The Papacy, Then and Now

Editor’s note from Miles Jesu Monthly: His Eminence Cardinal Darío Castrillon Hoyos is President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. His Eminence gave the following address at the 2005 International Path to Rome Conference in London, England, only seven months after the papal conclave at which he was present as one of the cardinal electors.

What is the Papacy?
The Papacy is an institution which, independently of its spiritual value, is surely one of the oldest institutions conserved in the world. In this way, it preserves the same way of acting throughout history. Although one can for sure say that the Papacy is one of the oldest institutions which humanity conserves, still, for me, to talk about the Papacy is not to talk about an historic institution which simply remains in time as if it were a remembrance, as if it were a decorative thing, more decorative than efficient. Rather, it is a moral authority, an authority of faith which points out the way of the Truth. To speak of this institution is to speak of a paternity which guides, teaches, and sanctifies. It is to talk of a presence of Christ on the earth, the assistance of the Holy Spirit, and the continuity of the Church, the Body of Christ, in time and in the life of mankind throughout all generations.

In the first part of this presentation we will talk about the Papacy as the foundation of Christianity. The first thing we must understand well is what the Papacy is.

The Papacy is not a way of organizing an institution, nor is it a simple system of management which looks for more and more efficiency. No, when we speak of the Papacy we are talking about the very structure of the Church—of its essence, of a hierarchy, which Christ wanted and explicitly defined, which in turn defines the Church, and which makes it strong and immutable in faith thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

First Among the Apostles
The doctrine of the Papacy can be sketched out in four affirmations. First, and the basis for the others, is that Christ constituted the apostle St. Peter as the first among the apostles and as the visible head of the whole Church, conferring on him the primacy of jurisdiction in a needed and personal way. The foundations of this affirmation are found in the New Testament. In it St. Peter is always distinguished above the other apostles, whether by Christ who gives him this special honor or by the very apostles who give him a preeminence. Christ Himself conferred the primacy of Peter when St. Peter himself made the confession of faith in Christ as the Messiah at Caesarea Philippi, a confession which was made by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 16:13).

In the biblical text, there are three images which convey the idea of the supreme power of this new society, or Ecclesia, which Christ is going to found. St. Peter is going to give to this new society the unity and the firmness which is unbreakable, which is like giving a house a foundation built upon solid rock, living rock. Peter is also the one who possesses the keys, that is, he is the administrator of the Kingdom of God on earth, since the keys were the symbol of power and sovereignty. And lastly, he gives him the power to tie and untie, bind and unbind, which in rabbinic terminology means the ability to interpret the law and expel from the community. So with these phrases, these formulations for the primacy of Peter, it can be understood that St. Peter is receiving a power of jurisdiction which was not known before in the Jewish world—one by which God committed Himself to confirm in the Heavens the same obligations which are imposed or taken away by Peter on earth.

After the resurrection of Christ, when he manifests his divinity more clearly, there is another significant meeting between Jesus and St. Peter in which he gives the primacy in a way which is more explicit. “Feed my lambs... Tend my sheep” (Jn. 21:16). These words harmonize with Chapter Sixteen of the Gospel of St. Matthew, referred to above, and apply immediately and exclusively to Peter. St. Peter, in this triple responsibility as related in the Gospel of St. John, receives the supreme power of governing the whole Church. These two texts refer to a wide future, going beyond Christ’s earthly life.

Once when I was going to the apostolic palace the guards told me, “The Holy Father is going to come, is going up the steps.” I opened the door and there was the white figure of the Holy Father. Immediately I fell on my knees and he told me, “The normal, usual visit.” But I told him, “But you are Peter.”

After the ascension of Christ into the heavens we see how the apostles accept St. Peter’s sovereignty without any conflicts, for example in how they elect Matthias. St. Peter is the first to announce on the day of Pentecost the message of Christ, that Jesus the Messiah died on the Cross and was resurrected (Acts 2:14). He gave his testimony of Christ before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:8). He receives the first gentile into the Church, the Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:5). He is the first to speak in council with the apostles (Acts 15:7). Moreover, St. Paul goes to Jerusalem to know St. Peter.

So he is the first in these things and he has such an importance that St. Paul goes to Jerusalem with one goal: to get to know “Cephas,” to know Peter (Gal. 1:18).

Continuity
The continuity of the primacy of the successors of St. Peter is not expressly found in the words of the promise that appointed this dignity to St. Peter, but is a logical consequence of its nature and its goal. For the primacy by its very nature is an office of governing the whole Church and has as its goal the conservation of the unity and solidity of the Church, and by the will of its Founder, it is to be continued unchangeable to the end and to continue throughout all time the saving work of Christ. So the primacy also must have a character of perpetuity and continuity. St. Peter was under the law of death, the same as all men, and as a consequence he had to pass his job to others. The edifice of the Church could not continue standing without its foundation, the flock of Christ would not be able to continue without its pastor. That’s why whenever the primacy of Peter has been attacked throughout history, then the Church would identify Peter as essential to its authenticity. As Jesus Himself had declared to St. Peter, a consequence of this job was that it was not just for Peter Himself. Christ gave the job to Peter to continue in perpetuity the family which is the Church, throughout all times. As a consequence St. Peter had to give his office to others, because the building of the Church cannot continue without its foundation which is Peter, just as the sheep cannot remain united without their pastor.

The Fathers of the Church already expressed this idea that St. Peter must continue living and working in his successors.The Papal Legate Philip declared, in the Council of Ephesus, “Peter continues alive in judging up to our days in his successors.” St. Peter Chrysologus, in one of his last letters to Theotikis, says concerning the Bishop of Rome that, “Blessed Peter who continues to live and preside in the Episcopal Seat of Rome offers the True Faith to those who look for it.” St. Leo the Great in a beautiful phrase declares that, “The primacy is a permanent institution, just as the belief of Peter in Christ would endure forever so in the same way what Christ instituted in Peter would also endure forever.”

Bishop of Rome
The third affirmation shows that the successors of St. Peter in primacy are the Bishops of Rome. The First Vatican Council, following the declarations of the Council of Lyons in 1274 and in Florence in 1439, made the following declaration: “Anyone who says that the Roman Pontiff is not the successor of Blessed Peter in his very primacy let him be anathema.” The fact that St. Peter was in Rome is clear from his first epistle, where he identifies himself as in “Babylon,” a symbol for Rome for the early Christians, many of whom were Jewish. This is also indicated in the letter of St. Clement of Rome, who cites the apostles Peter and Paul as among the victims of the persecution of Nero. St. Ignatius of Antioch writes to the Christians in Rome, “I cannot command you as Peter and Paul.” Also there is testimony about the express activity of St. Peter in Rome by the Bishop Dionysius of Corinth, around the year 170.

We also have St. Irenaeus of Lyons, the Roman writer Gaius who lived during the pontificate of Zephyrinus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria among others who give express testimony of the activity of St. Peter in Rome. Dionysius, Gaius, and Tertullian also mention or talk about the martyrdom of St. Peter in Rome, and Gaius is also able to indicate with precision the exact place where the sepulcher of the apostles is located. He says, “I could show you the trophies of the apostles. If you want to go to the Vatican or to the Via Ostia, which is the road that leads to Rome, you will find the trophies of the apostles who founded this Church.” There is no other place outside of Rome which has ever had the pretext of having the sepulcher of St. Peter. None of them make that claim.

One of the differences between the East and the West is that the East wanted Constantinople to be like the second Rome, which started a controversy. It is interesting to note that this controversy started because there is only one place which is Rome, but it was not until the beginning of the fifteenth century in which we talk about the primacy of the bishops of Rome. So this doctrine about the primacy of the Bishops of Rome is the same as other doctrines and ecclesiastic institutions in that it has followed the course of progress through which these doctrines developed more and more completely, and the foundations were more and more clearly expressed.

From the end of the first century there are clear indications of the conviction that the bishops of the Roman See had the primacy and its recognition by other Churches. St. Ignatius of Antioch, in the solemn formula with which he begins his letter to Romans, points out the Roman community as being above all the other communities to which he is writing. Two times he says that this community has preeminence, that it has the Church which presides in charity over the other churches. St. Irenaeus points to the Church founded in Rome by the two glorious apostles Peter and Paul as the greatest, the oldest, and the most famous of all the churches. You’d think the first one would be Jerusalem, right? That it would be the greatest, the oldest, and the most famous. It expressly gives primacy to this Church, the one in Rome, above all the other churches. If one wants to know the true Faith it is enough to examine the doctrine of this sole Church which has been conserved by the succession of the bishops. Why? Because to this Church, because of its preeminence – a special preeminence (in Latin, propria potentiorum principalitatem) – to this Church all the Church must concord, be in agreement, that is, all the faithful of the whole world. Because in her, the Roman Church, the apostolic succession has been preserved always by all that are in all parts. Or you could say, preserving it from those who come from all parts, which is to say from the heresies.

Towards the middle of the second century Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna arrives in Rome to speak with Pope Anicetus in the year 154 (his reign was from 154-165) to talk with the Pope about establishing a day for the celebration of Easter. The main idea is that these two bishops went to the Holy Father so that he, with his authority, would establish a date and put an end to any kind of dispute about the date of Easter. So this question was covered with the visit of Bishop Polycarp of Ephesus, and this was when Pope Victor I threatened the communities of Asia Minor to exclude them from Catholic Communion if they continued with a practice that was not according to the true Catholic tradition.

Extent of Authority
The last affirmation about the papacy is concerning the authority and power of the Holy Father. The Pope possesses full and supreme power of jurisdiction above the whole Church. Not only concerning the faith and morals but also in the discipline and government of the Church. The First Vatican Council, which was called because of all the forms of episcopalism which tried to restrict the power of the jurisdiction of the Pope in favor of the bishops—call it Conciliarism or Gallicanism or Febronianism—declared that, “If anyone says that the Bishop of Rome has only the office of inspection or direction and not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction above the whole Church, not only in the things of faith and morals but also in everything which concerns the discipline and government of the Church, spread out to the ends of the earth… or that this power of his is not ordinary or immediate, or that the above mentioned things do not apply to every one of the Churches and all and each of its pastors and faithful, let him be anathema.” This declaration from the first Vatican Council is deduced from the principle characteristics of the primal power of the Pope.

The true power of jurisdiction is to say the power of governing and not just a mere inspection or direction. As a power of government the primacy embraces in itself full legislative power, juridical power which includes litigating, being arbiter, and executive. On the part of the subjects, there is a corresponding duty to submit and to obey. This power is universal, which means it extends to all the pastors, and not just in the things having to do with faith and morals (as in teaching) but also in matters of discipline and governing. It’s a supreme power of the Church, which means it doesn’t exist in any other subject of jurisdiction. The power of the Pope is superior not only to any other bishop in particular but also to all the bishops together. And this power is full, which is to say that the Pope possesses and has in himself all the plenitude of ecclesiastical power of jurisdiction, not just the majority or the larger part, which other bishops have, whether it be particular or collective. And that’s why the Pope can resolve in himself, by himself, any matter which falls under ecclesiastical jurisdiction, without requiring the opinion of the other bishops or of the other parts of the Church.

This is “ordinary” power, which means it is tied to his office, in virtue of divine ordinance. It has not been delegated by a superior [earthly] subject or jurisdiction.

It has not been delegated to another and so the Pope can exercise this power not just in exceptional cases when the bishops are not in agreement or are careless with their pastoral duties within their respective diocese (so we don’t have to wait for exceptional cases to occur); this power is truly episcopal. That is to say, the Pope is at the same time the universal bishop of the whole Church and at the same time of the diocese of Rome: Episcopus Urbis et Orbis, according to the expression of Jacob of Viterbo. Consequently we have here papal power the same as that of the bishops but it also includes power in the legislative, juridical, and punitive spheres. And so when the Holy Father used to speak in various languages he was expressing in a very powerful way the universality of his office. This power of the Pope is immediate. That is to say the Pope can exercise it without any kind of being asked to do so by the bishops or the faithful. He can take the initiative.

Conclusion of First Part
So from these principles we can have the following conclusions: it follows from this supreme power of governing the whole Church that the Pope has the right to treat freely and deal with all the bishops and faithful of the Church to exercise his ministry. That’s why the Church condemns all the attempts by civil power to subordinate the official communication of the Holy See to a civil control or to make the Church depend on a civil power. A second consequence is, as the supreme legislator of the Church, the Pope is not bound juridically by customs and ecclesiastical decrees, but he is bound by divine right. This demands that the Pope use his ecclesiastical power for the edification of the Mystical Body and not for its destruction. That’s why divine right is an efficient barrier against all arbitrary action. Such action taken by the Supreme Pontiff of Rome was condemned in the third Gallican article which demanded a greater limitation of the exercise of papal power. As the supreme head or judge of the Church, the Pope possesses the right to hear all causes in a tribunal, and he himself cannot be judged by anyone because there does not exist a higher judge on earth above him.

Look for part two of Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos’ address on the Papacy in a future issue of Miles Jesu Monthly.