The Visible Head of the Church
THE DECREES OF THE VATICAN COUNCIL:
1. On the Institution of the Apostolic Primacy in Blessed Peter
“If anyone, therefore, shall say that Blessed Peter the Apostle was not appointed the Prince of the Apostles and the Visible Head of the whole Church militant, or that the same directly and immediately received from the same our LORD JESUS CHRIST a primacy of honour only, and not of true and proper jurisdiction; let him be anathema.”
2. On the Perpetuity of the Primacy of Blessed Peter in the Roman Pontiffs
“For none can doubt, and it is known to all ages, that the holy and Blessed Peter, the Prince and chief of the Apostles, the pillar of the faith and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind, and lives, presides, and judges to this day, always in his successors the Bishops of the Holy See of Rome, which was founded by Him and consecrated by His Blood. Whence, whosoever succeeds to Peter in this See does by the institution of Christ Himself obtain the primacy of Peter over the whole Church. ...
“If, then, anyone shall say that it is not by the institution of CHRIST the LORD, or by divine right, that Blessed Peter has a perpetual line of successors in the primacy over the universal Church; or that the Roman Pontiff is not the successor of Blessed Peter in this primacy; let him be anathema.“
THE DECREES OF THE VATICAN COUNCIL
Edited WITH AN INTRODUCTION
by the REV. VINCENT McNABB, O.P.
NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO
BENZIGER BROTHERS Printers to the Holy Apostolic See 1907
Imprimi potest FR LAURENTIUS SHAPCOTE, O.P., S.T.L. Prior Provincialis
Imprimi potest + GULIELMUS Episcopus Arindelensis Virarius Generalis
Westmonasteril die 19 Oct. 1906
First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ.
pp. 36-39
ENCHIRIDION SYMBOLORUM DENIFITIONUM ET DECLARATIONUM:
[CANON] Si quis igitur dixerit, beatum PETRUM Apostolum non esse a Christo Domino constitutum Apostolorum omnium principem et totius Ecclesiae militantis visibile caput; vel eundem honoris tantum, non autem verae propriaeque iurisdictionis primatum ab eodem Domino nostro Iesu Christo directe et immediate accepisse: anathema sit.
[CANON] Si quis ergo dixerit, non esse ex ipsius Christi Domini institutione seu iure divino, ut beatus PETRUS in primatu super universam Ecclesiam habeat perpetuos successores; aut Romanum Pontificem non esse beati PETRI in eodem primatu successorem: anathema sit.
HENR. DENZINGER ET CLEM. BANNWART S.J., ENCHIRIDION SYMBOLORUM DENIFITIONUM ET DECLARATIONUM, DE REBUS FIDEI ET MORUM, EDITIO DECIMA QUARTA ET QUINTA QUAM, QUAM PARAVIT IOANNES BAPT. UMBERG S.J., Fribugri Brisgoviae MCMXXII, HERDER & Co., TYPOGRAPHI EDITORES PONTIFICI, BEROLINI, CAROLSRUHAE, COLONIAE, MONACHII, VINDOBONAE, LONDINI S. LUDOVICI MO., Imprimi potest: Bern. Bley. S.J. Praep. Prov. Germ. Inf., Coloniae, die 4 Ianuarii 1922, Imprimatur: Dr. Mutz, Vic. Gen., Fribugri Brisgoviae, die 1 Februarii 1922, Typis Herderianis Fribugri Brisgoviae, Printed in Germany
AN ADVANCED CATECHISM
OF CATHOLIC FAITH AND PRACTICE:
116. Who is the Invisible Head of the Church?
Jesus Christ is the Invisible Head of the Church.
"He hath made Him head over all the Church." Eph. 1:22.
"Behold, I am with you all days." Matt. 28:20.
Why is Christ the Invisible Head of the Church?
Christ is the Invisible Head of the Church because, though visible only in heaven, He still rules, governs, and preserves the Church, through the ministry of His Apostles and their successors. Eph. 1:23.
117. Who is the Visible Head of the Church?
Our Holy Father the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar of Christ on earth and the Visible Head of the Church.
118. Why is the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, the Visible Head of the Church?
The Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the Visible Head of the Church because he is the successor of St. Peter, whom Christ made the chief of the Apostles and the Visible Head of the Church.
Did the office of St. Peter, as Head of the Church, end with his death?
The office of St. Peter, as Head of the Church, did not end with his death, for a head and centre of unity is necessary at all times in the Church destined to last forever as Christ founded it.
AN ADVANCED CATECHISM
OF CATHOLIC FAITH AND PRACTICE
BASED UPON THE THIRD PLENARY COUNCIL CATECHISM
FOR USE IN THE HIGHER GRADES OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
COMPILED BY REV. THOMAS J. O'BRIEN
Inspector of Parochial Schools Diocese of Brooklyn
AKRON, O. Chicago New York
D. H. MCBRIDE & COMPANY
1901
NIhil Obstat: REV. M. G. FLANNERY, Censor Librorum, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Imprimatur: +IGN. F. HORSTMANN Bishop of Cleveland
CLEVELAND, O., JANUARY 9, 1901
Copyright, 1885, by J. L. SPALDING,
Copyright, 1901, by D. H. McBRIDE & COMPANY
MADE BY THE WERNER COMPANY BOOK MANUFACTURERS
AKRON, OHIO
p. 59-61
A COMPLETE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC RELIGION:
16. Was the supremacy of a Head of the Church to cease after the death of St. Peter?
No; for, 1. If the Church was to continue as Christ had established it, the Rock also on which He had built it, and the Supremacy of a Head which He Himself had ordained to govern it, were to continue; and 2. If a visible Head was necessary when the Church was still small, and there were none, or but few heresies, it was much more necessary afterwards when the Church was spread, and heresies and schisms were multiplied.
17. Who has been the visible Head of the Church since the death of St. Peter?
The Bishop of Rome, commonly called the Pope, who is the lawful Successor of St. Peter in the Episcopal See of Rome, and who, in consequence, has always been acknowledged as the Visible Head of the Church, and the Vicegerent of Christ on earth.
A COMPLETE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC RELIGION
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF THE REV. JOSEPH DEHARBE, S.J.
BY THE REV. JOHN FANDER
SIXTH AMERICAN EDITION
EDITED BY THE REV. JAMES J. FOX, D.D.
AND THE REV. THOMAS McMILLAN, C.S.P.
NEW YORK SCHWARTZ, KIRWIN & FAUSS
42 BARCLAY STREET
NIhil Obstat: Very Rev. Edmund T. Shanahan, D.D.
Censor deputatus Catholic University of America
April 16, 1908 Washington, D. C.
Imprimatur: +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
April 21, 1908
Copyright, 1912,
by Schwartz, Kirwin & Fauss
p. 135
ECCLESIASTICAL DICTIONARY
BY REV. JOHN THEIN:
"The Pope, the visible head of the Church, Vicar of Jesus Christ, is the successor of St. Peter."
ECCLESIASTICAL DICTIONARY
CONTAINING, IN CONCISE FORM INFORMATION UPON
ECCLESIASTICAL, BIBLICAL, ARCHAEOLOGICAL,
AND HISTORICAL SUBJECTS
BY REV. JOHN THEIN
Priest of the Diocese of Cleveland
New York, Cincinnati, Chicago
BENZIGER BROTHERS
Printers to the Holy Apostolic See
1900
Copyright, 1900,
BY REV. JOHN THEIN
Imprimatur: +MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, Archbishop of New York
New York, March 21, 1900
NIhil Obstat: +IGN. F. HORSTMANN, Bishop of Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio, March 9, 1900
p. 565
A CATHOLIC DICTIONARY
BY WILLIAM E. ADDIS
AND THOMAS ARNOLD, M.A.:
"By the Pope we mean the Bishop of Rome, who is, according to Catholic doctrine, the successor of St. Peter, and as such the Vicar of Christ, the Visible Head of the Church, the doctor and teacher of all the faithful."
A CATHOLIC DICTIONARY
CONTAINING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE
DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, RITES, CEREMONIES,
COUNCILS, AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS OF
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
BY WILLIAM E. ADDIS
SECULAR PRIEST: SOMETIME FELLOW OP THE ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND
AND THOMAS ARNOLD, M.A.
FELLOW OF THE SAME UNIVERSITY
SIXTH EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS.
NEW YORK
THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY CO.
9 BARCLAY STREET
1887
NlHIL OBSTAT: EDUARDUS S. KEOGH, CONG. ORAT., CENSOR DEPUTATUS
IMPRIMATUR: HENRICUS EDUARDUS, CARD. ARCHIEP. WESTMONAST. Die 18 Dec., 1883.
IMPRIMATUR: JOHN CARD. McCLOSKEY, ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK. Feb. 14, 1884.
Copyright, LAWRENCE KEHOE, 1884.
Copyright, LAWRENCE KEHOE, 1887.
p. 668
A MANUAL OF APOLOGETICS
BY THE Rev. F. J. KOCH:
"Christ Himself is the Invisible Supreme Head of the Church. From Him all power in the Church is derived, and He will continue to guide and govern her even to the end of the world.
"He [i.e., the Father] hath subjected all things under His feet, and hath made Him Head over all the Church." (Eph. 1, 22.) "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God." (1 Cor. iv, 1.) "Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." (Matth. xxviii, 20.)"
"The Church, being a visible society, must have also a Visible Head. Christ appointed St. Peter to be this Visible Head, by giving him precedence over the other apostles; this precedence is what we call the Primacy."
"The Primacy in the Church could not cease at St. Peter's death, for (1) the Church was to continue as established by Christ; therefore the Rock on which she was founded also continued to exist, and the office of Chief Shepherd, instituted for her government, could not fall into abeyance. (2) A visible head was necessary even when the Church was still in her infancy and few or no heresies had arisen, but it was still more essential as she developed and heresies and schisms multiplied.
St. Peter's Primacy passed on from him to his successors occupying the episcopal see of Rome; hence the legitimate Bishop of Rome has always been recognized as the Visible Head of the Church and the Vicar of Christ."
A MANUAL OF APOLOGETICS
BY THE Rev. F. J. KOCH
TRANSLATED FROM THE REVISED GERMAN EDITION
BY A. M. BUCHANAN, M.A. (London)
REVISED AND EDITED
BY THE Rev. CHARLES BRUEHL, D.D.
Professor at St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Pa.
NEW YORK
JOSEPH F. WAGNER
Nihil Obstat: REMIGIUS LAFORT, S.T.D. Censor
Imprimatur: +JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY Archbishop of New York
New York, September 14, 1915
Copyright, 1915, by Joseph F. Wagner (Inc.), New York
p. 154, 156
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