Thursday, February 15, 2024

William A. Jurgens (RC) on Canon 6 of Nicea

  

The point of the first part of the canon is that the Bishop of Alexandria’s jurisdiction over certain other bishops is confirmed. The concept of a patriarchate is, in fact, in the process of forming. The Bishop of Alexandria has jurisdiction not only of a civil province, as have the metropolitans mentioned in canon 4 of the same council (§ 651j); but his jurisdiction extends over all the churches of all the provinces of the civil diocese of Egypt, along with the various provinces of Libya and the Pentapolis, or Cyrenaica. This much is clear. The problem is in the line referring to the Bishop of Rome. The Bishop of Alexandria is to retain his prerogatives, since this is also the custom of the Bishop of Rome. It is also the custom of the Bishop of Rome to have jurisdiction over the bishops of adjacent territories, providing a justification for others to do likewise? Or is it the custom of the Bishop of Rome to recognize the prerogatives of the Bishop of Alexandria, giving the council precedent for doing likewise? (William A. Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers, 3 vols. [Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1970], 1:287 n. 15)