1. ANTECEDENTS
PRIMA SEDES A NEMINE INDICETUR
-
Although canon
law provided that in case of emergency a general council can solve the disputed
questions, the principle that no one might judge the pope (Prima sedes a
nemine indicetur) and that he was only responsible to God had increasingly
received recognition since the early Middle Ages.
-
This concept
developed to protect the pope against deposition by emperors and the despotism
of roman noble families in the saeculum obscurum.
-
Gregory VII à Dictatus Papae, 1075) à Innocent III à Boniface VIII > decline
HOW
TO DEAL WITH A HERETIC POPE?
-
There is a
possibility that even a pope could fall into heresy or mental illness
-
If a Pope fell
into heresy, there would have to be a board which could note the fact and draw
the proper consequences; it was impossible that a heretic could be a legitimate
pope, and then he simply was no longer pope and would have to be removed from
the papal throne.
-
This
determination has to be made by a general council and the incumbent cardinals
and the emperor as the protector of the Roman Church must convoke and conduct
the council.
-
Canonists and
papalists like Aegidius Romanus[1] (+1316), Augustinus Triumphus (+1328), and Alvarus
Pelagius (+1349) agreed to this maxim
GENERAL
COUNCIL
-
It must be
conducted with a Pope. A council without a Pope is unthinkable. That is why
there’s hesitation in the via concilii.
-
The Pope has the
exclusive right to call an ecumenical council (16th proposition, Dictatus
Papae, 1075)
ECUMENICAL
COUNCILS
ECUMENICAL
COUNCILS
|
DATE
|
POPE
|
EVENTS
|
First
Lateran Council
|
1123
|
Calixtus
II
|
It
extends the validity of the Concordat of Worms to the whole Church
|
Second
Lateran Council
|
1139
|
Innocent
II
|
It
ends the schism of Anacletus
|
Third
Lateran Council
|
1179
|
Alexander
III
|
|
Fourth
Lateran Council
|
1215
|
Innocent
III
|
For
the reform of the Church
|
First
Council of Lyons
|
1245
|
Innocent
IV
|
Depose
Emperor Frederick II
|
Second
Council of Lyons
|
1274
|
Gregory
X
|
|
Council
of Vienne
|
1311
|
Under the influence of the
French monarchy through the weak Avignon Papacy
|
Trial
of the Templars
|
General
Council at Pisa
|
1409
|
13 cardinals of both
obediences
|
COUNCIL
AT PISA (1409)
-
against the will
of their masters, 13 cardinals of both obediences call the council of Pisa
(1409)
-
> 100 bishops
attended + another 100 sent delegates with powers of proxy + plenipotentiaries
of > 200 abbots, cathedral chapters and universities.
-
They elected a
new Pope, Alexander V who died the following year and the notorious cardinal Cossa
(John XXIII) became his successor.
-
The council of Pisa
was legally valid. But Gregory XII and Benedict XIII still refused to be
replaced.
-
There are now 3
Popes of equal measure which can be viewed as legitimate or illegitimate.
-
The obediences of
Gregory XII and Benedict XIII diminished and now Alexander and then John had
the greatest obediences.
2. CONSTANCE (1414), THE COUCIL OF UNITY
-
There are now 3
Popes of equal measure which can be viewed as legitimate or illegitimate.
-
King Sigismund[3] (1410-1437) favored the Pisan Pope John XXIII and
calls for a new council to heal the triple split in Christendom.
-
John XXIII opens
the Council of Constance (Nov. 1414) who hopes that the council will declare
him sole legitimate pope (but this was not to be)
-
Under the
influence of Cardinals d’Ailly, Fillastre, Zarabella and
the chancellor of the University of Paris, Gerson à unity could only achieved if all three popes were to
resign.
-
Manner of
voting: In order to break the Italian
majority, French, Germans, and English forced the procedure of voting according
to “nations” not according to number; each of the 4 nations have one
vote in the general voting. It succeeded in overcoming the superior strength of
John XXIII and the Italians.
-
Fifth vote is
cast by the college of Cardinals
JOHN
XXIII FLED
-
When he saw that
his chances disappear and realized that because of his former transgression he
would be put on trial, John XXIII secretly fled (March 20/21, 1415)
-
From Schafhausen
he attacked the council with accusations and threats.
-
He almost
succeeded in dissolving the council when he fled.
CONSTANCE
CONTINUED EVEN WITHOUT A POPE
-
King Sigismund
intervened and proclaimed that the council would continue its work even without
the Pope
-
March 23 – John
Gerson gave a speech and established the reason why pope had no right to
dissolve the council.
-
March 26 – fist
session without a Pope
-
Card. Zabarella
pushed a motion of not dispersing until schism is resolved.
HAEC
SANCTA
-
Because of John
XXIII’s disturbance in dissolving the council, the council on April 6, 1415
passed the famous decree Haec Sancta.
-
It is a decree
that solemnly declared that it regarded itself as duly summoned, acting in the
Holy Spirit, representing the whole Church militant, and receiving its
authority directly from God; therefore, every Christian, even the pope, hade to
be obedient to the council “ in what is decided with respect to the faith, the
overcoming of the schism, and a general reform in head and members”
-
It is not a
dogmatic definition of faith. Like what Marsilius of Padua had advocated i.e.
the Pope is subordinate to the council.
WHAT
HAPPENED TO JOHN XXII?
-
He tried to
escape across the Rhine into Burgundy to continue his attacks to the council
there.
-
Sigismund
arrested him and tried.
-
John XXIII was
deposed on May 29, 1415.
WHAT
HAPPENED TO GREGORY XII?
-
He announced his
voluntary resignation on July 4, 1415
-
This nonagenarian
is unshaken in his conviction that he is the legitimate pope
-
He convoked the
council once more in his own name and his request was granted, even though or
precisely because, no one attributed any importance to the act (Haec Sancta).
WHAT
HAPPENED TO BENEDICT XIII?
-
Sigismund
personally negotiated at Perpignan without any result.
-
At least other followers
defected, principally Spaniards so that Spain constituted the Fifth Nation.
-
Proceeding
against Benedict were initiated which ended in his deposition on July 26, 1417.
3. JOHN HUS AND HIS TRIAL AT CONSTANCE
HUS’
LIFE AND WYCLIF’S INFLUENCE
-
During his
studies he acquainted with the ideas of John Wyclif who since 1374 attacked Fiscalism
of Avignon Papacy, wealth of the Church of prelates, and the hierarchy while at
the same time contrasting it to the Church of the predestined which was to
renounce property and live in apostolic poverty. Wyclif declared that in the
true church of Christ only those who lived in state of grace had a place; most
of all, no mortal sinner can have a leading position in the Christian Society
(Church or State).
-
Hus denied the
Church as a sacramental community of redemption in Christ.
-
Hus adopted
Wyclif’s tenets and found a strong response among his Czech listeners.
-
Wyclif is theologically,
politically, and sociologically revolutionary because you remove the sinners
from public life.
ANTI-GERMAN
SENTIMENT
-
There was an
anti-German sentiment in the ruling clergy in Bohemia which fused with
ecclesiastical and religious tendencies which were determined by Wyclif’s idea.
-
Pope Alexander V
ordered the Archbishop of Prague (a German) to take step against Wyclif’s heresies.
It was defended by Hus.
-
He appealed to
John XXIII but the Archbishop had also turned to John XXIII
-
He was
excommunicated by the Pope but the Bohemian King Wenzel protected him
-
Add to this to
the tension à John XXIII trade in indulgences for he needed money for war against
Ladislaus of Naples.
HUS’
TRIAL
-
Sigismund
insisted that Hus be death with the council of Constance and offered him safe
conduct
-
The Pope lifted
the ban and he can now move freely.
-
Nov 28 – first
hearing of Hus and following he was imprisoned although Sigismund protested
vehemently.
-
His case receded
in the background because of the overshadowing question of unity.
-
In the wake of
John’s flight to Constance, and Haec Sancta à they deal with Hus and a chance to prove independence
in matters of faith.
D’AILLY,
FILASTRE, ZABARELLA, AND GERSON’S IMPARTIALITY
-
Doubtless
intellectual and moral qualities
-
They are not
Germans but French (so national sentiment can’t be involved)
-
They are not
Papalists but moderate conciliarists
-
Opponent of John
XXIII and other popes of the Schism
THE
HUS TRIAL CONTINUES
-
Hus defended
himself in the accusation of being heretic
-
(+) 30 heretical
compositions in his writings whom he did not deny to have been written but
defended its orthodoxy.
-
When he did not
recant, they asked him to recant even their wrong meaning. He retorted that he
cannot recant what he never had had in his mind.
-
He obstinately
rejected subjection and idea of recanting.
-
D’Ailly,
Zabarella and Sigismund vainly persuaded him to recant
-
Sentence: Because he had dogmatized, defended and
preached the heresies of Wyclif he was sentence to death (burning at the stake)
on July 6, 1415
-
Sigismund asked
him for the last time in the fire but he refused
-
History avenged
Hus terribly with the Hussite Wars (1420-1431) in Bohemia and Germany
4. THE QUESTION OF THE REFORM AT THE COUNCIL
-
All agreed in the
necessity of the reform but when is the proper timing to discuss it.
-
Is it before
or after the election of the new Pontiff?
BEFORE
PAPAL ELECTION
-
If before the
Papal election, it means the pope will be fundamentally subordinate council.
Therefore, was Haec Sancta limited to this exceptional case or was it
intended fundamentally to subordinate the pope to the council?
-
Strict
conciliarist asserted that it was intended fundamentally to subordinate the
pope to the council.
-
German and
English[5] took the view that the authority of the general
council should bind the pope.
AFTER
PAPAL ELECTION
-
If after the papal
election, it means that reforms are part of the normal administration of the
Church and were reserved to the pope.
COMPROMISE
-
Compromise: 5
decrees which previously had been debated were passed on October 9, 1417. among
them was the decree Frequens.[5points]
-
FREQUENS is a conciliar
document which provided for the regular ecumenical council to celebrate every
ten years and the Pope has to be obliged.
-
The English and
Germans finally agreed and election proceeded.
5. PAPAL ELECTION
-
In addition to 26
cardinals, 6 representatives from each of the five nations were included in the
conclave (Nov. 8, 1417) = 56 electors
-
Within 3 days
election was finished despite of complex electoral procedure.
-
Nov.11, 1417 –
Cardinal Odo of Colonna (Martin V) was elected.
-
The unity of the
body of Christ has been restored.
6. AFTER THE REFORM
-
The leadership of
the council passed to the new pope.
-
April 22, 1418 -
he concluded the council. Questions on Haec Sancta and Frequens in a
conciliarist sense were rejected. The two decrees were ambivalent and can be
understood in a moderate, orthodox sense or radical, heretical, conciliarist
sense
-
The majority
non-conciliarist understood the decrees as conservative and moderate.
-
The minority
conciliarist did not accept defeat and soon were to assume dangerous
proportion.
17th
GENERAL COUNCIL AT BASLE (July 23, 1431)
-
Eugene IV
(1431-1447) called the council
-
Dissension
between him and the council members who keep the conciliarist theory begin to
regard themselves as superior to the pope. The pope will be the last resort in
the legal and administrative concerns of the Church.
-
Eugene
transferred the problem from Basle to Ferrara (1437). But a small group of
radical conciliarist remained in Basle until 1449 and proclaimed supremacy of
the council over the pope as doctrine of faith; they deposed Eugene and elected
an Anti-Pope Felix Và SCHISM AGAIN! But the last in the church history.
-
1449, Felix V
resigned, the end of radical conciliarism in the Church
-
but the effect of
conciliarism is to be felt for a long time.
[1]
He participated in the formulation of the Unam Sanctam.
[2] It provides
that the cardinals were to congregate 10 days after the death of Pope at the
place of death in strict privacy (conclave) for the election of a successor and
should be forced to a quick conclusion of the election through increasing
reduction of daily food rations.
[3]
The life and soul of the council of Constance
[4]
Southern Bohemia
[5]
Conciliaristic ideas took progress in Germany and England which is not true
with regard to other nations.
