pieces. Woe to the shepherd and idol[1] that leaveth the flock!" If, therefore, this description of "the idol" and this forsaking of the flock fit the pope, how could the saying of the doctors be true of any possible pope in the future, that he is the high priest, the true and manifest successor of Peter, presiding over the church which is the bride of Christ? For it does not follow,—he is the idol [worthless shepherd] who forsakes the flock; therefore, he is the high priest, the true and manifest successor of Peter. And it also does not follow,—he is the pseudo-Christ, therefore, he is the true and manifest Christ; for the true Christ said: "If any one shall say to you, Lo here is Christ or there! believe it not, for there shall arise pseudo-Christs and pseudo-prophets." Let, therefore, the faithful beware lest, moved by flattery, they call the pseudo-Christs most holy and the worthless shepherd high priest and true successor of St. Peter, the apostle. For, in so calling Agnes most holy father and high priest, presiding over the whole church—Agnes who gave birth to a child—they are deceived.
Then, to turn to the saying of Jerome, "This is the faith, O most blessed pope," Decr. 24: 1 [Friedberg, 1: 970], it is said that presumably he spoke of the apostolic works of Pope Damasus as he wrote to St. Augustine in letters addressing him "Augustine, our lord and most holy and blessed pope."[2] And so likewise the saints are reported to have spoken of prelates when they saw them straying away from the steps of Christ, and said they were to be condemned or were members of the devil. But, woe to them who see the pope doing works directly at variance with Christ and yet call him most holy father, for it is written, "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil," Isaiah 5:20, for by their lying flattery they deceive both themselves and him. For, again,
- ↑ Pastor et idolum. So the Vulgate. The Rev. Vs. has "worthless shepherd."
- ↑ Augustine's Letters [Nic. Fathers, 1: 272, 324, 545].
