MANY POPES MUST HAVE BEEN HERETICS. 345 Surely those popes erred who confirmed the synods of Constance and Basil, not excepting the determinations in favour of general councils being superior to popes.' All those popes have devilishly erred who have pretended to dispose of kingdoms, to depose princes, to absolve subjects of their oaths. Pope Adrian II. did not take the pope to be infallible when he said he might not be judged, ex- cepting [in] the case of heresy; and thereby excuses the Orientals for anathematizing Honorius, he being accused of heresy. There is one heresy of which, if all histories do not lie grievously, divers popeshave been guilty, a heresy defined by divers popes, the "heresy ofsimony."' How many such heretics have sat in that chair! of which how many popes are proclaimed guilty with a loud voice in history ! "Management," says St Bernard, "does all the papal business. Show me a man, in all this great city, who would admit thee to be pope without the mediation of a bribe ! "3 Yea, how few for some ages have been guiltless of this heresy! It may be answered, "They were no popes, because their election was null;" but then the church hasoften and longbeen without a head ! thennumberless acts have been void, and creations of cardinals have been null; and con- sequently there has not probably been any true pope for a long time ! In the judgment of so many great divines who constituted the synod of Basil, many popes (nearly all, surely) have been heretics, who have followed or countenanced the opinion that popes are superior to general councils; which there is flatly declared heresy. Pope Eugenius by name was there declared "a pertinacious heretic, deviating from the faith. "' It often happens that the pope is not skilled in divinity, as Pope Innocent X. was wont to profess concerning himself, to waive dis- course about theological points; he therefore cannot pronounce in use of ordinary means, but only by miracle, as Balaam's ass. So Pope Innocent X. said that "the vicar of Jesus Christ was not obliged to examine all things by dispute; for that the truth of his decrees depended only on divine inspiration. "' What is this but downright quakerism, enthusiasm, imposture ? 1 Joh. XXII. Gerson. Serm. inPasch. Occam. Celestinus, &c.; Alph. àCastro., Bar. i. 4 ; Bin., tom. vii. p. 994. s P. Greg. VII., Ep. lib. iii. 7. Simoniaca hseresis. P. Jul. II. Conc. Lat. sess. v. p. 57. Idem electus non apostolicus, sed apostaticus, et tanquam hseresiarcha, &c. Ibid. Tract. iv. § 12-16. Decernimus, quod .. . sed etiam contra dictum sic efectum vel assumptum a simoniaca labe opponi et excipi possit sicut de vera et indu- bitata hseresi, &c. 8 Omne papale negotium maims agent; quem dabis mihi de tota maxima urbe, qui to in papam receperit pretio non intercedente ?Bern. de Consid. iv. 2. + A fide devins, pertinax hsereticus, &c.Conc. Bas. Bess. xxxiv. p. 96, 107. 3 Le pape respondit que le vicaire de J. C. n'estoit point obligé d'examiner toutes choses par la dispute; que le vérité de ses décrets dépendoit seulement de l'inspiration divine.Memor. !list. de 5 Propos.
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