The Bishop of Rome
"A single person, Peter, is appointed from the whole world as a leader in the calling of all peoples, and is placed above all the other apostles and the fathers…
From: 400 C.E. To: 500 C.E.
Location: Vatican City
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Readings in European History: A Collection of Extracts from the Sources by James Harvey Robinson, 1906.
The Bishop of Rome and the Headship of the Church
Leo the Great gives the following clear statement of the nature and grounds of the pope's claim to be head of the whole Church.
... A single person, Peter, is appointed from the whole world as a leader in the calling of all peoples, and is placed above all the other apostles and the fathers of the Church. Although there are many priests among the people of God, and many pastors, Peter should of right rule all of those whom Christ himself rules in the first instance. Great and marvelous, my dear brethren, is the participation in its own power which it has pleased the Divine Excellency to grant to this man. And such powers as it granted to other leaders in common with Peter were granted only through Peter.
Our Lord, indeed, asked all the apostles what men said of him, but so long as it was left to all to reply, so long was the hesitation of human ignorance clearly displayed. But when the opinion of the apostles was asked, he who was first in apostolic dignity was the first to reply; who when he had answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus said to him, " Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven";—that is to say, thou art blessed for this reason, for my father has taught thee, neither has mere earthly opinion misled thee, but thou art instructed by a heavenly inspiration.... I am the foundation than which none other can be established; yet thou too art a rock [petra] because thou art made firm by my strength, so that those things which I have in virtue of my power thou shalt have in common with me by participation. "And upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”...
And he said to the blessed Peter, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
The right to this power passed also to the other apostles, and the provisions of this ordinance went forth to all the leaders of the Church. Still it was not in vain that what was made known to all was especially recommended to one. For this power was intrusted expressly to Peter, since Peter was placed as a model before all the rulers of the Church. Peter's prerogative remains and everywhere his judgment goes forth in equity. For never is severity too great nor forgiveness too lax where nothing is bound nor loosed except the blessed Peter bind or loose it.
Just before his passion, which was about to shake the apostles' constancy, the Lord said to Simon, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not: and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, stablish thy brethren,” that you should not enter into temptation. The danger of the temptation to yield to fear was common to all the apostles and all alike needed the aid of divine protection, since the devil desired to confound and ruin them all. Yet the Lord took special care of Peter and prayed especially that Peter might have faith, as if the state of the others would be more secure if the mind of their chief was not overcome. In Peter, therefore, the strength of all was confirmed and the aid of divine grace so ordered that the strength which was granted to Peter by Christ was in turn transmitted through Peter to the apostles.
Since, therefore, beloved brethren, we behold this protection divinely appointed to us, we may properly and justly rejoice in the merits and dignity of our leader, sending up thanks to our eternal King and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, for giving such power to him whom he made the head of the whole Church: so that if anything, even in our own days, is rightly done by us and rightly ordained, it should be properly attributed to the influence and guidance of him to whom it was said, "When once thou hast turned again, stablish thy brethren." To whom, moreover, his Lord, after his resurrection, when Peter had three times professed his eternal love, said mystically three times, "Feed my sheep." Like a faithful shepherd, he has beyond a doubt fulfilled his Lord's command, confirming us by his exhortations, and never ceasing to pray for us that we be not overcome by any temptation….
[Elsewhere Leo says:] Although the priests enjoy a common dignity, they are not all on the same footing, since even hierarchy among the blessed apostles, who were alike in honor, there was a certain distinction in authority. All were alike chosen, but it was given to one that he should be preeminent among the others. Upon this model the distinction among the bishops is based, and it is salutarily provided that all should not claim the right to do all things, but in each province there should be one who should have the first word among his brethren. Again, in the greater cities others are appointed to greater responsibilities. Through these the oversight of the whole Church is concentrated in one see, that of Peter, and from this head there should never be any dissent.
The pope's view of the natural superiority of the spiritual over the temporal power finds a clear expression in the following remarkable letter of Gelasius I (494):
...There are two powers, august Emperor, by which this world is chiefly ruled, namely, the sacred authority of the priests and the royal power. Of these, that of the priests is the more weighty, since they have to render an account for even the kings of men in the divine judgment. You are also aware, dear son, that while you are permitted honorably to rule over human kind, yet in things divine you bow your head humbly before the leaders of the clergy and await from their hands the means of your salvation. In the reception and proper disposition of the heavenly mysteries you recognize that you should be subordinate rather than superior to the religious order, and that in these matters you depend on their judgment rather than wish to force them to follow your will.
If the ministers of religion, recognizing the supremacy granted you from heaven in matters affecting the public order, obey your laws, lest otherwise they might obstruct the course of secular affairs by irrelevant considerations, with what readiness should you not yield them obedience to whom is assigned the dispensing of the sacred mysteries of religion. Accordingly, just as there is no slight danger in the case of the priests if they refrain from speaking when the service of the divinity requires, so there is no little risk for those who disdain—which God forbid—when they should obey. And if it is fitting that the hearts of the faithful should submit to all priests in general who properly administer divine affairs, how much the more is obedience due to the bishop of that see which the Most High ordained to be above all others, and which is consequently dutifully honored by the devotion of the whole Church.
Robinson, James Harvey. Readings in European History: A Collection of Extracts from the Sources. Vol. 1. Ginn and Co. 1906.
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