What we now call popes were originally bishops of Rome (one bishop among brother bishops from other cities). Then they became popes, with power over the entire Catholic Church. Then they became so powerful that they were able to depose kings and emperors. They became so powerful that they were able to force kings use their secular might to enforce the Inquisition. In 1870, the Pope was declared to be infallible.<\/p>\n
Hans Kung is a Catholic priest and a theologian. He was a theological consultant to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). However, in 1979, he was disciplined by the Vatican because he opposed the doctrine of papal infallibility. According to Kung, historical research shows that, starting as early as the fifth century, the popes \u201cdecisively extended their power with explicit forgeries.\u201d[1]<\/p>\n
These forged documents were used to change people\u2019s perception of the history of the papacy and of the Catholic Church. They created false credentials and an illusion of antiquity. For example, if a Pope wanted to depose a king, he could cite a forged document that said that an early pope had done the same kind of thing. This would establish a false precedent to justify his actions.<\/p>\n
One of the most famous forgeries is the \u201cPseudo-Isidorian Decretals,\u201d which were written around A.D. 845. (They are also known as the \u201cFalse Decretals.\u201d) They consist of 115 documents that were supposedly written by early popes.[2]<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Catholic Encyclopedia\u201d admits that these are forgeries. It says that the purpose of these forged documents was to enable the Church to be independent of secular power, and to prevent the laity from ruling the Church.[3]<\/p>\n
In other words, the purpose of the forgeries was to increase the power of the Pope and the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
In addition to documents that were total forgeries, many genuine documents were altered. Forged material was added to 125 genuine documents, in order to increase the power of the Pope. Many early documents were changed to say the opposite of what they had originally said.[4]<\/p>\n
One of the forgeries is a letter that was falsely attributed to Saint Ambrose. It said that if a person does not agree with the Holy See (the Vatican), then he or she is a heretic. This is an example of how papal power was promoted by fraudulently claiming the authority of highly respected Early Fathers.[5]<\/p>\n
Another famous forgery from the ninth century was \u201cThe Donation of Constantine.\u201d It claimed that Emperor Constantine gave the western provinces of the Roman Empire to the Bishop of Rome. The Pope used it to claim authority in secular matters.[6]<\/p>\n
When Greek Christians tried to discuss issues with the Church in Rome, the popes often used forged documents to back their claims. This happened so frequently that, for 700 years, the Greeks referred to Rome as \u201cthe home of forgeries.\u201d[7]<\/p>\n
For three hundred years, the \u201cPseudo-Isidorian Decretals\u201d and other forgeries were used by Roman Popes to claim authority over the Church in the East. The Patriarch of Constantinople rejected these false claims of primacy. This resulted in the separation of the Orthodox Church from the Roman Catholic Church.[8]<\/p>\n
In the middle of the twelfth century, a monk named Gratian wrote the \u201cDecretum,\u201d which became the basis for Canon Law (the legal system for running the Roman Catholic Church). It contained numerous quotations from forged documents. Gratian drew many of his conclusions from those quotations. He quoted 324 passages that were supposedly written by popes of the first four centuries. Of those passages, only 11 are genuine. The other 313 quotations are forgeries.[9]<\/p>\n
In the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas wrote the \u201cSumma Theologica\u201d and numerous other works. His writings are the foundation for scholastic theology. Aquinas used Gratian\u2019s \u201cDecretum\u201d for quotations from church fathers and early popes.[10] Aquinas also used forged documents that he thought were genuine.[11]<\/p>\n
The importance of Thomas Aquinas\u2019 theology can be seen in the encyclical of Pope Pius X on the priesthood. In 1906, Pius said that, in their study of philosophy, theology, and Scripture, men studying for the priesthood should follow the directions given by the popes and the teaching of Thomas Aquinas.[12]<\/p>\n
William Webster wrote the book, \u201cThe Church of Rome at the Bar of History.\u201d He is a former Catholic. Webster has an online article called, \u201cForgeries and the Papacy: The Historical Influence and Use of Forgeries in Promotion of the Doctrine of the Papacy.\u201d It gives detailed information about the \u201cPseudo-Isidorian Decretals\u201d and other forged documents, showing their influence on the power of the papacy, and on the theology of the Catholic Church.[13]<\/p>\n
Four quotations from Webster\u2019s article are below. (They are used by permission obtained by Mary Ann Collins.) Webster writes:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the middle of the ninth century, a radical change began in
\n the Western Church, that dramatically altered the Constitution
\n of the Church, and laid the ground work for the full
\n development of the papacy. The papacy could never have emerged
\n without a fundamental restructuring of the Constitution of the
\n Church and of men\u2019s perceptions of the history of that
\n Constitution. As long as the true facts of Church history were
\n well known, it would serve as a buffer against any unlawful
\n ambitions. However, in the 9th century, a literary forgery
\n occurred that completely revolutionized the ancient government
\n of the Church in the West. This forgery is known as the
\n \u201cPseudo-Isidorian Decretals,\u201d written around 845 A.D. The
\n \u201cDecretals\u201d are a complete fabrication of Church history. They
\n set forth precedents for the exercise of sovereign authority of
\n the popes over the universal Church prior to the fourth century
\n and make it appear that the popes had always exercised
\n sovereign dominion and had ultimate authority even over Church
\n Councils.<\/p>\n
\u201c…The historical facts reveal that the papacy was never a
\n reality as far as the universal Church is concerned. There are
\n many eminent Roman Catholic historians who have testified to
\n that fact as well as to the importance of the forgeries,
\n especially those of \u201cPseudo-Isidore.\u201d One such historian is
\n Johann Joseph Ignaz von Dollinger. He was the most renowned
\n Roman Catholic historian of the last century, who taught Church
\n history for 47 years as a Roman Catholic. [Webster quotes
\n extensively from Dollinger.]<\/p>\n
\u201c…In addition to the \u201cPseudo Isidorian Decretals\u201d there were
\n other forgeries that were successfully used for the promotion
\n of the doctrine of papal primacy. One famous instance is that
\n of Thomas Aquinas. In 1264 A.D. Thomas authored a work entitled
\n \u201cAgainst the Errors of the Greeks.\u201d This work deals with the
\n issues of theological debate between the Greek and Roman
\n Churches in that day on such subjects as the Trinity, the
\n Procession of the Holy Spirit, Purgatory and the Papacy. In his
\n defense of the papacy Thomas bases practically his entire
\n argument on forged quotations of Church fathers… These
\n spurious quotations had enormous influence on many Western
\n theologians in succeeding centuries.<\/p>\n
\u201c…The authority claims of Roman Catholicism ultimately
\n devolve upon the institution of the papacy. The papacy is the
\n center and source from which all authority flows for Roman
\n Catholicism. Rome has long claimed that this institution was
\n established by Christ and has been in force in the Church from
\n the very beginning. But the historical record gives a very
\n different picture. This institution was promoted primarily
\n through the falsification of historical fact through the
\n extensive use of forgeries as Thomas Aquinas\u2019 apologetic for
\n the papacy demonstrates. Forgery is its foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is a website with several articles about the Catholic Church\u2019s used of forged documents.[14] These forgeries were one of the causes of the \u201cGreat Schism\u201d between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.[15]<\/p>\n
Forged documents are the foundation of the power of the papacy. They also had a significant influence on Catholic theology and Canon Law.<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
1. Hans Kung, \u201cThe Catholic Church: A Short History\u201d (translated by John Bowden), page 61. The author is a Catholic theologian and a priest. Pope John XXIII appointed him to be a theological consultant during the Second Vatican Council. In 1979, the Vatican disciplined him because he opposed the doctrine of papal infallibility.<\/p>\n
2. William Webster, pages 62-63. Peter de Rosa, pages 58-61, 174, 208. Paul Johnson, page 195. (Johnson and de Rosa are Catholics.)<\/p>\n
3. \u201cBenedict Levita,\u201d \u201cThe Catholic Encyclopedia,\u201d Volume II, 1907. Benedict Levita is the pseudonym of the author of the \u201cPseudo-Isidorian Decretals.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Peter de Rosa, page 59.<\/p>\n
The use of forged documents in developing papal power. The author is a former Jesuit priest.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.crusadeforcatholics.com\/newpage63.htm<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.remnantofgod.org\/x-jesuit.htm<\/p>\n
5. Peter de Rosa, page 166.<\/p>\n
6. Paul Johnson, pages 170-172.<\/p>\n
7. Peter de Rosa, page 59.<\/p>\n
8. Orthodox Christian Information Center, \u201cThe False Decretals of Isidore.\u201d This is an excerpt from the book, \u201cThe Papacy\u201d by Abbee Guette. The author was a devout Catholic and a historian. As a result of his historical research about the papacy, he eventually joined the Orthodox Church.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.orthodoxinfo.com\/inquirers\/decretals.htm<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Great Schism of 1054\u201d (a sermon given at a Russian Orthodox Cathedral)<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.stjohndc.org\/Homilies\/9606a.htm<\/p>\n
9. William Webster, pages 62-63. Peter de Rosa, page 60.<\/p>\n
10. William Webster, page 63. Peter de Rosa, page 60.<\/p>\n
11. William Webster, \u201cForgeries and the papacy: The Historical Influence and Use of Forgeries in Promotion of the Doctrine of the Papacy.\u201d This article gives detailed accounts of Thomas Aquinas\u2019 use of forged documents. Aquinas mistakenly believed them to be genuine.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.christiantruth.com\/forgeries.html<\/p>\n
12. Pius X, \u201cPieni l\u2019animo\u201d (\u201cOn the Clergy in Italy\u201d), July 28, 1906. (See paragraph 6.)<\/p>\n
13. William Webster, \u201cForgeries and the Papacy: The Historical Influence and Use of Forgeries in Promotion of the Doctrine of the Papacy\u201d<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.christiantruth.com\/forgeries.html<\/p>\n
The use of forged documents in developing papal power. The author is a former Jesuit priest.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.crusadeforcatholics.com\/newpage63.htm<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.remnantofgod.org\/x-jesuit.htm<\/p>\n
14. The Medieval Papacy. This article includes a good summary of information about forged documents and their use to increase papal power.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.christianchronicler.com\/history1\/medieval_papacy.html<\/p>\n
The use of forged documents in developing papal power. The author is a former Jesuit priest.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.crusadeforcatholics.com\/newpage63.htm<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.remnantofgod.org\/x-jesuit.htm<\/p>\n
15. \u201cThe Great Schism of 1054\u201d<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.stjohndc.org\/Homilies\/9606a.htm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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