The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

I. Worldly Advance Matched by Spiritual Decline

1. ROME’S UNIQUE CONNOTATIONS AS A CITY

The ancient city of Rome, founded according to tradition in the eighth century B.C., was for several hundreds of years but of local, minor importance. By the second century B.C., however, she stood upon the threshold of her supremacy of the Mediterranean world; and for five hundred years thereafter she was the unrivaled metropolis of the last and mightiest of the four prophesied world empires, the seat of its government, and the heart of the then-known world. In pagan days Rome was accounted as everlasting, bearing the proud title of “Eternal City.” This idea continued into the time of the Christian emperors, down to the end of the fifth century. Said the historian Ammianus Marcellinus (395), “She shall live so long as men shall exist.” ¹ PFF1 492.3

Roma Aeterna, the “Eternal Rome,” lent its name to the wide domain, where its noted sons held sway over subject peoples, be it at the muddy waters of the Euphrates, in the dark and somber forests of the Teutons, or in the highlands and moors of Britain. And when Rome no longer produced men of outstanding capacity, others of foreign extraction, the emperors of Byzantium and later of Germany, proudly carried the name of Rome at the head of their list of titles. PFF1 493.1

But still another power, of a different sort, and even more significant, rose to pre-eminence at a period when Rome’s fortunes were at their lowest ebb. And this power carried the name of Rome into a different realm, gave it a new significance, raised it to new heights and world-wide fame. This power was the little church of Rome to which Paul addressed his epistle, and which in the course of time should become the seat of a vast ecclesiastical empire. PFF1 493.2

2. CONSTANTINE’S REIGN THE CHURCH’S TURNING POINT

Of course, the Roman church in the early days, in the periods of pagan persecution, never dreamed of attaining such a position, but an amazing reversal in imperial attitude toward Christianity in general, and toward the developing Roman Catholic manifestation in particular, took place between the time of Constantine, in the fourth century, and Justinian, in the sixth. Previous to Constantine’s edict of toleration in 313, Christians had been at various times cruelly persecuted under pagan edicts. But between the fourth and sixth centuries a succession of laws, not only recognizing Christianity and favoring it, but also making it the state religion, gave legal support to the increasingly presumptuous claims to primacy made by the Roman bishop. PFF1 493.3

Picture 1: TRIUMPHAL ARCH AND JUDICIAL BASILICA OF CONSTATINE
Noble triumphal arch of constantine erected at entrance to Roman forum commemorating victory over Maxentius at the battle of Sana Rubra, or Milvian bridge, which soon brought persecution of Christians to an end-a witness to the presecuting power and dominion of pagan Rome (upper), the Basilica of Constantine (lower).
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The accession of Constantine found Christianity proscribed and persecuted. The imposing arch of Constantine, built to commemorate the emperor’s victory over Maxentius, is still a mute witness to the fourth century as the turning point in the rise of Constantine and the fortunes of the Christian church. The two centuries after this almost unbelievable transition were sufficient to entrench Catholic Christianity in the fundamental law of the empire, and by the time of Justinian, Roman primacy was established so firmly that through succeeding centuries the bishop of Rome progressed from spiritual leadership and temporal rule to the unparalleled power of the Papacy. The leading steps by which this was achieved must now be surveyed to obtain the setting for the emergence of the papal power. PFF1 495.1

3. MUTUAL RELATIONSHIPS OF EAST AND WEST

The exigencies of frontier defense had long drawn the concern of the empire toward the troubled East. Diocletian had divided the administration, East and West, with a colleague. Then Constantine, who rarely visited Rome, made his capital in 330 in the “new Rome”-Byzantium by the Bosporus, now rebuilt and renamed Constantinople. This became a new center of what seemed a second empire in the East, particularly after the system of two emperors was resumed, as under Arcadius and Honorius, with the Western capital placed in Ravenna. Writers naturally refer to the empires of the East and the West; yet, technically, such language is inexact. The empire was, and continued to be, one and undivided. Though there were two emperors, there was only one empire-two persons, but only one power. This point is necessary to an understanding of developments of the time that we are tracing. PFF1 495.2

“This removal of the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constanti nople in 330, left the Western Church, practically free from imperial power, to develop its own form of organisation. The Bishop of Rome, in the seat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the West, and was soon forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head.” ² PFF1 495.3

Civil as well as religious disputes were frequently referred to the bishop of Rome for settlement. And the Eastern emperors increasingly recognized his high claims in order to gain his assistance. Thus gradually became established the principle of primacy that ultimately created the medieval Papacy. This was the process. PFF1 496.1

Growing more and more imperial, the Roman church lost its early purity and simplicity. Her bishops grew more lordly and her system of government more Roman. Ecclesiastical power became the object of her eager ambition. Opulence poured in upon the priesthood. And their intellectual superiority over that of the invading barbarians still further increased their ascendancy. In time, as education declined, they also became the custodians of learning and teaching, reading and preparing treaties and state documents, which advantage they did not fail to capitalize. PFF1 496.2

4. THE BISHOPS WIELD POLITICAL POWER

Not content with supporting Christianity by favoring laws, Constantine and his successors had added to her spiritual authority the splendor of political power by inviting the bishops to participate in the administration of civil affairs, and by entrusting to their care interests connected with public order and welfare. And this generosity of the Roman emperors was eclipsed by the sovereigns of the new monarchies arising upon the ruins of the old empire. A series of fresh accessions to the prerogatives and powers of the clergy followed. They were summoned to the councils of kings and political assemblies. The most honorable rank was assigned them, and they exercised an influence in all departments of civil government. The influence of this new sovereignty was felt far and wide. And in the midst of the disorders of the time, the church created a bond of union between nations opposed in character and interests, becoming the rallying point for society. PFF1 496.3

The weakness of the falling empire but added worldly strength to the aspiring church. As historians constantly assert, the dying empire bequeathed to the church her spirit and power, and furnished her method and organization, until at length both reappear with startling similarity in papal Rome. PFF1 497.1

5. DIGNITY OF IMPERIAL CITY EXALTS ROMAN BISHOP

The barbarians beheld in the secularized church the faith they themselves professed, and the representation of that empire which they still reverenced while at the same time subverting it. The earthly majesty and power of this worldly institution impressed them. Daily the bishops grew in influence in the midst of a shaken and reeling world, and naturally, because of his metropolitan position, the bishop of Rome became increasingly the leader. PFF1 497.2

As the civil power of Rome waned before the barbaric invaders, this Christian bishopric seemed the sole survivor of the old institutions. It remained while all else failed. Gradually it became the one enduring power among the nations into which the fragments of the old Roman dominion were rapidly being crystallized. ³ To these newly evangelized peoples the church of Rome was naturally the mother church, and the bishop of Rome the chief of all Christian bishops. Latin episcopacy was thus enthroned in the old Roman metropolis. PFF1 497.3