St. Cyprian

"Would the heretics dare to come to the very seat of Peter whence apostolic faith is derived and whither no errors can come?" (Letters 59 [55]).


“Cornelius [the 21st Pope] was made bishop by the judgment of God and of His Christ. This was by the testimony of almost all the clergy, by the election of the people who were then present, and by the assembly of ancient priests and good men…. This occurred when the place of Fabian, that is, when the place of Peter and the degree of the priestly chair, was vacant.” (Cyprian Of Carthage, Epistle 53 to Antonius [c. 250 A.D]).


“The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever things you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed also in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]). … On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were also what Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition [A.D. 251]).


“The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous; she is uncorrupted and pure. She knows one home; she guards with chaste modesty the sanctity of one couch. She keeps us for God. She appoints the sons whom she has born for the kingdom. Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress, is separated from the promises of the Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother. If any one could escape who was outside the Ark of Noah, then he also may escape who shall be outside of the Church. The Lord warns, saying, He who is not with me is against me, and he who gathers not with me scatters. [Matthew 12:30] He who breaks the peace and the concord of Christ, does so in opposition to Christ; he who gathers elsewhere than in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ. The Lord says, I and the Father are one; [John 10:30] and again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, And these three are one. [1 John 5:7] And does any one believe that this unity which thus comes from the divine strength and coheres in celestial sacraments, can be divided in the Church, and can be separated by the parting asunder of opposing wills? He who does not hold this unity does not hold God's law, does not hold the faith of the Father and the Son, does not hold life and salvation.” (Ibid).


“[T]he Church is one, and as she is one, cannot be both within and without. For if she is with [the heretic] Novatian, she was not with [Pope] Cornelius. But if she was with Cornelius, who succeeded the bishop [of Rome], Fabian, by lawful ordination, and whom, beside the honor of the priesthood the Lord glorified also with martyrdom, Novatian is not in the Church; nor can he be reckoned as a bishop, who, succeeding to no one, and despising the evangelical and apostolic tradition, sprang from himself. For he who has not been ordained in the Church can neither have nor hold to the Church in any way” (Letters 69[75]:3 [A.D. 253]).


“Cyprian to [Pope] Cornelius, his brother. Greeting. . . . We decided to send and are sending a letter to you from all throughout the province [where I am] so that all our colleagues might give their decided approval and support to you and to your communion, that is, to both the unity and the charity of the Catholic Church.” (Letters 48:1, 3 [A.D. 253]).


“Cyprian to Antonian, his brother. Greeting … You wrote … that I should forward a copy of the same letter to our colleague [Pope] Cornelius, so that, laying aside all anxiety, he might at once know that you held communion with him, that is, with the Catholic Church” (ibid., 55[52]:1).


“Cornelius was made bishop by the decision of God and of his Christ, by the testimony of almost all the clergy, by the applause of the people then present, by the college of venerable priests and good men … when the place of Fabian, which is the place of Peter, the dignity of the sacerdotal chair, was vacant. Since it has been occupied both at the will of God and with the ratified consent of all of us, whoever now wishes to become bishop must do so outside [the Church]. For he cannot have ecclesiastical rank who does not hold to the unity of the Church” (ibid., 55[52]:8).


“With a false bishop appointed for themselves by heretics, they dare even to set sail and carry letters from schismatics and blasphemers to the chair of Peter and to the principal church [at Rome], in which sacerdotal unity has its source” (ibid., 59:14).


“There is one God and one Christ, and one Church, and one chair founded on Peter by the word of the Lord. It is not possible to set up another altar or for there to be another priesthood besides that one altar and that one priesthood. Whoever has gathered elsewhere is scattering” (Letters 43[40]:5 [A.D. 253]).


“There [John 6:68–69] speaks Peter, upon whom the Church would be built, teaching in the name of the Church and showing that even if a stubborn and proud multitude withdraws because it does not wish to obey, yet the Church does not withdraw from Christ. The people joined to the priest and the flock clinging to their shepherd are the Church. You ought to know, then, that the bishop is in the Church and the Church in the bishop, and if someone is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church. They vainly flatter themselves who creep up, not having peace with the priests of God, believing that they are secretly [i.e., invisibly] in communion with certain individuals. For the Church, which is one and Catholic, is not split nor divided, but it is indeed united and joined by the cement of priests who adhere one to another” (ibid., 66[69]:8).


“He cannot have God as his Father who does not have the Church as his Mother.”


"After such things as these, moreover, they still dare — a false bishop having been appointed for them by, heretics— to set sail and to bear letters from schismatic and profane persons to the throne of Peter, and to the chief church whence priestly unity takes its source; and not to consider that these were the Romans whose faith was praised in the preaching of the apostle, to whom faithlessness could have no access." (Epistles LIV).


“Which one Church, also, the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs designated in the person of our Lord, and says, “My dove, my spotless one, is but one. She is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bare her.” (Song of Songs 6:9) Does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith? Does he who strives against and resists the Church trust that he is in the Church, when moreover the blessed Apostle Paul teaches the same thing, and sets forth the sacrament of unity, saying, “There is one body and one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God?” (Eph 4:4) And this unity we ought firmly to hold and assert, especially those of us that are bishops who preside in the Church, that we may also prove the episcopate itself to be one and undivided.” (De catholicae ecclesiae unitate, 4-5).


“Such a one is to be turned away from and avoided, whosoever he may be, that is separated from the Church. Such a one is perverted and sins, and is condemned of his own self. Does he think that he has Christ, who acts in opposition to Christ’s priests, who separates himself from the company of His clergy and people? He bears arms against the Church, he contends against God’s appointment. An enemy of the altar, a rebel against Christ’s sacrifice, for the faith faithless, for religion profane, a disobedient servant, an impious son, a hostile brother, despising the bishops, and forsaking God’s priests, he dares to set up another altar, to make another prayer with unauthorized words, to profane the truth of the Lord’s offering by false sacrifices, and not to know that he who strives against the appointment of God, is punished on account of the daring of his temerity by divine visitation.” (De catholicae ecclesiae unitate, 17).


“Our Lord, whose precepts and admonitions we ought to observe, describing the honour of a bishop and the order of His Church, speaks in the Gospel, and says to Peter: ‘I say unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Thence, through the changes of times and successions, the ordering of bishops and the plan of the Church flow onwards; so that the Church is founded upon the bishops, and every act of the Church is controlled by these same rulers.” (Epistle 26).


“Has once learned, never departs from Him at all, and that those are the Church who remain in the house of God; but that, on the other hand, they are not the plantation planted by God the Father, whom we see not to be established with the stability of wheat, but blown about like chaff by the breath of the enemy scattering them, of whom John also in his epistle says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us,”


"It is on one man that He builds the Church; and although He assigns a like power to all the Apostles after His resurrection, when He says, "As the Father has sent me, so also do I send you; receive the Holy Spirit: if you forgive any man his sins, they shall be forgiven; and if you retain any man's sins, they shall be retained (John 20:21), nevertheless, in order that unity might be clearly shown, He established by His own authority a source for that unity, which takes its beginning from one man alone. Indeed, the other Apostles were that also which Peter was, being endowed with an equal portion of dignity and power; but the origin is grounded in unity, so that it may be made clear that there is but one Church of Christ. . . . If someone does not hold fast to this unity of the Church, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he resists and withstands the Church, can he still be confident that he is in the Church, when the blessed Apostle Paul teaches this very thing and displays the sacred sign of unity when he says: "one body and one spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God?" Most especially must we bishops, who exercise authority in the Church, hold firmly and insist upon this unity, whereby we may demonstrate also that the episcopate itself is one and undivided. Let no one mislead the brotherhood with a lie, let no one corrupt the faith by a faithless perversion of the truth. The episcopate is one, of which each bishop holds his part within the undivided structure. The church also is one, however widely she has spread among the multitude through her fruitful increase. . . . The Church is bathed in the light of the Lord, and pours her rays over the whole world; but it is one light that is spread everywhere, and the unity of her structure is undivided. (The Unity of the Catholic Church, ch 4).


“With a false bishop appointed for themselves by heretics, they dare even to set sail and carry letters from schismatics and blasphemers to the chair of Peter and to the principal Church, in which sacerdotal unity has its source; nor did they take thought that these are Romans, whose faith was praised by the preaching Apostle, and among whom it is not possible for perfidy to have entrance.” (Letter of St. Cyprian to St. Pope Cornelius).


“Our Lord, whose commands we ought to fear and observe, says in the Gospel, by way of assigning the episcopal dignity and settling the plan of His Church: ‘I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: what whatever things you bind on Earth will be bound also in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth, they will be loosed also in Heaven.’


“From that time the ordination of bishops and the plan of the Church flows on through the changes of times and successions; for the Church is founded upon the bishops (cf. Ephesians 2:20), and every act of the Church is controlled by these same rules. Since this has indeed been established by divine law, I marvel at the rash boldness of certain persons who have desired to write me as if they were writing their letters in the name of the Church, "since the Church is established upon the bishop and upon the clergy and upon all who stand firm in the faith.” (The Lapsed [A.D. 250]).


“They who have not peace themselves now offer peace to others. They who have withdrawn form the Church promise to lead back and to recall the lapsed to the Church. There is one God and one Christ, and one Church, and one Chair founded on Peter by the word of the Lord. It is not possible to set up another altar or for there to be another priesthood besides that one altar and that one priesthood. Whoever has gathered elsewhere is scattering.” (St. Cyprian to All His People).


“Peter holds primacy so as to show that Christ's Church is one, that his chair is one.; God is one. The Lord is one. The Church is one. The Chair founded by Christ is one.” (Epistle 43:5).


"the Lord says to Peter; ’I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; and whatever things you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed also in heaven’ [Matt 16:18-19])…On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were also what Peter was [i.e. apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built can he still be confident that he is in the Church? (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition [A.D. 251]).


“Both baptism is one and the Holy Spirit is one and the Church, founded by Christ the Lord upon Peter, by a source and principle of unity, is one also.”


“If any one consider and examine these things, there is no need for lengthened discussion and arguments. There is easy proof for faith in a short summary of the truth. The Lord speaks to Peter, saying, "I say unto thee, that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." And again to the same He says, after His resurrection, resurrection, He gives an equal power, and says, "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted unto him; and whose soever sins ye retain, they shall be retained;" yet, that He might set forth unity, He arranged by His authority the origin of that unity, as beginning from one. Assuredly the rest of the apostles were also the same as was Peter, endowed with a like partnership both of honour and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity. Which one Church, also, the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs designated in the person of our Lord, and says, "My dove, my spotless one, is but one. She is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bare her." Does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith? Does he who strives against and resists the Church trust that he is in the Church, when moreover the blessed Apostle Paul teaches the same thing, and sets forth the sacrament of unity, saying, "There is one body and one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God?" (Epistle 46).


“But what is the greatness of his error, and what the depth of his blindness, who says that remission of sins can be granted in the synagogues of heretics, and does not abide on the foundation of the one Church which was once based by Christ upon the rock, may be perceived from this, that Christ said to Peter alone, "Whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." And again, in the Gospel, when Christ breathed on the apostles alone, saying, remitted unto them, and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained." Therefore the power of remitting sins was given to the apostles, and to the churches which they, sent by Christ, established, and to the bishops who succeeded to them by vicarious ordination. But the enemies of the one Catholic Church in which we are, and the adversaries of us who have succeeded the apostles, asserting for themselves, in opposition to us, unlawful priesthoods, and setting up profane altars, what else are they than Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, profane with a like wickedness, and about to suffer the same punishments which they did, as well as those who agree with them, just as their partners and abettors perished with a like death to theirs?” (Epistle 74).


“But it is manifest where and by whom remission of sins can be given; to wit, that which is given in baptism. For first of all the Lord gave that power to Peter, upon whom He built the Church, and whence He appointed and showed the source of unity--the power, namely, that whatsoever he loosed on earth should be loosed in heaven. And after the resurrection, also, He speaks to the apostles, saying, "As the Father hath sent me, even so I send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith, unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." Whence we perceive that only they who are set over the Church and established in the Gospel law, and in the ordinance of the Lord, are allowed to baptize and to give remission of sins; but that without, nothing can either be bound or loosed, where there is none who can either bind or loose anything.” (Epistle 72).


“After such things as these, moreover, they still dare--a false bishop having been appointed for them by, heretics--to set sail and to bear letters from schismatic and profane persons to the throne of Peter, and to the chief church whence priestly unity takes its source; and not to consider that these were the Romans whose faith was praised in the preaching of the apostle, to whom faithlessness could have no access.” (Epistle 54).


"Cornelius was made bishop by the decision of God and of his Christ, by the testimony of almost all the clergy, by the applause of the people then present, by the college of venerable priests and good men, at a time when no one had been made [bishop] before him-when the place of [Pope] Fabian, which is the place of Peter, the dignity of the sacerdotal chair, was vacant. Since it has been occupied both at the will of God and with the ratified consent of all of us, whoever now wishes to become bishop must do so outside. For he cannot have ecclesiastical rank who does not hold to the unity of the Church.” (Epistle 51).


“There is easy proof for faith in a short summary of the truth. The Lord speaks to Peter, saying, "I say unto thee, that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." And again to the same He says, after His resurrection, resurrection, He gives an equal power, and says, "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted unto him; and whose soever sins ye retain, they shall be retained;" yet, that He might set forth unity, He arranged by His authority the origin of that unity, as beginning from one. Assuredly the rest of the apostles were also the same as was Peter, endowed with a like partnership both of honour and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity. Which one Church, also, the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs designated in the person of our Lord, and says, "My dove, my spotless one, is but one. She is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bare her." Does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith? Does he who strives against and resists the Church trust that he is in the Church, when moreover the blessed Apostle Paul teaches the same thing, and sets forth the sacrament of unity, saying, "There is one body and one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God?" ” (Treatise 1).


“These [Novatianists] now rend the Church, and rebel against the peace and unity of Christ, and attempt to set up a chair for themselves and to assume the primacy, and to claim the right of baptizing and offering.” (Epistle 69).


“However, certain people sometimes disturb the minds and souls of men by their reports, representing things falsely. To be sure, we furnish all who sail hence with a rule [of faith], lest in sailing they meet with temptation, and we well know that we have exhorted them to acknowledge and hold to the womb and root of the Catholic Church. Our province is somewhat scattered, for it includes Numidia and Mauritania, and the fact of a schism in the city might perplex and unsettle the minds of those absent. Accordingly with the aid of those bishops we ascertained the exact truth and got better authority for the proof of your ordination. Then at length, all scruples being removed from the minds of everyone, we decided to send, and are sending, a letter to you from all throughout the province; so that all our colleagues might give their decided pproval and support to you and your communion, that is, both the unity and the charity of the Catholic Church.” (Epistle 48).


“I received your first letter, dearest brother, which firmly stood by the unity of the priestly college, and agreed with the Catholic Church. In your letter you pointed out that you did not communicate with Novatian, but followed our advice, and agreed with Cornelius, our fellow bishop. You wrote, also, that I should forward a copy of the same letter to our colleague Cornelius, that, so laying aside all anxiety, he might at once know that you held communion with him, that is, with the Catholic Church.
“…There arrived, however, afterwards your other letter, sent by Quintus, our fellow presbyter, in which I perceive that your mind, influenced by a letter of Novatian, has begun to waver…


“I wrote fully to Rome to the clergy, then still acting without a bishop. . . . That I wrote this you may learn from their answer ; for they wrote as follows : "However, in so important a matter, we agree with you that the peace of the Church must be awaited, and then, in a full conference of bishops, presbyters, deacons, and confessors, with the laity also who have stood fast, account be taken of the lapsed." It was added also (Novatian then writing) . . . that peace should be granted to the lapsed who were sick and at the point of death. Which letter was sent throughout the whole world.


“However, in accordance with a previous decision, when the persecution was lulled and opportunity given for meeting together, a large number of bishops assembled. These had been preserved safe and sound by their own faith and the care of the Lord. And, Holy Scripture being cited on both sides, we balanced our resolution [about the lapsed] with healthy moderation. . . . And lest the number of bishops in Africa should seem insuffcient, we wrote to Rome also on this subject to our colleague Cornelius, who himself likewise, in a council held with very many fellow bishops, agreed in the same opinion with us…


“I come now, dearest brother, to the character of Cornelius, our colleague, that you with us may know him more truly, not from the lies of envious and disparaging men, but from the judgement of God who made him a bishop and from the witness of fellow bishops, the whole company of whom, throughout the entire world, have consented with unanimity. . . . He too was made bishop . . . when the place of Fabian, that is, when the place of Peter, and the rank of the priestly chair were vacant. This chair being occupied by God's will, and ratified by the consent of all of us, whoever now wishes to be made bishop . . . whoever he be, although greatly boasting of himself and claiming very much for himself, is profane, an alien and without the pale. And as after the first there cannot be a second, whoever is made after one who ought to be alone is no longer second, but none at all…


“He [Cornelius] sat fearless at Rome in the priestly chair, at that time when a tyrant, hostile to God's priests, was threatening whatever can or cannot be uttered: one who , would with much more patience and endurance hear that a , rival prince was raised against himself than that a priest of God was established at Rome. . . .


“When a bishop has been made in the Church by sixteen fellow bishops, Novatian tries by intrigue to be made an adulterous and strange bishop by deserters; and whereas there is one Church from Christ throughout the whole world divided into many members, and one episcopate, di$used throlrd a harmonious multitude of many bishops, he, in spite of the tradition of God and the unity of the Catholic Church everywhere com- ' pacted and joined together, attempts to make a human church, and sends his new apostles through very many cities, that he may establish certain recent foundations of his own institution. And although there have already been ordained, through all.” (Epistle 55, to Antoian, his brother).


“There is an easy proof for faith in a summary of troth. The Lord says to Peter, " I say unto thee", says he, " that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will builu my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven". Upon one he builds the Church, and though to all the apostles, after' his resurrection, he gives an equalpower and says, "As the Father sent me, even so send I you; receive the Holy Ghost : whose sins ye remit, they are remitted to them : whose ye retain, they shall be retained", yet in order that he might make clear the unity,= by his authority, he has placed the source of the same unity, as beginning from one. Certainly the other apostles were what Peter was, endowed with equal fellowship both of honour and of power, but a beginning is made from unity, that one Church of Christ may be shown. This one Church, also, the Holy Ghost in the person of the Lord describes in the Song of Songs and says : " My dove, my spotless one, is but one ; she is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bare her." He who does not hold this unity of the Church, does he think that he holds the faith? He who opposes and resists the Church, does he trust himself to be in the Church? For the blessed apostle Paul teaches this same thing, and expounds the sacrament of unity saying, "One body and one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God". .


“We ought firmly to hold and assert this unity, especially we bishops who preside in the Church, that we may prove that the episcopate itself also is one and undivided. Let no one deceive the brotherhood by lies; let no one corrupt the truth of the faith by a faithless treachery. The episcopate is one, part of which is held by each one in solidity.” (De Catholicae Ecclesiae Unitate, version one, the one most scholars agree is the original).


“Thou art Peter . . . shall be loosed in heaven ". And to the same after his resurrection, he says to him "Feed my sheep ". Upon him he builds the Church, and he commits to him the sheep to feed, and though to all the apostles he gives an equal power, yet he founded one chair, and by his authority appointed the source and system of unity. Certainly the rest were as Peter was, but primacy is given to Peter and one Church and one chair is shown : and they are all shepherds, but one flock is exhibited, which is fed by all the apostles with unanimous consent. And he who does not hold this unity of his Church, does he think he holds the faith? He who deserts the chair of Peter, upon whom the Church was founded, does he trust himself to be in the Church? The episcopate is one, part of which is held by each one in solidity.” (De Catholicae Ecclesiae Unitate, version two).


“The Lord says to Peter, "I say unto thee", says he, "that thou art Peter . . . shall be loosed in heaven ". And to the same after his resurrection he says "Feed my sheep ". Upon that one he builds the Church, and he commits to him his sheep to feed, and though to all the apostles he gives an equal power, yet he founded one chair, and appointed the origin of unity by the authority of his utterance. Certainly the rest were as Peter, but primacy is given to Peter that one Church and one chair may be shown : and they are all shepherds, but one flock is exhibited, which is fed by all the apostles with unanimous consent. And he who does not hold this unity of Paul, does he think he holds the faith? He who deserts the chair of Peter upon which the Church was founded, does he trust himself to be in the Church? Upon one he builds the Church, and though to all the apostles.” (De Catholicae Ecclesiae Unitate, version three).


“The Lord says to Peter, "I say unto thee", says he, ‘that thou art Peter . . . shall be loosed also in heaven’. And again to the same after his resurrection he says ‘Feed my sheep’. Upon that one he builds his Church, and he commits to him his sheep to feed. And though to all the apostles after his resurrection he gives an equal power and says, "As the Father sent me, even so send I you ; receive the Holy Ghost : whose sins ye remit, they are remitted to them : whose ye retain, shall be retained", yet in order that he might make clear the unity, he founded one chair; by his authority he has placed the source of the same unity as beginning from one. Certainly the other apostles were what Peter was, endowed with equal fellowship both of honour and of power, but a beginning is made from unity, and primacy is given to Peter, that one Church of Christ and one chair may be shown: and they are all shepherds and one flock is exhibited, which is fed by all the apostles with unanimous consent, that one Church of Christ may be shown. This one Church, also, the Hob Ghost in the person of the Lord describes in the Song of Songs and says: " My dove, my spotless one, is but one; she is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bare her." He who does not hold this unity of the Church, does he think that he holds the faith? He who opposes and resists the Church, he who deserts the chair of Peter on whom the Church is founded, does he trust himself to be in the Church? For the blessed apostle Paul teaches this same thing, and expounds the sacrament of unity saying, ‘One body and one spirit, one hope of your call in., one Lord, one-faith, one baptism, one God.’


“We ought firmly to hold and assert this unity, especially we bishops who preside in the Church, that we may prove that the episcopate itself also is one and undivided. Let no one deceive the brotherhood by lies; let no one corrupt the truth of the faith by a faithless treachery. The episcopate is one, part of which is held by each one in solidity.


“[the following two paragraphs are also found in the second and third versions]. . . The episcopate is one, part of which is held by each one in solidity. The Church is one, though it is widely spread into a multitude by an increase of fruitfulness. . . . Of her womb we are born, with her milk we are fed, with her spirit we are made alive. The spouse of Christ cannot become adulterate; she is undefiled and pure. She knows one home. . . . And does anyone think that this unity coming from the divine strength, and cohering in the heavenly sacraments, can be seoered in the Church, and split by the divorce of contending wills? He who does not hold this unity does not hold the law of God, or the faith of the Father and the Son, or life and salvation. Who then is so wicked, faithless, or insane with the madness of discord, as to think he can rend or dare to rend God's unity, the Lord's robe, Christ's Church? He himself warns us in his gospel, and teaches saying, "And there shall be one flock and one shepherd". And does anyone think there can be in one place either many shepherds or many flocks? . . . Do you think you can stand and live, withdrawn from the Church, building for yourself other seats and different homes?


“. . . There is one God, and one Christ, and his Church is one, and the faith is one, and there is one people joined in solid unity of the body by the glue of agreement. Unity cannot be severed, nor can. the one body be separated by a division of its structure, or be torn with its entrails extracted by laceration. Parted from the womb, a thing cannot live and breathe separately; it loses the substance if health.” (De Catholicae Ecclesiae Unitate, version four, manuscript dates back to the tenth century).


“What sort of people do you think they are, those enemies of the priests and rebels against the Catholic Church, who are alarmed neither by the severe warning of the Lord, nor by the vengeance of future judgement? For this has been the source from which heresies and schisms have arisen, that God'spriest is not obeyed, nor do people reflect that there is for the time one priest in the church, who for the time is judge instead of Christ, and if the whole brotherhood would obey him, according to divine teaching, no one would stir up anything against the college of priests; no one after the divine judgement, after the votes of the people, after the consent of the fellow bishops, would make himself a judge, not now of the bishop but of God…


“Peter, however, on whom the Church has been built by the same Lord, speaking one for all, and answering with the voice of the Church, says, "Lord to whom shall we go?" .


“Hence too, dearest brother, you may at once discern the other lies which desperate and abandoned men have there spread around….


“For these too it was not enough to have departed from the gospel, to have deprived the lapsed of the hope of satisfaction and penance. . . . After all this, they yet in addition, having had a false bishop ordained for them by heretics, dare to set sail, and to carry letters from schismatic and profane persons to the chair of Peter, and to the principal church, whence the unity of the priesthood took its rise.3 They fail to reflect that those Romans are the same as those whose faith was publicly praised by the apostle, to whom unbelief cannot have access. (Epstile 59, to Cornelius [A.D. 252]).


“. . . Over there [i.e. in Rome], the courage of the bishop who leads has been publicly tested, and the unity of the brethren who accept his leadership has been displayed. Since there is one mind and one voice among you Romans, your whole church has confessed.


“Dearest brother, the faith which the blessed apostle praised in you has been evident. This excellence of courage and firmness of strength he even then foresaw in the Spirit . . . the examples of agreement and bravery which you have given to the other brethren are magnificent.” (Epistle 60, to Cornelius).


“. . . The cup of the Lord is not water alone, or wine alone, unless both are mingled together, so also the body of the Lord cannot be flour alone, or water alone, unless both be united and joined together and compacted in the structure of one loaf. In this-very sacrament our people are shown to be made one ; so that just as many grains collected into one, and ground and mingled together make one loaf, so in Christ, who is the heavenly bread, we may know that there is one body, in which our whole company is joined and united.” (Epistle 63).


“ "We believe and are sure that thou art the Son of the living God." There speaks Peter, upon whom the Church was to be built. He teaches and shows in the name of the Church that although a rebellious and proud multitude of heedless men may withdraw, yet the Church does not depart from Christ. And they are the Church who are a people united to the priest, and a flock sticking to its shepherd. From this you ought to realize that the bishop is in the Church, and the Church in the bishop; and if any one is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church. Further, they flatter themselves in vain who creep in and imagine that they communicate secretly with some people, without having peace with the priests of God. In actual fact the Church which is catholic and one is not cut or divided, but is undoubtedly connected and joined together by the cement of priests mutually cleaving to each other.” (Epistle 66).


“To admit that they have baptized is to approve the baptism of heretics and schismatics. For it cannot be partly void and partly valid. If he could baptize, he could also give the Holy Ghost. But if he cannot give the Holy Ghost, because, standing without the pale, he is not with the Holy Ghost, neither can he baptize anyone who comes [to him],.because there is one baptism and one Holy Ghost and one Church I ! founded by Christ our Lord upon Peter for the origin and principle of unity. So it comes about that all among them is empty and false, and that nothing which they have done ought to have our approval.” (Epistle 70).


“Nor should we be governed by custom, but reason should prevail. For even Peter, whom the Lord chosejrst, and on whom I he built his Church, when Paul later disputed with him about 11 circumcision, did not claim anything insolently for himself, or assume anything arrogantly, or say that he held the primacy and ought to be obeyed the more by novices and new-comers. . . . His Church should know that remission of sins can only be given in the Church, and that the enemies.” (Epistle 71, to Quintus).