpetual motive of credibility and
an incontrovertible evidence of her own divine mission.
13. So it comes about that, like a standard lifted up for the nations,
she both invites to herself those who have not yet believed, and
likewise assures her sons and daughters that the faith they profess
rests on the firmest of foundations.
14. To this witness is added the effective help of power from on high.
For, the kind Lord stirs up those who go astray and helps them by his
grace so that they may come to the knowledge of the truth; and also
confirms by his grace those whom he has translated into his admirable
light, so that they may persevere in this light, not abandoning them
unless he is first abandoned.
15. Consequently, the situation of those, who by the heavenly gift of
faith have embraced the catholic truth, is by no means the same as
that of those who, led by human opinions, follow a false religion; for
those who have accepted the faith under the guidance of the church can
never have any just cause for changing this faith or for calling it
into question.
This being so, giving thanks to God the Father who has made us worthy
to share with the saints in light let us not neglect so great a
salvation, but looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith, let us hold the unshakeable confession of our hope.
Chapter 4: On Faith and Reason
1. The perpetual agreement of the Catholic church has maintained and
maintains this too: that there is a twofold order of knowledge,
distinct not only as regards its source, but also as regards its
object.
2. With regard to the source, we know at the one level by natural
reason, at the other level by divine faith.
3. With regard to the object, besides those things to which natural
reason can attain, there are proposed for our belief mysteries hidden
in God which, unless they are divinely revealed, are incapable of
being known. Wherefore, when the Apostle, who witnesses that God was
known to the gentiles from created things, comes to treat of the grace
and truth which came by Jesus Christ, he declares: We impart a secret
and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our
glorification. None of the rulers of this age understood this. God has
revealed it to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches
everything, even the depths of God. And the Only-begotten himself, in
his confession to the Father, acknowledges that the Father has hidden
these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to the little
ones.
4. Now reason, does indeed when it seeks persistently, piously and
soberly, achieve by God's gift some understanding, and that most
profitable, of the mysteries, whether by analogy from what it knows
naturally, or from the connection of these mysteries with one another
and with the final end of humanity; but reason is never rendered
capable of penetrating these mysteries in the way in which it
penetrates those truths which form its proper object. For the divine
mysteries, by their very nature, so far surpass the created
understanding that, even when a revelation has been given and accepted
by faith, they remain covered by the veil of that same faith and
wrapped, as it were, in a certain obscurity, as long as in this mortal
life we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, and not by
sight.
5. Even though faith is above reason, there can never be any real
disagreement between faith and reason, since it is the same God who
reveals the mysteries and infuses faith, and who has endowed the human
mind with the light of reason.
6. God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever be in opposition to
truth. The appearance of this kind of specious contradiction is
chiefly due to the fact that either the dogmas of faith are not
understood and explained in accordance with the mind of the church, or
unsound views are mistaken for the conclusions of reason.
7. Therefore we define that every assertion contrary to the truth of
enlightened faith is totally false.
8. Furthermore the church which, together with its apostolic office of
teaching, has received the charge of preserving the deposit of faith,
has by divine appointment the right and duty of condemning what
wrongly passes for knowledge, lest anyone be led astray by philosophy
and empty deceit.
9. Hence all faithful Christians are forbidden to defend as the
legitimate conclusions of science those opinions which are known to be
contrary to the doctrine of faith, particularly if they have been
condemned by the church; and furthermore they are absolutely bound to
hold them to be errors which wear the deceptive appearance of truth.
10. Not only can faith and reason never be at odds with one another
but they mutually support each other, for on the one hand right reason
established the foundations of the faith and, illuminated by its
light, develops the science of divine things; on the other hand, faith
delivers reason from errors and protects it and furnishes it with
knowledge of many kinds.
11. Hence, so far is the church from hindering the development of
human arts and studies, that in fact she assists and promotes them in
many ways. For she is neither ignorant nor contemptuous of the
advantages which derive from this source for human life, rather she
acknowledges that those things flow from God, the lord of sciences,
and, if they are properly used, lead to God by the help of his grace.
12. Nor does the church forbid these studies to employ, each within
its own area, its own proper principles and method: but while she
admits this just freedom, she takes particular care that they do not
become infected with errors by conflicting with divine teaching, or,
by going beyond their proper limits, intrude upon what belongs to
faith and engender confusion.
13. For the doctrine of the faith which God has revealed is put
forward not as some philosophical discovery capable of being perfected
by human intelligence, but as a divine deposit committed to the spouse
of Christ to be faithfully protected and infallibly promulgated.
14. Hence, too, that meaning of the sacred dogmas is ever to be
maintained which has once been declared by holy mother church, and
there must never be any abandonment of this sense under the pretext or
in the name of a more profound understanding.
May understanding, knowledge and wisdom increase as ages and centuries
roll along, and greatly and vigorously flourish, in each and all, in
the individual and the whole church: but this only in its own proper
kind, that is to say, in the same doctrine, the same sense, and the
same understanding.
Canons
On God the creator of all things
1. If anyone denies the one true God, creator and lord of things
visible and invisible: let him be anathema.
2. If anyone is so bold as to assert that there exists nothing besides
matter: let him be anathema.
3. If anyone says that the substance or essence of God and that of all
things are one and the same: let him be anathema.
4. If anyone says that finite things, both corporal and spiritual, or
at any rate, spiritual, emanated from the divine substance; or that
the divine essence, by the manifestation and evolution of itself
becomes all things or, finally, that God is a universal or indefinite
being which by self determination establishes the totality of things
distinct in genera, species and individuals: let him be anathema.
5. If anyone does not confess that the world and all things which are
contained in it, both spiritual and material, were produced, according
to their whole substance, out of nothing by God; or holds that God did
not create by his will free from all necessity, but as necessarily as
he necessarily loves himself; or denies that the world was created for
the glory of God: let him be anathema.
On Revelation
1. If anyone says that the one, true God, our creator and lord, cannot
be known with certainty from the things that have been made, by the
natural light of human reason: let him be anathema.
2. If anyone says that it is impossible, or not expedient, that human
beings should be taught by means of divine revelation about God and
the worship that should be shown him: let him be anathema.
3. If anyone says that a human being cannot be divinely elevated to a
knowledge and perfection which exceeds the natural, but of himself can
and must reach finally the possession of all truth and goodness by
continual development: let him be anathema.
4. If anyone does not receive as sacred and canonical the complete
books of sacred scripture with all their parts, as the holy council of
Trent listed them, or denies that they were divinely inspired: let him
be anathema.
On Faith
1. If anyone says that human reason is so independent that faith
cannot be commanded by God: let him be anathema.
2. If anyone says that divine faith is not to be distinguished from
natural knowledge about God and moral matters, and consequently that
for divine faith it is not required that revealed truth should be
believed because of the authority of God who reveals it: let him be
anathema.
3. If anyone says that divine revelation cannot be made credible by
external signs, and that therefore men and women ought to be moved to
faith only by each one's internal experience or private inspiration:
let him be anathema.
4. If anyone says that all miracles are impossible, and that therefore
all reports of them, even those contained in sacred scripture, are to
be set aside as fables or myths; or that miracles can never be known
with certainty, nor can the divine origin of the Christian religion be
proved from them: let him be anathema.
5. If anyone says that the assent to Christian faith is not free, but
is necessarily produced by arguments of human reason; or that the
grace of God is necessary only for living faith which works by
charity: let him be anathema.
6. If anyone says that the condition of the faithful and those who
have not yet attained to the only true faith is alike, so that
Catholics may have a just cause for calling in doubt, by suspending
their assent, the faith which they have already received from the
teaching of the church, until they have completed a scientific
demonstration of the credibility and truth of their faith: let him be
anathema.
On Faith and Reason
1. If anyone says that in divine revelation there are contained no
true mysteries properly so-called, but that all the dogmas of the
faith can be understood and demonstrated by properly trained reason
from natural principles: let him be anathema.
2. If anyone says that human studies are to be treated with such a
degree of liberty that their assertions may be maintained as true even
when they are opposed to divine revelation, and that they may not be
forbidden by the church: let him be anathema.
3. If anyone says that it is possible that at some time, given the
advancement of knowledge, a sense may be assigned to the dogmas
propounded by the church which is different from that which the church
has understood and understands: let him be anathema.
And so in the performance of our supreme pastoral office, we beseech
for the love of Jesus Christ and we command, by the authority of him
who is also our God and savior, all faithful Christians, especially
those in authority or who have the duty of teaching, that they
contribute their zeal and labor to the warding off and elimination of
these errors from the church and to the spreading of the light of the
pure faith.
But since it is not enough to avoid the contamination of heresy unless
those errors are carefully shunned which approach it in greater or
less degree, we warn all of their duty to observe the constitutions
and decrees in which such wrong opinions, though not expressly
mentioned in this document, have been banned and forbidden by this
holy see.
First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ
Pius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the
sacred council, for an everlasting record.
1. The eternal shepherd and guardian of our souls, in order to render
permanent the saving work of redemption, determined to build a church
in which, as in the house of the living God, all the faithful should
be linked by the bond of one faith and charity.
2. Therefore, before he was glorified, he besought his Father, not for
the apostles only, but also for those who were to believe in him
through their word, that they all might be one as the Son himself and
the Father are one.
3. So then, just as he sent apostles, whom he chose out of the world,
even as he had been sent by the Father, in like manner it was his will
that in his church there should be shepherds and teachers until the
end of time.
4. In order, then, that the Episcopal office should be one and
undivided and that, by the union of the clergy, the whole multitude of
believers should be held together in the unity of faith and communion,
he set blessed Peter over the rest of the apostles and instituted in
him the permanent principle of both unities and their visible
foundation.
5. Upon the strength of this foundation was to be built the eternal
temple, and the church whose topmost part reaches heaven was to rise
upon the firmness of this foundation.
6. And since the gates of hell trying, if they can, to overthrow the
church, make their assault with a hatred that increases day by day
against its divinely laid foundation, we judge it necessary, with the
approbation of the sacred council, and for the protection, defense and
growth of the catholic flock, to propound the doctrine concerning the
1. institution, 2. permanence and
3. nature
of the sacred and apostolic primacy, upon which the strength and
coherence of the whole church depends.
7. This doctrine is to be believed and held by all the faithful in
accordance with the ancient and unchanging faith of the whole church.
8. Furthermore, we shall proscribe and condemn the contrary errors
which are so harmful to the Lord's flock.
Chapter 1: On the Institution of the Apostolic Primacy in Blessed Peter
1. We teach and declare that, according to the gospel evidence, a
primacy of jurisdiction over the whole church of God was immediately
and directly promised to the blessed apostle Peter and conferred on
him by Christ the lord.
2. It was to Simon alone, to whom he had already said You shall be
called Cephas, that the Lord, after his confession, You are the
Christ, the son of the living God, spoke these words: Blessed are you,
Simon Bar-Jona. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but
my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this
rock I will build my church, and the gates of the underworld shall not
prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
3. And it was to Peter alone that Jesus, after his resurrection,
confided the jurisdiction of supreme pastor and ruler of his whole
fold, saying: Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.
4. To this absolutely manifest teaching of the sacred scriptures, as
it has always been understood by the catholic church, are clearly
opposed the distorted opinions of those who misrepresent the form of
government which Christ the lord established in his church and deny
that Peter, in preference to the rest of the apostles, taken singly or
collectively, was endowed by Christ with a true and proper primacy of
jurisdiction.
5. The same may be said of those who assert that this primacy was not
conferred immediately and directly on blessed Peter himself, but
rather on the church, and that it was through the church that it was
transmitted to him in his capacity as her minister.
6. Therefore, if anyone says that blessed Peter the apostle was not
appointed by Christ the lord as prince of all the apostles and visible
head of the whole church militant; or that it was a primacy of honour
only and not one of true and proper jurisdiction that he directly and
immediately received from our lord Jesus Christ himself: let him be
anathema.
Chapter 2: On the Permanence of the Primacy of Blessed Peter in the
Roman Pontiffs
1. That which our lord Jesus Christ, the prince of shepherds and great
shepherd of the sheep, established in the blessed apostle Peter, for
the continual salvation and permanent benefit of the church, must of
necessity remain for ever, by Christ's authority, in the church which,
founded as it is upon a rock, will stand firm until the end of time.
2. For no one can be in doubt, indeed it was known in every age that
the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, the
pillar of faith and the foundation of the catholic church, received
the keys of the kingdom from our lord Jesus Christ, the saviour and
redeemer of the human race, and that to this day and for ever he lives
and presides and exercises judgment in his successors the bishops of
the holy Roman see, which he founded and consecrated with his blood.
3. Therefore whoever succeeds to the chair of Peter obtains by the
institution of Christ himself, the primacy of Peter over the whole
church. So what the truth has ordained stands firm, and blessed Peter
perseveres in the rock-like strength he was granted, and does not
abandon that guidance of the church which he once received.
4. For this reason it has always been necessary for every church--that
is to say the faithful throughout the world--to be in agreement with
the Roman church because of its more effective leadership. In
consequence of being joined, as members to head, with that see, from
which the rights of sacred communion flow to all, they will grow
together into the structure of a single body.
5. Therefore, if anyone says that it is not by the institution of
Christ the lord himself (that is to say, by divine law) that blessed
Peter should have perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole
church; or that the Roman pontiff is not the successor of blessed
Peter in this primacy: let him be anathema.
Chapter 3: On the Power and Character of the Primacy of the Roman
Pontiff
1. And so, supported by the clear witness of holy scripture, and
adhering to the manifest and explicit decrees both of our predecessors
the Roman pontiffs and of general councils, we promulgate anew the
definition of the ecumenical council of Florence, which must be
believed by all faithful Christians, namely that the apostolic see and
the Roman pontiff hold a world-wide primacy, and that the Roman
pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles,
true vicar of Christ, head of the whole church and father and teacher
of all Christian people. To him, in blessed Peter, full power has been
given by our lord Jesus Christ to tend, rule and govern the universal
church. All this is to be found in the acts of the ecumenical councils
and the sacred canons.
2. Wherefore we teach and declare that, by divine ordinance, the Roman
church possesses a pre-eminence of ordinary power over every other
church, and that this jurisdictional power of the Roman pontiff is
both Episcopal and immediate. Both clergy and faithful, of whatever
rite and dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to
this power by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true
obedience, and this not only in matters concerning faith and morals,
but also in those which regard the discipline and government of the
church throughout the world.
3. In this way, by unity with the Roman pontiff in communion and in
profession of the same faith, the church of Christ becomes one flock
under one supreme shepherd.
4. This is the teaching of the catholic truth, and no one can depart
from it without endangering his faith and salvation.
5. This power of the supreme pontiff by no means detracts from that
ordinary and immediate power of Episcopal jurisdiction, by which
bishops, who have succeeded to the place of the apostles by
appointment of the holy Spirit, tend and govern individually the
particular flocks which have been assigned to them. On the contrary,
this power of theirs is asserted, supported and defended by the
supreme and universal pastor; for St Gregory the Great says: "My
honour is the honour of the whole church. My honour is the steadfast
strength of my brethren. Then do I receive true honour, when it is
denied to none of those to whom honour is due."
6. Furthermore, it follows from that supreme power which the Roman
pontiff has in governing the whole church, that he has the right, in
the performance of this office of his, to communicate freely with the
pastors and flocks of the entire church, so that they may be taught
and guided by him in the way of salvation.
7. And therefore we condemn and reject the opinions of those who hold
that this communication of the supreme head with pastors and flocks
may be lawfully obstructed; or that it should be dependent on the
civil power, which leads them to maintain that what is determined by
the apostolic see or by its authority concerning the government of the
church, has no force or effect unless it is confirmed by the agreement
of the civil authority.
8. Since the Roman pontiff, by the divine right of the apostolic
primacy, governs the whole church, we likewise teach and declare that
he is the supreme judge of the faithful, and that in all cases which
fall under ecclesiastical jurisdiction recourse may be had to his
judgment. The sentence of the apostolic see (than which there is no
higher authority) is not subject to revision by anyone, nor may anyone
lawfully pass judgment thereupon. And so they stray from the genuine
path of truth who maintain that it is lawful to appeal from the
judgments of the Roman pontiffs to an ecumenical council as if this
were an authority superior to the Roman pontiff.
9. So, then, if anyone says that the Roman pontiff has merely an
office of supervision and guidance, and not the full and supreme power
of jurisdiction over the whole church, and this not only in matters of
faith and morals, but also in those which concern the discipline and
government of the church dispersed throughout the whole world; or that
he has only the principal part, but not the absolute fullness, of this
supreme power; or that this power of his is not ordinary and immediate
both over all and each of the churches and over all and each of the
pastors and faithful: let him be anathema.
Chapter 4: On the Infallible Teaching Authority of the Roman Pontiff
1. That apostolic primacy which the Roman pontiff possesses as
successor of Peter, the prince of the apostles, includes also the
supreme power of teaching. This holy see has always maintained this,
the constant custom of the church demonstrates it, and the ecumenical
councils, particularly those in which East and West met in the union
of faith and charity, have declared it.
2. So the fathers of the fourth council of Constantinople, following
the footsteps of their predecessors, published this solemn profession
of faith: The first condition of salvation is to maintain the rule of
the true faith. And since that saying of our lord Jesus Christ, You
are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, cannot fail of
its effect, the words spoken are confirmed by their consequences. For
in the apostolic see the catholic religion has always been preserved
unblemished, and sacred doctrine been held in honour. Since it is our
earnest desire to be in no way separated from this faith and doctrine,
we hope that we may deserve to remain in that one communion which the
apostolic see preaches, for in it is the whole and true strength of
the Christian religion.
What is more, with the approval of the second council of Lyons, the
Greeks made the following profession: "The holy Roman church possesses
the supreme and full primacy and principality over the whole catholic
church. She truly and humbly acknowledges that she received this from
the Lord himself in blessed Peter, the prince and chief of the
apostles, whose successor the Roman pontiff is, together with the
fullness of power. And since before all others she has the duty of
defending the truth of the faith, so if any questions arise concerning
the faith, it is by her judgment that they must be settled."
Then there is the definition of the council of Florence: "The Roman
pontiff is the true vicar of Christ, the head of the whole church and
the father and teacher of all Christians; and to him was committed in
blessed Peter, by our lord Jesus Christ, the full power of tending,
ruling and governing the whole church."
3. To satisfy this pastoral office, our predecessors strove
unwearyingly that the saving teaching of Christ should be spread among
all the peoples of the world; and with equal care they made sure that
it should be kept pure and uncontaminated wherever it was received.
4. It was for this reason that the bishops of the whole world,
sometimes individually, sometimes gathered in synods, according to the
long established custom of the churches and the pattern of ancient
usage referred to this apostolic see those dangers especially which
arose in matters concerning the faith. This was to ensure that any
damage suffered by the faith should be repaired in that place above
all where the faith can know no failing.
5. The Roman pontiffs, too, as the circumstances of the time or the
state of affairs suggested, sometimes by summoning ecumenical councils
or consulting the opinion of the churches scattered throughout the
world, sometimes by special synods, sometimes by taking advantage of
other useful means afforded by divine providence, defined as doctrines
to be held those things which, by God's help, they knew to be in
keeping with sacred scripture and the apostolic traditions.
6. For the holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so
that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine, but
that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully
expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the
apostles. Indeed, their apostolic teaching was embraced by all the
venerable fathers and reverenced and followed by all the holy orthodox
doctors, for they knew very well that this see of St Peter always
remains unblemished by any error, in accordance with the divine
promise of our Lord and Saviour to the prince of his disciples: I have
prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned
again, strengthen your brethren.
7. This gift of truth and never-failing faith was therefore divinely
conferred on Peter and his successors in this see so that they might
discharge their exalted office for the salvation of all, and so that
the whole flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the
poisonous food of error and be nourished with the sustenance of
heavenly doctrine. Thus the tendency to schism is removed and the
whole church is preserved in unity, and, resting on its foundation,
can stand firm against the gates of hell.
8. But since in this very age when the salutary effectiveness of the
apostolic office is most especially needed, not a few are to be found
who disparage its authority, we judge it absolutely necessary to
affirm solemnly the prerogative which the only-begotten Son of God was
pleased to attach to the supreme pastoral office.
9. Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the
beginning of the Christian faith, to the glory of God our saviour, for
the exaltation of the catholic religion and for the salvation of the
Christian people, with the approval of the sacred council, we teach
and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman pontiff
speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is, when, 1. in the exercise of his office as
shepherd and teacher of all Christians, 2. in virtue of his supreme
apostolic authority, 3. he defines a doctrine concerning faith or
morals to be held by the whole church, he possesses, by the divine
assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which
the divine Redeemer willed his church to enjoy in defining doctrine
concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman
pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church,
irreformable. So then, should anyone, which God forbid, have the
temerity to reject this definition of ours: let him be anathema.