was decided by the Church of Rome, and thus the controversy was ended."

III. Not from the Church, but directly from Christ, whose vicar he is, does the pope receive the power which is contained in the primacy. For he is the true successor of the prince of the apostles; and the latter received the power necessary for the government of the Church, not from the apostles, nor the faithful, but directly from Christ Himself (44). It is one thing to nominate or elect one as the successor of the prince of the apostles, and another thing to confer power on him. The former proceeds from man, the latter from God. Therefore it was defined by the Council of Florence that full power to feed, rule, and govern the whole Church was given to the pope in the person of St. Peter by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The definition of the Vatican Council above quoted (44), that this power was conferred on St. Peter immediately and directly by Christ Himself, applies likewise to the pope, his successor in the primacy.

The temporal power, which the popes in the course of centuries justly acquired, is decidedly to the advantage of the Church. In a state of political independence the pope, as the common father of Christendom, is enabled to hold free intercourse with all nations; he is less subject to outside influence, and less liable to be suspected of connivance to the wishes of temporal sovereigns. As a temporal sovereign he has easier communication with other sovereigns, being their equal in rank; while his temporal power likewise furnishes him with the material means which the administration of the Church requires.

The difficulty is sometimes raised that it is impossible at times to know whether a pope is lawfully elected or not, and, consequently, whether he has the power to rule the Church or not. The answer iş simple. If the whole Church once acknowledges any one as its lawful head, though the election may have been for some cause invalid, he thereby receives the sanction of the Church, which is equivalent to a second and valid election; whereupon he succeeds to all that power vested in the head of the Church. Hence no secret flaw can practically invalidate a papal election, and every defect in the election is removed by the ratification of the Church, so that any pope, universally acknowledged by the Church, is necessarily the true successor of St. Peter.

48. The pope's primacy is defined by Christ Himself (1) as a true power of jurisdiction, (2) ordinary and (3) immediate, (4)

comprising the fulness of that spiritual authority conferred on the Church, and (5) extending to all ecclesiastical matters.

The Vatican Council (1. de Eccl. c. 3), supplementing the declaration of the Council of Florence, declares: "If any one assert that the Roman pontiff has only the office of inspection or direction, but not full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole Church, not only in things that regard faith and morals, but also in such as regard the discipline and government of the Church throughout the whole world; or that he has only the better portion, but not the full plenitude of this supreme power; or that his power is not ordinary and immediate, or over all churches singly and collectively, and over one and all of the pastors and the faithful; let him be anathema.

The nature and extent of the papal supremacy are to be defined by the ordinations of Christ regarding the primacy of St. Peter.

1. The primacy, or supreme pastoral office of the pope, implies not merely a right of supervision or superintendence such as the president of a republic may possess. The supremacy of the pope is strictly a power of jurisdiction, and consequently comprises legislative and judicial power. (a) The pope in the person of St. Peter certainly received the power to feed the lambs and sheep of Christ; consequently, the pastoral jurisdiction over the entire Church. Now, as the pastoral charge over a portion implies the power to rule that portion, so the pastoral charge over the whole Church implies the power to rule the entire Church. Moreover, the pope received the power of the keys, or the power of binding and loosing, over the whole Church. But this power certainly means more than the mere right of supervision (44). (b) Hence the pope is frequently called by the fathers the bishop of bishops and the pastor of pastors. Hence the Council of Florence declares that full power to feed, to rule, and to govern the whole Church was given to the pope in the person of Si Peter (47).

2. The power which the pope possesses is ordinary, i.e., one that belongs to him in virtue of his office, and is not delegated to him by a higher authority. (a) As the successor of St. Peter he holds his office and, consequently, the powers attached to it. Both the office and its inherent power pro

ceed immediately from Christ, not from the apostles or the community. (b) Therefore the councils declare that the pope has received the power to govern the Church in the person of St. Peter. But if he received it in the person of Peter, it was not conferred on him by the Church. The fourth Council of Lateran teaches that, "by institution of Our Lord, the Roman Church, as the mother and teacher of all the faithful, possesses the primacy of ordinary jurisdiction over every other church." What is said of the Roman Church may be said of the pope; for the Roman Church possesses the supremacy over the other churches only inasmuch as the pope holds the supremacy over the other bishops.

3. The pope's jurisdiction is immediate in this sense, that he has not only the right of acting through intermediate powersfor instance, on the bishops through the patriarchs and upon the faithful through the bishops-it immediately affects the whole and all its parts, the pastors as well as the flock. St. Peter was certainly given charge of the lambs as well as of the sheep. Hence the pope as the pastor of all can deal directly with all. Though the apostles founded churches, each having its own head or bishop, yet, as we see from their epistles, they did not surrender their right to exercise their power on the individual members of these churches (1 Cor. v. 3; 2 Cor. ii. 10). This universal power, however, was ordinary in the case of St. Peter, but extraordinary in the case of the other apostles. Hence it has been inherited by the successor of St. Peter, but not by the successors of the other apostles.

Hence the direct interposition of the popes in various parts of the East as well as of the West from the earliest times, their frequent exercise of jurisdiction through legates, the custom of appealing to Rome. This ordinary and immediate jurisdiction of the supreme pastor does not impair the ordinary and immediate jurisdiction of the bishops under him, as the appointment of one chief shepherd over many flocks does not remove the power of the special shepherd of each flock. The existence of a higher court of appeals does not do away with the ordinary jurisdiction of the inferior courts.

"From this supreme power of the Roman pontiffs to govern the whole Church," declares the Vatican Council (ib.), "it follows that in the exercise of this his office he has the right of free intercourse with

the pastors and flocks of the entire Church, that he may be able to teach and guide them in the true way of salvation. Therefore we condemn and reject the opinions of those who say that this intercourse of the supreme head of the Church with pastors and flock may be justly prevented, or who would make this intercourse dependent on the temporal power, to the extent of asserting that whatever is ordained by the Holy See or by its authority for the government of the Church has no effect or force unless it be sanc tioned by the approval of the temporal power."

4. The pope possesses the fulness of that spiritual power granted to the Church, and not only the better portion of it, so that it has no need to be supplemented by the power of the bishops. St. Peter was placed as the one foundation of the whole edifice of the Church. He received the keys of the kingdom of heaven without restriction. He was made supreme pastor of the entire flock. Whether we consider the individual pastors separately or collectively, they are subject to the supreme pastor, form part of the flock committed to him, and have no share in the primacy nor in the prerogatives attaching to it. Therefore this power is not supplemented by that conferred on the subordinate pastors, but is in itself the fulness of jurisdiction given the Church.

Hence the second Council of Lyons declares: "The Church of Rome possesses the supreme and full primacy and principality over the whole Church, which in truth and humility she acknowledges to have received with the fulness of authority from Our Lord in the person of St. Peter." The Council of Florence likewise teaches, as we have seen, that in the person of St. Peter full power has been given to the pope "to feed, to rule, and to govern the whole Church."

5. The papal primacy extends to all ecclesiastical persons and things. Hence the Vatican Council (ib.) declares: "All, both pastors and faithful, are bound to render him true obedience, not only in things concerning faith and morals, but also in things relating to the discipline and government of the Church throughout the entire globe." Everything, therefore, upon which depend the preservation of the faith, the purity of Christian morals, the well-being of the whole Church, the harmony among its members, is subject to the universal pas

tor. The direct interference of the popes in ecclesiastical fairs, even from the first and second centuries (47), shows, on the one hand, how convinced they were of their power, and, on the other hand, how sensible both bishops and people were of their allegiance to them.

"Since, according to the divine right of the apostolic primacy," says the Vatican Council (ib), "the Roman pontiff is the head of the whole Church, we teach and declare that he is supreme judge of the faithful, and that in all questions appertaining to ecclesiastical investigation appeal may be made to his judgment; but that the decision of the apostolic see, beyond whose authority there is no higher, can be invalidated by no one; and that no one is competent to pronounce judgment on its decrees. Therefore they deviate from the right path of truth who assert that it is allowed to appeal from the decisions of the Roman pontiffs to a general council as to a tribunal higher than that of the Roman pontiff."

49. The bishops are the true successors of the apostles: hence they, and not the people, nor the state, have been invested with the government of the Church.

I. As the threefold office of the Church-the teaching. pastoral, and sacerdotal-may be reduced to two sources, orders and jurisdiction (41), so likewise the episcopal power. It is in virtue of the power of orders that the bishops administer the sacraments, also those the administration of which is reserved to themselves (confirmation and orders). In virtue of the power of jurisdiction they discharge the offices of teacher and pastor; yet only in union with, and subordinate to, their supreme head, the pope. Just as the pope is the successor of St. Peter, so the bishops, taken collectively, are the successors of the apostles, who formed a body organized under St. Peter as their head, for the dispensation of the means of grace and the government of the Churcn.

That gradation, instituted by Christ in the Church, consisting of bishops, priests, and inferior ministers, is called the ecclesiastical hierarchy, the highest grade of which are the bishops.

1. That the apostles, according to the institution of Christ, should have their successors is manifest from those words in which He promised them, as His legates, His assistance to the end of the world (Matt. xxviii. 20). For, if these words signify