In what Sense thePope above otherBishops.
From these Pieces, which are still extant, it is manifest beyond all Dispute, as the Reader must have observed, that, in the Year 378. when this Council was held, no Prerogative was yet discovered in the Pope, peculiar to him, and not common to all Bishops, besides that of Rank, which arose from the Dignity of his See, that is, from his being Bishop of the Metropolis of the Empire; for, in that respect alone, the Bishops, who composed the Council, acknowleged himto be above them; nay, by declaring themselves, in express Terms,equal to him as to the Ministry, they seem to have taken particular Care, that no Room or Pretence should be left for his claiming a Superiority in any other respect. And how great would their Surprize have been, hadDamasus, in hearing that Part of their Address to the Emperor, started up, and, protesting against it, as derogatory to his Prerogative, declared, that,to him all Power was given in Heaven and on Earth; that,so far from being equal to him, they, and all other Bishops, were but his Deputies and Delegates; thatthe Power, Authority, and Jurisdiction, which they enjoyed, were derived to them from the Plenitude of his! Had he talked in this Strain, the whole Council would have concluded him delirious. And yet these are the Sentiments of his Successors; these the very Words, withwhich they and their Divines have expressed them[1126]; so that it is now reckoned Heresy not to believe what in the Fourth Century it had been deemed Madness to have gravely uttered.|The Power he nowclaims unknown in theTime ofDamasus.|It would perhaps have seemed still more strange and surprising to the Fathers of the Council, however prejudiced in his Favour, ifDamasus, instead of gratefully acknowleging their Regard for him in petitioning the Emperor, that he might not be judged by the Civil Magistrate, but either by a Council, or the Emperor himself, had severely rebuked them as Strangers to, or Betrayers of, his inherent Right, acquainting them, that, in virtue thereof,all Men were to be judged by him, but himself by no Man[1127]; thatthe greatest Monarchs were his Slaves and Vassals, and he King of Kings, Monarch of the World, sole Lord and Governor both in Spirituals and Temporals[1128]; thathe was appointed Prince over all Nations and Kingdoms[1129]; thathis Power excelled all Powers[1130]; thatit was necessary to Salvation for every human Creature to be subject to him[1131]. And yet these are the Notions, that have been uttered by his Successors, and the very Terms in which they were uttered. In the Age I am now writing of, they had been looked upon no otherwise than the Ravings of a distempered Brain; but they are now held by the Church ofRome, and her Divines, as Oracles, and inserted as such into her Canons.Bellarmineowns, that, in the Fourth Century, the Pope was still subject to the Emperors, nay, and to the Civil Magistrate, without the least Distinction between him and other Vassals.But this Subjection, says he, in his Apology against KingJames[1132],the Emperors exacted by Force, because the Power of the Pope was not known to them. Nor to any body else, he might have added, since the Writers of those Times seem to have been no better acquainted with the Power of the Pope than the Emperors; at least, they take no Notice of it, even in describing, as some of them have done, the State of the Church at the time they writ, and relating the Customs, Laws, and Practices, that then obtained. Besides, how could the Power of the Pope be unknown to the Christian Emperors, if it was one of the chief Tenets of the Christian Doctrine? NeitherDamasus, nor any of his Predecessors, can be justly charged with Bashfulness, in acquainting theWorld with the Power they had or claimed. We may further observe here, that the Emperor requires the Bishop ofRome, in judging according to the Power granted him, to act with the Advice of Five or Seven other Bishops: a plain Proof, that he was as little acquainted with the Pope’s Infallibility, as with his Power.
A new Accusationbrought againstDamasus.
The Council of theItalianBishops, assembled atRome, no sooner broke up, than the Emissaries and Partisans ofUrsinusbegan to raise new Disturbances in that City, by stirring up the Pagans againstDamasus, and, at the same time, charging himwith things, to use the Expression of the Council ofAquileia,not fit to be uttered by a Bishop, nor heard by such an Emperor asGratian[1133].Anastasiuswrites, that he was accused of Adultery by the Two DeaconsConcordusandCallistus[1134]. And truly, that some Crime of that Nature was laid to his Charge, is pretty plain, from the Terms in which it was expressed by the Council.Valerian, then Governor ofRome, immediately acquainted the Emperor with the Accusation[1135]; but what PartGratianacted on this Occasion, we are not told by any antient Writer. We read in the Pontificals, and most of the modern Writers, that the Cause was referred by the Emperor to the Council then sitting atAquileia; and thatDamasuswas declared innocent by all the Bishops who composed it.|The Council ofAquileiawrites to theEmperor in hisBehalf.|But, as neither is related by any credible Author, I am inclined to believe, thatGratiantook no Notice of the Charge, in Compliance with the Request of the Bishops assembled atAquileia; for, by a Letter, they earnestly intreated him not to hearken toUrsinus, because his giving ear to him would occasion endless Disturbances inRome; and, besides, they could by no means communicate with a Man who thus wickedly aspired to a Dignity, to which he had no Claim or Title; who, by his scandalous Behaviour, had incurred the Hatred of all good Christians; who had impiously joined theArians, and, together with them, attempted to disturb the Quiet of the Catholic Church ofMilan[1136].
A great Council as-sembled atCon-stantinople,by theEmperorTheodosius.
Towards the Latter end of the Pontificate ofDamasus, Two great Councils were held, the one atConstantinoplein 381. and the other atRomein 382. The former was assembled by the EmperorTheodosius, who, after having put the Orthodox in Possession of the Churches, which till his Time had been held by theAriansin the East, where he reigned, summoned all the Bishops within his Dominionsto meet atConstantinople, in order to deliberate about the most proper Means of restoring an intire Tranquillity to the Church, rent and disturbed not only by several Sects of Heretics, but by the Divisions that reigned among the Orthodox themselves, by that especially ofAntioch, the most antient of all, which, from that Church, had spread all over the Empire, and occasioned rather an intire Separation, than a Misunderstanding between the East and the West, the former communicating withMeletius, and the latter withPaulinus, as I have related above. In this Council many weighty Matters were transacted, and several Canons established, some of which, namely, the Second and Third, deserve to be taken Notice of here. For, by the Second,the Council renewed and confirmed the antient Law of the Church, authorized by the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Canons of the Council ofNice, commanding the Bishops of each Province to be ordained by those of the same Province, and such of the neighbouring Provinces, as they should think fit to call in; directing all Ecclesiastical Matters to be settled, all Disputes to be finally decided by a Council composed of the Bishops of the Province, or at least of the Diocese, that is, of all the Provinces under the same Vicar; and strictly forbidding the Bishops of one Diocese to concern themselves, under any Colour or Pretence whatsoever, with what happens in another[1137].|which revokes thePrivilege granted tothe See ofRomeby the Council ofSardica.|By this Canon the Privilege, formerly granted to the See ofRomeby the Council ofSardica, was revoked, and all Appeals from the Council of the Diocese forbidden. By the Third Canon the See ofConstantinopleConstantinopleis declared first in Rank and Dignity after that ofRome[1138]. SomeGreekWriters have pretended, that, by this Canon, the Two Sees were declared in every respect equal; but thatZonarashimself owns to be false and groundless[1139]. It is to be observed, that the Council ofConstantinoplegave Rank and Honour to that See, but no Jurisdiction. It was to the Council ofChalcedonthat the Bishops ofConstantinopleowed their Authority and Jurisdiction; for by that Council they were impowered to ordain the Metropolitans of the Dioceses ofPontus,Asia, andThrace[1140]. The Reasons alleged byBaroniusto prove the Third Canon of the Council ofConstantinoplesupposititious[1141], are quite frivolous; and it is certain beyond all Dispute, that the Bishops of that City maintained ever after the Rank,which the above-mentioned Canon had given them. In a short time the Bishop ofConstantinople, taking Advantage of that Canon, and of the Deference that is naturally paid to the Bishop of the Imperial City, extended his Jurisdiction over all the neighbouring Provinces, nay, and over the whole Eastern Empire, as we shall observe in the Sequel of this History.
The Council writes tothe Western Bishops.
The Canons of this Council were, without all doubt, sent, according to Custom, to the Western Bishops for their Approbation, probably with the Letter which the Council writ to them concerning the Heresy ofApollinaris[1142]. And yet PopeLeothe Great writes, that the Third Canon was never notified to the Church ofRome[1143]; andGregorythe Great, that the Canon condemning theEudoxians, which was the first, had never been received atRome[1144]: butGregoryperhaps meant nothing else, than that the Canon he mentions was of no Authority atRome. As forLeo, it is hard to conceive what he meant by saying, that the Third Canon was not known to the Church ofRome; for he could not but know, that the Bishop ofConstantinopleheld the Second Rank in the Church, and the First in the East, since his own Legates, whose Conduct he intirely approved of, owned him to have an indisputable Right to that Rank; nay,EusebiusBishop ofDorylæuminPhrygiamaintained, that it was with the Consent and Approbation ofLeohimself that the See ofConstantinopleenjoyed that Honour.
The Authority of thisCouncil among theGreeks,
The Authority of this Council has ever been great among theGreeks, who style it an Oecumenical Council, and had often recourse to it as such in the Council ofChalcedon[1145]. The Bishops of theHellespontspeak of it with the greatest Respect and Reverence, in a Letter they writ to the EmperorLeo[1146].|and theLatins.|As for theLatins, I find a great Disagreement among the Popes themselves concerning the Authority of this Council; nay, the greatest of them all disagrees even with himself about it. The Legates of PopeLeorejected its Canons, alleging that they had never been inserted in the Book of the Canons[1147]. In like manner the PopesSimpliciusandFelixII. speaking of the Councils which they received, name those only ofNice,Ephesus, andChalcedon[1148].Gregory the Greatwrites, that the Church ofRomehad neither the Acts nor the Canons of the Council ofConstantinople;that the Condemnation of theMacedonianswas the only thing done by that Council which they admitted; and that as to other Heresies condemned there, they rejected them, as having been condemned before by other Councils[1149]. But he declares elsewhere, and often repeats it, that he received the Four Oecumenical Councils, as he did the Four Gospels[1150], naming the Council ofConstantinoplein the Second Place.|The Popes at Var-iance among and withthemselves about it.|In the same Manner, and with the same Words, were the Four Oecumenical Councils received byGelasius, and several Popes before him, as well as byMartinI. and several others after him: so that the Council ofConstantinopleis, according to some Popes, of equal Authority with the Gospel; according to others, of no Authority at all: nay, it is thus by the same Pope at one time extolled, at another undervalued. LetBaroniusandBellarminereconcile these Contradictions, if they can.
This Council wasassembled by theEmperor, and not byDamasus.
That this Council was assembled by the EmperorTheodosius, is affirmed by all the Writers who speak of it[1151], nay, and by the Bishops who composed it[1152]. And yetBaroniushas the Assurance to assert,as a Thing not to be questioned, that it was convened byDamasus[1153], which none of the Antients have so much as once named: and this Assertion he founds upon the Authority of the universally exploded Acts ofDamasus; of certain Manuscripts, which he knows very little of, and nobody else any thing; and of a Passage in the Acts of the Sixth Oecumenical Council, where it is said, thatTheodosiusandDamasusopposed with great Firmness theMacedonianHeresy; whence the Annalist concludes, by what Rules of Logic I leave the Reader to find out, that the Council, which condemned the Heresy ofMacedonius, was convened by the Authority ofDamasus, backed by that of the Emperor[1154].Christianus Lupus, more honest thanBaronius, tho’ no less attached to the See ofRome, ingenuously owns, that the Council was assembled by the Emperor alone; but adds, thatDamasusconfirmed it[1155]; which is true, if he means no more than thatDamasusaccepted the Decrees made by the Council; for it was not his, but the Emperor’s Approbation, that gave them a Sanction; and accordingly they writ, not to him, but to the Emperor, acquainting him;by whose Command they had been called together, with the Decrees they had made, and requesting him to confirm themwith his Sealand Sentence[1156]. This Council consisted of an Hundred and Fifty Bishops, among whom were Thirty-sixMacedonians, whomTheodosiushad particularly summoned, hoping to reunite them with the Catholics[1157]. No mention is made of Letters or Deputies sent either byDamasus, or by any of the Western Bishops; andTheodoretassures us in Two different Places[1158], thatTheodosiusonly assembled the Eastern Bishops.MeletiusofAntiochpresided; forGregoryofNyssastyled him in full Council,our Father and Head[1159]. Upon his Death (for he died while the Council was sitting) that Honour was conferred onGregory Nazianzen, appointed by the Emperor and the Council Bishop ofConstantinople[1160]; but he resigning, soon after, his new Dignity, his SuccessorNectariuswas named to preside in his room[1161].
One of the chief Motives that inducedTheodosiusto assemble so numerous a Council atConstantinople, was, to hear what Remedy they could suggest against the Schism of the Church ofAntioch, which caused such Jealousies between the East and the West as seemed to forebode an imminent Rupture[1162]. But before the Fathers of the Council entered upon that important Subject,Meletiusdied; and his Death, which ought to have put an End to the present Disturbances, served only to increase them, and engage the contending Parties more warmly in the Dispute. It had been agreed byMeletiusandPaulinus, that the Survivor should be sole Bishop of all the Orthodox atAntioch[1163].SocratesandSozomenadd[1164], that Six Presbyters, who it was most likely might be one Day raised to that See, bound themselves by a solemn Oath not to vote for any other, nor to accept themselves the Episcopal Dignity, so long as either of the Two lived.|The Disturbances inthe Church ofAntiochincreased.|However,Meletiuswas no sooner dead, than some of the Prelates present at the Council moved for chusing him a Successor, which occasioned many long and warm Debates.Gregory Nazianzen, elected Bishop ofConstantinoplea few Days before, exerted all his Eloquence to divert the Council from a Resolution, which, he said, would prove fatal to the Church, and kindle a Flame, which perhaps it might never be in their Power to extinguish[1165]. Several other Prelates, Enemies to Strife and Contention, falling in withGregory, spoke to the same Purpose, exhorting their Collegues, with great Zeal and Eloquence, to put anEnd at last to the unhappy Divisions that had so long rent the Church, by allowingPaulinus, already stricken in Years, to govern peaceably the remaining Part of his Life[1166]. But the far greater Part were for a new Election, offering no other Reason to recommend such a Step, but that the East, where our Saviour had appeared, ought not to yield to the West[1167]. So that the Resolution of giving a Successor toMeletiuswas taken merely out of Pique to the Western Bishops, who, having the Bishop ofRomeat their Head, had begun to treat their Brethren in the East with great Haughtiness, and assume an Air of Authority that did not become them; but that had been better resented on any other Occasion than on this.
FlavianusordainedBishop ofAntioch.
The Resolution being taken,Flavianus, a Presbyter of the Church ofAntioch, was named by the Council, and, with the Approbation of the Emperor, and of all theMeletiansatAntioch, ordained in that City. He is commended by the Writers who lived in or near those Times, as a Man of an exemplary Life, and extraordinary Piety, as a zealous Defender of the Orthodox Faith, and Opposer of theArianHeresy, as a Mirror of every Sacerdotal Virtue; and, barring the Right ofPaulinus, the most worthy and deserving Person the Council could name to succeed the greatMeletius[1168]. These, and other like Encomiums, bestowed uponFlavianusby the Writers of those Times, leave no room to doubt butSocratesandSozomenwere misinformed in naming him among the Six Presbyters who took the Oath I have mentioned above; the rather as no notice is taken of such an Oath by his most inveterate Enemies, in the many Disputes that arose about his Ordination.|Greg. Nazianzenresigns the BishoprickofConstantinople.|Gregory Nazianzen, who had been lately preferred to the See ofConstantinople, and had accepted that Dignity with no other View, but to remove all Jealousies, and restore a good Understanding between the East and the West, being sensible that the electing of a new Bishop in the room ofMeletiuswould widen the Breach, and obstruct all possible Means of an Accommodation, resigned his Dignity, and, to the inexpressible Grief of his Flock, retired both from the Council and City[1169]. In one of his Orations[1170], he ascribes this Resolution to the Divisions that reigned among the Bishops, declaring that he was quite tired with their constant quarreling and bickering among themselves, and comparing them to Children at Play; whom to join in their childish Diversions, would be degrading a seriousCharacter.|Nectariusis chosen inhis room.|Upon the Resignation ofGregory, Nectariuswas chosen to succeed him; but, as to the Particulars of his Election, they are variously related by Authors, and foreign to my Purpose. He was a Native ofTarsusinCilicia, descended of an illustrious and senatorial Family, but at the Time of his Election still a Layman, and Prætor ofConstantinople; nay, he had not been baptized[1171].
The Council ofAquileiawrites toTheodosiusin favourofPaulinus.
The same Year that the Eastern Bishops met atConstantinople, by the Command ofTheodosius, the Western Bishops met atAquileia, by the Command ofGratian. While the latter were yet sitting, News was brought of the Death ofMeletius, and at the same time they received certain Intelligence of the Resolution which the Council ofConstantinoplehad taken of appointing him a Successor. Hereupon having dispatched the Business for which they had met, and condemnedPalladiusandSecundianus, the only TwoArianBishops now in the West, they dispatched some Presbyters into the East, with a Letter to the EmperorTheodosius, wherein, after expressing the Joy it had given them to hear that the Orthodox in those Parts were at last happily delivered from the Oppression of theArians, they complained of the HardshipsPaulinushad met with, whom they had always acknowleged as lawful Bishop ofAntioch, put the Emperor in mind of the Agreement betweenPaulinusandMeletius, and concluded with intreating him to assemble an Oecumenical Council atAlexandria, as the only Means of restoring Tranquillity to the Church, and settling a perfect Harmony amongst her Members[1172]. Before this Letter reached the Emperor, the Council ofConstantinoplewas concluded, and the Bishops returned to their respective Sees. However,Theodosiusrecalled some of them, in order to govern himself by their Advice in granting or denying the Western Bishops their Request[1173].|And the Bishops ofItalyin favour ofMaximus.|But the Election ofFlavianusbeing in the mean time known in the West, the Bishops of the Vicariate ofItaly, them assembled in Council withAmbroseBishop ofMilanat their Head, writ a long Letter toTheodosiuscomplaining of that Election, openly espousing at the same time the Cause ofMaximusagainstNectarius, the new Bishop ofConstantinople, and threatening to separate themselves intirely from the Communion of the Eastern Bishops, unlessMaximuswas acknowleged lawful Bishop of that City, or at least an Oecumenical Councilwas assembled to examine the Claims of the Two Competitors, and to confirm with their joint Suffrages the disputed Dignity to him, who had the best[1174]. They also desired, in the same Letter, to have the Contest betweenPaulinusandFlavianusdecided.
WhoMaximuswas,and how chosen Bis-hop ofConstantinople.
Maximus, surnamed theCynic, because he had from his Youth professed the Philosophy, and wore the Habit, of that Sect, was a Man of a most infamous Character, and had been publicly whipt inEgypt, his native Country, and confined to the City ofOasis, for Crimes not to be mentioned[1175]. Being released from his Banishment, he wandered all over the East, and was every where equally abhorred and detested on account of his matchless Impudence and scandalous Manners[1176]. At last he repaired toConstantinople, where he had not been long, when, by one of the boldest Attempts mentioned in History, he caused himself to be installed and ordained Bishop of that City: for the Doors of the Church being broken open in the Dead of the Night, by a Band ofEgyptianMariners, he was placed on the Episcopal Chair in the profane Dress of aCynic, by some Bishops whom his Friends had sent out ofEgyptfor that Purpose. But the People, and some of the Clergy, in the adjoining Houses, being alarmed at the Noise, and crouding to see what occasioned it,Maximusand his unhallowed Crew thought fit to withdraw, and complete the Ceremony in a Place better adapted to such a Scene of Profaneness, the House of a Player on the Flute[1177].Maximus, thus ordained, in equal Defiance of the Imperial Laws and Canons of the Church, had the Assurance to claim the See ofConstantinopleas his Right, and to protest against the Election ofGregory Nazianzen, and likewise ofNectarius, who was chosen upon the Resignation ofGregory, tho’ they had both been named to that Dignity by the Council ofConstantinople, that is, by all the Eastern Bishops. But no Regard being had to his Protest, nay, his Ordination being declared null by the Council, and he driven out of the City by the Populace, and rejected with Indignation by the Emperor, he had recourse to the Bishops of the Vicariate ofItaly, then assembled in Council withAmbroseBishop ofMilanat their Head, as I have observed above.|He is acknowleged byAmbrose,and theItalianBishops.|These giving an intire Credit to the Accounts of the lying and deceitfulCynic, as they were quite unacquainted with what had passed in the East, not onlyadmitted him to their Communion, but, without farther Inquiry or Examination, acknowleged him for lawful Bishop ofConstantinople, and writ the above-mentioned Letter toTheodosiusin his Behalf[1178]. We must not confound this Council with that ofAquileia, as I find most Writers have done: for the latter was composed of almost all the Western Bishops underValerianBishop of the Place; whereas the Council I am now speaking of, consisted only of the Bishops of the Vicariate ofItaly, under the Bishop ofMilantheir Metropolitan. It is surprising thatAmbrose, and the other Bishops of that Council, should not have been better informed with respect to the Ordination ofMaximus, sinceAcholiusBishop ofThessalonica, with Five other Bishops ofMacedon, had, at least a Year before, transmitted toDamasusa minute Account of it, agreeing in every Particular with that which I have given above fromGregory Nazianzen[1179].|The Emperor’s Ans-wer to their Letter.|The Letter from the Council caused no small Surprize inTheodosius: he was sensible they had suffered themselves to be grosly imposed upon; but, not judging it necessary to undeceive them, he only told them, in his Answer to their Letter, that the Reasons they alleged did not seem sufficient to him for assembling an Oecumenical Council, and giving so much Trouble to the Prelates of the Church; that they were not to concern themselves with what happened in the East, nor remove the Bounds, that had been wisely placed by their Fore-fathers between the East and the West; and that, as to the Affair ofMaximus, by espousing his Cause they had betrayed either an unwarrantable Animosity against the Orientals, or an inexcusable Credulity in giving Credit to false and groundless Reports[1180].
A Council of all theWestern Bishopsassembled atRome.
Upon the Receipt of this Letter, theItalianBishops, findingTheodosiusno ways disposed to assemble an Oecumenical Council, applied toGratian, who not only granted them Leave to meet atRome, the Place they chose, but dispatched Letters to all the Bishops both in the East and West, giving them Notice of the Time and Place, in which the Council was to be held, and inviting them to it[1181]. But of all the Eastern Bishops, Two only complied with this Invitation;viz.EpiphaniusBishop ofSalamisin the Island ofCyprus, andPaulinus, whom all the West acknowleged for lawful Bishop ofAntioch. The Western Bishops were all present, either in Person, or by theirDeputies; andDamasuspresided[1182]. But, as to the Transactions of this great Assembly, we are almost intirely in the Dark; for all we know of them is, that they unanimously agreed not to communicate withFlavianus, the new Bishop ofAntioch, nor withDiodorusofTarsus, orAcaciusofBerœa, who had been chiefly instrumental in his Promotion; that they condemned the Heresy ofApollinaris; and that, at the Request ofDamasus, a Confession of Faith was drawn up byJerom, and approved by the Council, which theApollinaristswere to sign, upon their being re-admitted to the Communion of the Church[1183]. As forMaximus, they seem to have abandoned his Cause, being, in all Likelihood, undeceived, with respect to his Ordination, byAcholiusBishop ofThessalonica, and St.Jerom, who assisted at the Council, and could not be Strangers to the Character ofMaximus, nor unacquainted with the scandalous Methods by which he had attained the Episcopal Dignity.
The Misunderstanding between the East and the West increased.
The Resolution they took not to communicate withFlavianus, whose Election, though imprudently made, was undoubtedly Canonical, and had been approved and confirmed by the Oecumenical Council ofConstantinople, not only increased the Jealousies and Misunderstanding between the East and the West, but occasioned a great Disagreement, and endless Quarrels, among the Eastern Bishops themselves. For those who acknowlegedPaulinus,viz.the Bishops ofEgypt, of the Island ofCyprus, ofArabia, insisted upon the Deposition ofFlavianus[1184].Nestoriusmentions some Letters, written by the Bishops ofEgyptagainstFlavianus, with great Virulency, and atyrannical Spirit, to use his Expression[1185]. On the other hand, the Bishops ofSyria, ofPalæstine, ofPhœnicia,Armenia,Cappadocia,Galatia,Pontus,Asia, andThrace, not only maintained, with equal Warmth, the Election ofFlavianus, but began to treat their Brethren in the East, who had joined the Western Bishops against them, as Schismatics, as Betrayers of their Trust, as Transgressors of the Canons ofNice, commanding the Elections and Ordinations of each Province to be made and performed by the Bishops of the same Province, and all Disputes concerning them to be finally decided in the Place where they had begun[1186]. This Schism occasioned greatConfusion in the Church, which continued till the Year 398, whenChrysostom, after having, with indefatigable Pains, long laboured in vain to bring about an Accommodation between the East and the West, had at last, soon after his Promotion to the See ofConstantinople, the Satisfaction of seeing his pious Endeavours crowned with Success, as I shall relate in a more proper Place.
No Regard paid by the Eastern Bishops to the Judgment of the Pope.
From this whole Account it is manifest, as the Reader must have observed, that the Orientals paid no manner of Regard either to the Judgment of the Bishop ofRome, or to that of the whole Body of the Western Bishops, assembled in Council under him. For though they well knew the Bishop ofRome, and his Collegues in the West, to be warmly engaged in favour ofPaulinus, yet they refused to acknowlege him, even after the Death ofMeletius; and therefore raisedFlavianusto the See ofAntioch, in the room ofMeletius, and confirmed that Election in an Oecumenical Council. The Western Bishops exclaimed against it, desiring it might be referred to the Decision of a General Council. But not even to that Demand would the Orientals agree, thinking, as they declared in their Answer, that there was no Occasion for a Council, sinceFlavianushad been chosen and ordained by the Bishops of the Diocese, which was all the Canons ofNicerequired. They therefore exhorted them to divest themselves of all Prejudices, to sacrifice all private Affections to the Peace and Unity of the Church, and to put an End to the present, and prevent all future, Disputes, by approving, with their joint Suffrages, an Election which had been approved and confirmed by an Oecumenical Council[1187].
The Custom of ap-pointing Vicars intro-duced byDamasus,and on what Oc-casion.
To return toDamasus: He was the first who introduced the Custom, which his Successors took care to improve, of conferring on certain Bishops the Title of their Vicars, pretending thereby to impart to them an extraordinary Power, enabling them to perform several Things, which they could not perform in virtue of their own.AcholiusBishop ofThessalonicawas the first who enjoyed this Title, being, byDamasus, appointed his Vicar inEast Illyricum, on the following Occasion:Illyricum, comprising all antientGreece, and many Provinces on theDanube, whereofSirmiumwas the Capital, had, ever since the Time ofConstantine, belonged to the Western Empire. But, in the Year 379.DaciaandGreecewere, byGratian,disjoined from the more Westerly Provinces, and added, in favour ofTheodosius, to the Eastern Empire, being known by the Name ofEast Illyricum, whereofThessalonica, the Metropolis ofMacedon, was the chief City. The Bishops ofRome, as presiding in the Metropolis of the Empire, had begun to claim a kind of Jurisdiction, or rather Inspection in Ecclesiastical Matters, over all the Provinces of the Western Empire; which was the first great Step by which they ascended to the Supremacy they afterwards claimed and established. ThisDamasuswas unwilling to resign with respect toIllyricum, even after that Country was dismembered from the Western, and added to the Eastern Empire. In order therefore to maintain his Claim, he appointedAcholiusBishop ofThessalonicato act in his stead, vesting in him the Power which he pretended to have over those Provinces. Upon the Death ofAcholiushe conferred the same Dignity on his SuccessorAnysius, as did the following Popes on the succeeding Bishops ofThessalonica, who, by thus supporting the Pretensions ofRome, became the first Bishops, and, in a manner, the Patriarchs, ofEast Illyricum; for they are sometimes distinguished with that Title. This, however, was not done without Opposition, the other Metropolitans not readily acknowleging for their Superior one who, till that time, had been their Equal[1188].Syricius, who succeededDamasus, inlarging the Power claimed by his Predecessor, decreed, that no Bishop should be ordained inEast Illyricumwithout the Consent and Approbation of the Bishop ofThessalonica[1189]. But it was some time before this Decree took place. PopeInnocentI. writes, that his Predecessors committed to the Care ofAcholius,Achaia,Thessaly, the TwoEpirus’s,Candia, the TwoDacia’s,Mœsia,Dardania, andPrævalitana, now Part ofAlbania, impowering him to judge and decide the Controversies that might arise there, and appointing him to bethe first among the Primates, without prejudicing the Primacy of those Churches[1190]. Thus were the Bishops ofThessalonicafirst appointed Vicars or Vicegerents of the Bishops ofRome, probably in the Year 382. for in that YearAcholiusassisted at the Council ofRome, and it was, in all Likelihood, on that Occasion thatDamasusvested him with this new Dignity.|The Institution of Vicars improved by the succeeding Popes.|The Contrivance ofDamasuswas notably improved by his Successors, who, in order to extend and inlarge their Authority, conferred the Title of their Vicars, and thepretended Power annexed to it, on the most eminent Prelates of other Provinces and Kingdoms, engaging them thereby to depend upon them, and to promote the Authority of their See, to the utter Suppression of the antient Rights and Liberties both of Bishops and Synods. This Dignity was for the most part annexed to certain Sees, but sometimes conferred on particular Persons. Thus wasAustinappointed the Pope’s Vicar inEngland,BonifaceinGermany; and both, in virtue of the Power which they pretended to have been imparted to them with that Title, usurped and exercised an Authority above that of Metropolitans. The Institution of Vicars was, by the succeeding Popes, improved into that of Legates, or, to useDe Marca’s Expression, the latter Institution was grafted on the former[1191].|Legates vested withgreater Power thanVicars.|The Legates were vested with a far greater Power than the Vicars, or, as PopeLeoexpresses it,were admitted to a far greater Share of his Care, though not to the Plenitude of his Power[1192]. They were sent on proper Occasions into all Countries, and never failed exerting, to the utmost Stretch, their boasted Power, oppressing, in virtue of their paramount Authority, the Clergy as well as the People, and extorting from both large Sums, to support the Pomp and Luxury in which they lived.
The Custom of appointing Vicars and Legates may well be alleged as a remarkable Instance of the Craft and Policy of the Popes, since, of all the Methods they ever devised (and many they have devised) to extend and establish their Power, none has better answered their ambitious Views. But howBellarminecould lay so much Stress upon it as he does[1193], to prove, that the Pope has, byDivine Right, a sovereign Authority and Jurisdiction over all the Churches of the Earth, is unconceivable.|The sending Legatesno Proof of the Pope’suniversal Jurisdiction.|For it is certain, beyond all Dispute, that such a Custom had never been heard of till the Time ofDamasus, that is, till the Latter-end of the Fourth Century, when it was first introduced, upon the dismembering ofEast Illyricum, byGratian, from the Western Empire.Damasusdid not even then claim that sovereign and unlimited Power, with whichBellarmineis pleased to vest him, but only a kind of Inspection over the Provinces of the Western Empire, as Bishop of the first See.|The Disingenuity ofBellarmine.|And here I cannot help observing the Disingenuity ofBellarmine, who, in speaking of this Institution,expresses himself thus: LeoappointedAnastiasiusBishop ofThessalonicahis Vicar in the East, in the same manner as the Predecessors ofAnastasiushad been Vicars to the Predecessors ofLeo[1194]. From these Words every Reader would naturally conclude, andBellarminedesigns they should, that the Bishops ofThessalonicahad been the Pope’s Vicars from the Beginning, or Time out of Mind; whereas it is certain, that this Institution had taken place but a few Years before. PopeLeoI. in conferring onAnastasiustheVicariate Dignity of his See, as he styles it, declared, that he followed therein the Example of his PredecessorSyricius[1195],who first appointedAnysiusto act in his stead. But he was doubly mistaken; for these Vicars were first instituted, as is notorious, byDamasus, and not bySyricius; and it was not bySyricius, but byDamasus, thatAnysiuswas vested with that Dignity[1196]. The Bishop ofThessalonicais styled, by the antient Writers, the Pope’s Vicar inEast Illyricum, which is manifestly confining his Vicariate Jurisdiction to that District; butBellarmineextends it at once all over the East, by distinguishing him with the Title ofthe Popes Vicar for the East[1197]. But how little Regard was paid to the Pope’s Authority in the East, I have sufficiently shewn above.
I find nothing else in the antient Writers concerningDamasusworthy of Notice, besides his generously undertaking the Defence ofSymmachus, who, being Prefect ofRomein 384. the last Year ofDamasus’s Life, and aswornEnemy to the Christians, was falsly accused to the Emperor, as if he had with great Cruelty persecuted and oppressed them. ButDamasushad the Generosity to take his Part, and clear him, by a Letter he writ to the Emperor, from that Charge[1198].|Damasusdies.|This was one of the last Actions ofDamasus’s Life; for he died this Year on the 10th or 11th ofDecember, being then in the Eightieth Year of his Age, after he had governed the Church ofRomefor the Space of Eighteen Years, and about Two Months[1199]. He was buried, according toAnastasius[1200], near his Mother and Sister, in a Church which he had built at the Catacombs, on the Way toArdea; whence that Place, though Part of the Cœmetery ofCalixtus, is by some called the Cœmetery ofDamasus[1201]. He proposed at first being buried near the Remains of St.Sixtus, and his Companions; but afterwards changed his Mind, lest he should disturb the Ashes of the Saints[1202].He caused the Church of St.Laurence, near the Theatre ofPompey, probably that which his Father and he himself had formerly served, to be rebuilt, inlarged, and embellished; Whence it is still known by the joint Titles of St.LaurenceandDamasus[1203]. In that Church his Body is worshiped to this Day. But, how or when it was removed thither, nobody knows[1204].|The Decrees ascribedto him suppositious.|Several Decrees are ascribed toDamasusbyGratian,IvoofChartres,Anastasius, and others, but all evidently forged by some Impostor blindly addicted to the See ofRome, and quite unacquainted with the Discipline of the Church in the Fourth Century. In one of them a Canon is quoted from the Council of Nice, forbidding the Laity to eat or drink of any thing that wasoffered to the holy Priests, because none but theJewishPriests were allowed to eat of the Bread that was offered on the Altar. We know of no such Canon; and besides, it is not at all probable, that the Council ofNicewould have restrained the Clergy from sharing at least with the Poor what was offered them. In another of these Decrees the Paying of Tythes is commanded, on pain of Excommunication; whereas it might be easily made appear, that, in the Fourth Century, the Offerings destined for the Maintenance of the Clergy were still voluntary. Another Decree supposes, that, by an antient Custom, all Metropolitans swore Fealty to the Apostolic See, and could ordain no Bishops till they had received the Pall fromRome. For the Sake of this,Baroniusadmits all the rest: but of such a Custom not the least Mention, or distant Hint, is to be met with in any antient Writer.