Chapter 2. On the permanence of the
primacy of blessed Peter in the Roman pontiffs
That
which our lord Jesus Christ, the prince of shepherds and great shepherd of
the sheep, established in the blessed apostle Peter, for the continual
salvation and permanent benefit of the church, must of necessity remain
for ever, by Christ's authority, in the church which, founded as it is
upon a rock, will stand firm until the end of time45.
For
no one can be in doubt, indeed it was known in every age that the holy and
most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, the pillar of faith
and the foundation of the catholic church, received the keys of the
kingdom from our lord Jesus Christ, the saviour and redeemer of the
human race, and that to this day and for ever he lives and presides and
exercises judgment in his successors the bishops of the holy Roman see,
which he founded and consecrated with his blood46.
Therefore
whoever succeeds to the chair of Peter obtains by the institution of
Christ himself, the primacy of Peter over the whole church. So what the
truth has ordained stands firm, and blessed Peter perseveres in the
rock-like strength he was granted, and does not abandon that guidance of
the church which he once received47.
For
this reason it has always been necessary for every church--that is to say the
faithful throughout the world--to be in agreement with the Roman church
because of its more effective leadership. In consequence of being joined,
as members to head, with that see, from which the rights of sacred
communion flow to all, they will grow together into the structure of a
single body48.
Therefore,
if
anyone says that
it
is not by the institution of Christ the lord himself (that is to say, by
divine law) that blessed Peter should have perpetual successors in the
primacy over the whole church; or that
the
Roman pontiff is not the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy:
let him be anathema.
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