Sunday, January 26, 2020

Archbishop Nicetas of Nicomedia’s letter to Bishop Anselm of Havelberg and the Nature of Roman Primacy


An example of the nature of the primacy of the Church of Rome not being consistent with that dogmatised in 1870 during Vatican I can be seen in the following from Archbishop Nicetas of Nicomedia’s letter to Bishop Anselm of Havelberg:

“My dearest brother, we do not deny to the Roman Church the primacy among the five sister Patriarchates, and we recognize her right to the most honorable seat at an Ecumenical Council. But she separated herself from us by her own deeds, when she assumed a monarchy which does not belong to her office. . . . How shall we accept decrees from her that have been issued without consulting us, and even without our knowledge?

If the Roman pontiff, seated on the lofty throne of his glory, wishes to thunder at us from on high, and if he wishes to judge us and even to rule us and our churches, not by taking counsel with us but at his own arbitrary pleasure, what kind of brotherhood or even what kind of parenthood can this be? We would be the slaves of such a church, and the Roman see would not be the pious mother of sons but a hard and imperious mistress of slaves. . . . In such a case what could have been the use of the Scriptures? The writings and the teachings of the Fathers would be useless. The authority of the Roman pontiff would nullify the value of all because he would be the only bishop, the sole teacher and master.” (Source)