It's been claimed that the Unam Sanctum was a desperate attempt by the Papacy to get power over Kings.

What is the real reason the Unam Sanctum was written, and what does it really mean?

-- Jacob R. (jacobrainey@hotmail.com), May 07, 2004

Answers

Bump that music!

-- Led Zeppelin (bump@bumpLedZeppelin!.com), May 07, 2004.

The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia says: "The Bull lays down dogmatic propositions on the unity of the Church, the necessity of belonging to it for the attainment of eternal salvation, the position of the Pope as supreme head of the Church, and the duty thence arising of submission to the Pope in order to belong to the Church and thus to attain salvation. In the writings of non-Catholic authors against the definition of Papal Infallibility, the Bull ... was used against Boniface VIII as well as against the papal primacy in a manner not justified by its content. The statements concerning the relations between the spiritual and the secular power are of a purely historical character, so far as they do not refer to the nature of the spiritual power, and are based on the actual conditions of medieval Europe."

Unam Sanctam is frequently misinterpreted. Many will say it was written to put fear into the hearts of not only Kings, but all people, to make them surrender to the authority of the Pope. Interestingly enough, a controversy arose out of Vatican II concerning Unam Sanctam. In actuality, this encyclical was written long before the reformation when all Christians were Catholic. Some claimed it contradicted the documents that came out of Vatican II, because it stated there is no salvation outside of the Church; however, when it was written at the turn of the 14th Century, there did not exist, the 33,000 Protestant sects that exist today. There was no apparent glaring need at the time, as there is today, to address the issue of salvation outside of the Catholic Church as there were basically, no other Christians.

Since the Reformation millions of Christians have been born outside of the Church in what the Church has termed “invincible ignorance” and many, particularly theologians, wanted clarification of the disposition of their spiritual fate. Vatican II addressed this issue of invincible ignorance that did not exist at the time Unam Sanctam was written. Vatican II clarified that if someone were born outside the Church, through no fault of their own, they could be considered to be in schism with the Church. The schism that occurred was created by those who actually separated from the Church at the time of the Reformation. The sin was created at the reformation by those who broke away from the Church not their successors.

You can read more about Unam Sanctam here at newadvent.org:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15126a.htm

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), May 07, 2004.

But what about the Greek Orthodox? Did not that church exist at the time and don't we consider them just as Christian as us Catholics?

-- Jacob R. (jacobrainey@hotmail.com), May 07, 2004.

Hi Jacob!

But what about the Greek Orthodox? Did not that church exist at the time and don't we consider them just as Christian as us Catholics?

I don't know the Church's particular position on the Greek Orthodox Church. I do know from a recent address by Cardinal Rigali that the Church's policy to the Eastern Churches can be summed up in this way:

The Eastern Churches is the spiritual sister to the Roman Catholic Church and both constitute the Church. The full deposit of faith (doctrines) resides in both although they may be expressed in slightly different ways.

This means that as catholics we are called to ecumenism in the same way that our Eastern brothers and sisters are. We are asked to understand more of their customs and expressed traditions(as much as we are called to understand our own) in the same way that they are called, in order to grow together in unity and heal the scar that remains as a result of past contention(unity under one pontiff is my guess). Therefore, we have exact and identical callings, which many catholics continue to disregard when they question the authority of the church. It is important to note that the call for ecumenism is distinctly different for the remainder of Christianity. The rest are called to dialog and conversion, the key being both, one in order to achieve the other. This is not as some seem to imply, that we somehow butt heads together and arrive at relativist truths. However, it should also be noted that this dialog must be carried out with the same charity and love that we are always need to show one another.

Finally, here is a link to the document Unam Sanctam and another link to Pope Boniface VIII under whose pontificate the Bull was issued. In my opinion, drastic conclusions to this document are baseless. I consider Pope Boniface VIII a true martyr for his resistance to secular pressure which sought to take moral authority. It is this same secular pressure which continues to seek moral authority by defacing his name.

God Bless,

-- Vincent (love@noemail.net), May 07, 2004.

italics off ?

-- Vincent (love@noemail.net), May 07, 2004.