- During the early history of Christianity, Rome became an increasingly important center of the faith, which gave the bishop of Rome (the pope) more power over the entire church, thereby ushering in the era of papal supremacy.
- When Catholicism became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380, the power of the pope increased, although he was still subordinate to the emperor.
- After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the pope served as a source of authority and continuity; however, for several centuries afterward the Eastern Roman Emperor still maintained authority over the church.
- From the late-6th to the late-8th century there was a turning of the papacy to the West and an escape from subordination to the authority of the Byzantine emperors of Constantinople.
- When Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor in 800, he established the precedent that, in Western Europe, no man would be emperor without being crowned by a pope.
- After a conflict known as the Investiture Controversy, as well as from the launching of the Crusades, the papacy increased its power in relation to the secular rulers of Europe.
- Throughout the Middle Ages, popes struggled with monarchs over power. LUMEN: WESTERN CIVILIZATION: The Development Of Papal Supremacy
- Papal supremacy
- The doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole church. The doctrine had the most significance in the relationship between the church and the temporal state, in matters such as ecclesiastic privileges, the actions of monarchs, and even successions. The creation of the term “papal supremacy” dates back to the 6th century, at the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which was the beginning of the rise of the bishops of Rome to not just the position religious authority, but the power to be the ultimate ruler of the kingdoms within the Christian community (Christendom), which it has since retained. Ibid.
When was papal supremacy accepted by the entirety of the Catholic Church?
Hard to pin point before 381CE, but when the Roman Emperor created the See of Constantinople, and attempted to replace the supremacy of the Patriarch of Rome, the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch refused to recognise the authority of the Imperially imposed See, so the emperor relented and acknowledged the primacy of the Patriarch of Rome, and made the Patriarch of Constantinople second in order. Basically, the argument of the Patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria is that Constantinople has no apostolic authority nor was it founded by an apostle. The Patriarch of Rome via the Magisterium (council of bishops) had always acted as arbiter in disputes between the mainstream Christian Churches. Contrary to common belief, it did not directly participate in any of the Ecumenical Councils, albeit it may have had observers or appointed legates. The RCC simply ratified all the Ecumenical Councils once argumentation had ceased. QUORA: When Was Papal Supremacy Accepted By The Entirety Of The Catholic Church By Paul Clifford.
Irenaeus of Lyons believed in the second century that Peter and Paul had been the founders of the church in Rome and had appointed Linus as succeeding bishop. From the beginning of his papacy in 401, Pope Innocent I was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. During his papacy, the Roman apostolic See was seen as the ultimate resort for the settlement of all ecclesiastical disputes. His communications with Victricius of Rouen, Exuperius of Toulouse, Alexander of Antioch and others, as well as his actions on the appeal made to him by John Chrysostom against Theophilus of Alexandria, show that opportunities of this kind were numerous and varied. Pope Leo I was a significant contributor to the centralisation of spiritual authority within the church and in reaffirming papal authority. The bishop of Rome had gradually become viewed as the chief patriarch in the Western church. On several occasions, Leo was asked to arbitrate disputes in Gaul. One involved Hilary of Arles, who refused to recognize Leo’s judicial status. Leo appealed to past practice, “And so we would have you recollect, brethren, as we do, that the Apostolic See, such is the reverence in which it is held, has times out of number been referred to and consulted by the priests of your province as well as others, and in the various matters of appeal, as the old usage demanded, it has reversed or confirmed decisions: and in this way ‘the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Ephesians 4:3 has been kept'”, Feeling that the primatial rights of the bishop of Rome were threatened, Leo appealed to the civil power for support and obtained, from Valentinian III, a decree of 6 June 445, which recognized the primacy of the bishop of Rome based on the merits of Peter, the dignity of the city, and the legislation of the First Council of Nicaea; and provided for the forcible extradition by provincial governors of any bishop who refused to answer a summons to Rome. Gelasius I, who served from 492 to 496, in a controversy with Anastasius, the Byzantine emperor, likewise fought to maintain the doctrine of papal supremacy. This dispute was an incipient point of conflict between the Holy See and the Empire. WIKIPEDIA: First Phase Of Papal Supremacy
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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