Pontiff, as successor of the prince of the Apostles, Peter, has over the whole Church, is comprehended also the supreme teaching authority, this holy See has always firmly held, and this the constant practice of the Church confirms, and this the Ecumenical Councils have themselves declared, and above all, that Council in which the East met the West for the union of faith and charity. For the Fathers of the Fourth Council of Constantinople, treading in the footsteps of their forefathers, made the following solemn confession: "The first condition of salvation is to keep the rule of sound faith. And as the declaration uttered by our Lord Jesus Christ can never fail,[1] when He says, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build My Church,' so have the words there said actually come to pass, forasmuch as in the apostolical chair the Catholic faith has ever remained inviolate and its holy doctrine been celebrated. Desiring to be in no wise separated from its faith and doctrine, we hope to be made worthy to be in that one communion which the Apostolic See declares, wherein resides the perfect and true wholeness of the Christian religion,"[2] With the acquiescence of the Second Council of Lyons the Greeks made this confession: "That the holy Roman Church possesses the highest and the full primacy and principality over the whole Catholic Church, which it
- ↑ 'Prætermitti,' used with 'jus,' in the sense of 'being brought to naught.' See Facciolati in verbo.—Translator.
- ↑ From a formula of Pope Hormisdas, as it was proposed by Adrian II. to the Eighth Ecumenical Council, viz. the Fourth Council of Constantinople, and was signed by the Fathers there assembled.
