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Handout #137 |
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Council of Florence: union with the Greeks (6 July 1439) |
| Eugenius, bishop,
servant of the servants of God, that remembrance may be kept for ever. In
agreement over everything that follows with our most dear son John
Paleologus, illustrious emperor of the Romans, with the representatives of
our venerable brethren the patriarchs and with the other members who
represent the Eastern church.
'Let the heavens rejoice and the earth exult' (Ps. 95:11). Here, indeed, the wall which separated the Eastern church and the Western Church has been destroyed, and peace and concord have returned through 'Christ the corner-stone who has made the two one (Eph. 2:20,14), the most powerful bond of peace joining them and attaching them by a treaty of perpetual unity; behold, after a prolonged cloud of sadness and the black and odious darkness of a long separation, the serene rays of a union so long desired have at last shone for all. Here Indeed, after a very long period of dissension and discord, the fathers of West and East, exposing themselves to the dangers, of sea and land and coming to the end of all difficulties, arrived joyfully and with good cheer at this holy ecumenical council, impelled by the desire of most holy union and with the intent of restoring the ancient bond of charity. Nor have their purposes been frustrated. Indeed, after long and laborious searching, by the mercy of the Holy Spirit, they have at last arrived at this union, so holy and so desired ...Latins and Greek, meeting in this holy ecumenical synod, have shown great zeal one with another so that, among other points, the article which deals with the divine procession of the Holy Spirit has been discussed with great care and after prolonged examinations ... (there follows a long account of the discussions of the filioque). Our definition is that the body of Christ is truly consecrated in bread made of grain whether it is unleavened or leavened, and that priests may consecrate this same Body of Christ using one land of bread or the other depending on the custom of their church, whether Western or Eastern ... (There follow the positions taken on purgatory and hell.) We also define that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman pontiff have primacy over all the earth: that this Roman pontiff is the successor of the blessed Peter... We confirm the order to be observed among the other venerable patriarchs which has been transmitted to us by the canons, so that the Patriarch of Constantinople is the second after the, holy Pontiff of Rome that of Alexandria the third, that of Antioch the fourth and that of Jerusalem the fifth all their privileges and rights being safeguarded. |