III. Legal Sanctions for Roman Primacy Obtained
Under the reign of Constantine, Christianity had become the religion of the emperor; under Theodosius, sixty years later, it had become the religion of empire, but legal sanction for the papal claims of primacy were yet to be secured.PFF1 501.3
1. PROGRESSIVE EDICTS ESTABLISH HEADSHIP
There were four separate edicts, by different emperors—for imperial edicts were then laws of empire—conferring or confirming the increasing privileges, immunities, and authorities, until the bishop of Rome became the virtually unchallenged head of all churches. These four edicts are:PFF1 501.4
a. The edict of Gratian and Valentinian 2, in 378 or 379.PFF1 501.5
b. The edict of Theodosius II and Valentinian 3 in 445.PFF1 501.6
c. The imperial letter of Justinian, in 533—becoming effective in 538.PFF1 501.7
d. The edict of Phocas, in 606.PFF1 502.1
2. GRATIAN GIVES RIGHT OF SETTLING APPEALS
Concerning a, the Roman primacy began to be recognized in a limited way by the edict of the Emperor Gratian (who laid aside the formerly pagan dignity of Pontifex Maximus) and Valentinian 2, in 378 or 379. This edict, probably issued at the request of a Roman synod, not only confirmed Damasus (d. 384) as bishop of Rome, in opposition to a banished rival claimant, but also provided that certain cases in the churches of the West should be referred or appealed to the pope and/or a council of bishops. PFF1 502.2
This gave various bishops, scattered over the West, occasion to write to the Roman bishops for decision on controverted points, which they answered by decretal epistles and ecclesiastical mandates and decisions. The earliest of these decretals still extant is a letter of Pope Siricius to Himerius of Tarragona in 385. PFF1 502.3
“The decretals [commence] with the letter of Pope Siricius to Himerius of Tarragona in 385. Such decretal letters were issued to churches in most parts of the European West, Illyria included, but not to north Italy, which looked to Milan, and not to Africa, which depended on Carthage.... It would even appear that a group of some eight decretals of Siricius and Innocent, Zosimus and Celestine, had been put together and published as a sort of authoritative handbook before the papacy of Leo (441-461).” PFF1 502.4
Thus the authority of the bishop of Rome was greater than that implied in the sixth canon of the Council of Nicaea (325), which recognized the equal authority of the then-leading patriarchates of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Ephesus. PFF1 502.5
An edict of Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius I, in 380 or 381 against heretics added imperial recognition of the Petrine theory, on which the Roman bishops based their claim as judge of the Christian faith, although the Roman bishop was not recognized as sole judge of faith, the Alexandrian bishop being named in connection with Damasus.PFF1 502.6
“1. The Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius to the people of the City of Constantinople.PFF1 503.1
“We desire that all peoples subject to Our benign Empire shall live under the same religion that the Divine Peter, the Apostle, gave to the Romans, and which the said religion declares was introduced by himself, and which it is well known that the Pontiff Damasus, and Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic sanctity, embraced; that is to say, in accordance with the rules of apostolic discipline and the evangelical doctrine, we should believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constitute a single Deity, endowed with equal majesty, and united in the Holy Trinity.” PFF1 503.2
3. WESTERN CLERGY SUBJECTED TO ROMAN BISHOP
In b—the memorable edict of the Western Emperor Valentinian 3, in 445—the subordination of the Western clergy to the Roman bishop’s primacy is recognized as grounded on Peter’s merit. This was induced, it is thought, by the Roman bishop Leo. It upholds against a bishop of Gaul the authority of the Holy See, and suggests that the peace of the churches would be preserved if all would acknowledge their ruler. The context shows that it refers to the West, for the dispute was over a Western subordinate, as the expressions “Western Churches” and “both Gauls” indicate. But in this support given the Roman bishop is laid the foundation of future expansions. Thus Ranke says:PFF1 503.3
“Thenceforth the power of the Roman bishops advanced beneath the protection of the emperor himself; but in this political connection lay also a restrictive force: had there been but one emperor, a universal primacy might also have established itself; but this was prevented by the partition of the empire.” PFF1 503.4
4. JUSTINIAN ESTABLISHES HEADSHIP OF ALL CHURCHES
As to c—the Justinian decree of 533—it was after the partitioning of the Western empire, that, under the victorious armies of Justinian, considerable areas of the West acknowledged him as their overlord. In this period the legal establishment of the bishop of Rome as head of all the churches—now including the East—was accomplished. Then the tide of barbarian conquest rolled again over Italy, effacing the imperial control and leaving the West permanently in the hands of the barbarian masters, and to the pope the exercise of the spiritual primacy and power conferred on him under law by Justinian. This will be more fully treated in section 4 of this chapter, but reference must first be made to the fourth edict of our series.PFF1 503.5
Under d, the edict of Phocas in 606 merely reiterated and confirmed the Roman bishop’s pre-eminence over the rival bishop of Constantinople. But Phocas’ reign and authority was confined to the affairs of the East, rather than of the West.PFF1 504.1