Styles of
Pope Leo I |
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| Reference style |
His Holiness |
| Spoken style |
Your Holiness |
| Religious style |
Holy Father |
| Posthumous style |
Saint |
Pope Leo I or Leo the Great, was pope of the Roman Catholic Church from
September 29, 440 to November
10, 461)
He was a Roman aristocrat and the first Pope of the
Roman Catholic Church to whom the title "the Great" was attached[citation needed]. He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun outside Rome in 452 in an
attempt to persuade the king not to sack the city. He is also a Doctor of the
Church, and a leading figure in the centralization of the organization of the Roman Catholic Church[neutrality disputed].
Early life
According to the Liber Pontificalis he was a native of Tuscany. By 431, as a deacon, he occupied a
sufficiently important position for Cyril of Alexandria[neutrality disputed] to apply to him in order that
Rome's influence should be thrown against the claims of Juvenal of
Jerusalem[neutrality disputed] to patriarchal jurisdiction over
Palestine -- unless this letter is addressed rather to Pope
Celestine I. About the same time John Cassian dedicated to him the treatise against
Nestorius[neutrality
disputed] written at his request. But nothing shows more plainly the confidence felt in him than his
being chosen by the emperor to settle the dispute between Aëtius and Albinus, the two highest officials in Gaul.
During his absence on this mission, Pope Sixtus III died (August 11, 440), and Leo was unanimously elected by the people to succeed him. On
September 29 he entered upon a pontificate which was to be epoch-making for the
centralization of the government of the Roman Catholic Church.[neutrality
disputed]
Zeal for Calcedonian Christology
An uncompromising foe of heresy[neutrality disputed], Leo found that in the
diocese of Aquileia, Pelagians were received into church
communion without formal repudiation of their errors; he wrote to rebuke this culpable negligence, and required a solemn
abjuration before a synod.
Manicheans fleeing before the Vandals had come to Rome
in 439 and secretly organized there; Leo learned of this around 443,
and proceeded against them by holding a public debate with their representatives, burning their books, and warning the Roman
Christians against them. His efforts led to the edict of Valentinian III against them
(June 19, 445).
Nor was his attitude less decided against the Priscillianists. Bishop Turrubius of Astorga, astonished at the spread of this sect in Spain,
had addressed the other Spanish bishops on the subject, sending a copy of his letter to Leo, who took the opportunity to exercise
Roman policy in Spain. He wrote an extended treatise (July 21, 447)
against the sect, examining its false teaching in detail, and calling for a Spanish general council to investigate whether it had
any adherents in the episcopate -- but this was prevented by the political circumstances of Spain.
Leo enforced his authority in 445 against Dioscurus [neutrality
disputed], St. Cyril's successor in the patriarchate of
Alexandria, insisting that the ecclesiastical practise of his see should follow that of
Rome[neutrality disputed]; since Mark, the disciple of Peter[neutrality disputed] and founder of the Alexandrian
Church, could have had no other tradition than that of the prince of the apostles.[neutrality disputed]
The fact that the African province of Mauretania Caesariensis had been
preserved to the empire and thus to the Nicene faith in the Vandal invasion, and in its isolation was disposed to rest on outside support, gave Leo an
opportunity to assert his authority there[neutrality
disputed], which he did decisively in regard to a number of questions of discipline.
In a letter to the bishops of Campania, Picenum, and
Tuscany (443) he required the observance of all his precepts and those of his predecessors; and he sharply rebuked the bishops of
Sicily (447) for their deviation from the Roman custom as to the
time of baptism, requiring them to send delegates to the Roman synod to learn
the proper practice.
The assertion of Roman power over Illyria[neutrality
disputed] had been a strong point with previous Popes. Pope Innocent
I had constituted the metropolitan of Thessalonica his vicar, in order to oppose the growing power of the
patriarch of Constantinople there. But now the Illyrian bishops
showed a tendency to side with Constantinople, and the Popes had difficulty in
maintaining their authority. In 444 Leo laid down in a letter to them the principle that Peter had
received the "primacy and oversight of the whole Church as a requital of his faith, and that thus all important matters were to
be referred to and decided by Rome." In 446 he had occasion twice to interfere in the affairs of
Illyria, and in the same spirit spoke of the Roman pontiff as the apex of the hierarchy of bishops, metropolitans, and primates.
However, after his death the influence of Constantinople was again predominant.
In 451 Leo further tried to restore order to the Eastern churches at the Council of
Chalcedon[neutrality disputed]. According to tradition, after
Leo had finished his decree, the 630 bishops and 4 papal legates present exclaimed unanimously, "What Leo believes we all
believe, anathema to him who believes anything else. Peter has spoken through the mouth of
Leo." This is taken to mean that Popes are the rightful successors to St. Peter.
Roman Authority in Gaul
Not without serious opposition did he succeed in asserting his authority over Gaul. Patroclus of
Arles (d. 426) had received from Pope Zosimus the
recognition of a primacy[neutrality
disputed] over the Gallican Church which was strongly asserted by his successor Hilary. An appeal from Celidonius of Besançon gave Leo occasion to proceed
against Hilary, who defended himself stoutly at Rome, refusing to recognize Leo's judicial status. But Leo restored Celidonius
and restricted Hilary to his own diocese, depriving him even of his metropolitan rights over the province of Vienne.
Feeling that his dominant idea of the Roman universal monarchy was threatened, Leo appealed to the civil power for support,
and obtained from Valentinian III the famous decree of June
6, 445, which recognized the primacy of the bishop of Rome[neutrality disputed] based on the merits of Peter,
the dignity of the city, and the Nicene Creed[neutrality disputed] (in their interpolated form);
ordained that any opposition to his rulings, which were to have the force of law, should be treated as treason; and provided for
the forcible extradition by provincial governors of anyone who refused to answer a summons to Rome. Hilary made his submission,
although under his successor, Ravennius, Leo divided the metropolitan rights between Arles and
Vienne (450).
A favorable occasion for extending the authority of Rome in the East offered in the renewal of the Christological controversy by Eutyches, who in the beginning of the
conflict appealed to Leo and took refuge with him on his condemnation by Flavian. But on
receiving full information from Flavian, Leo took his side decisively.
The Tome
At the Second Council of Ephesus, Leo's representatives delivered his
famous Tome (Latin text, a letter), or statement of the faith of the Roman Church in the form of a letter addressed to
Flavian, which repeats, in close adherence to Augustine, the formulas of western
Christology, without really touching the problem that was agitating the East. The council
did not read the letter, and paid no attention to the protests of Leo's legates, but deposed Flavian and Eusebius, who appealed
to Rome.
Leo demanded of the emperor that an ecumenical council should be held in Italy, and in the
meantime, at a Roman synod in October, 449, repudiated all the decisions of the "Robber
Synod."[neutrality disputed] Without going into a critical
examination of its dogmatic decrees, in his letters to the emperor and others he demanded the deposition of Eutyches as a Manichean and Docetic
heretic.
With the death of Theodosius II in 450 and the sudden change in the Eastern situation,
Anatolius, the new patriarch of Constantinople fulfilled Leo's
requirements, and his Tome was everywhere read and recognized[neutrality
disputed].
He was now no longer desirous of having a council, especially since it would not be held in Italy. It was called to meet at
Nicaea, then transferred to Chalcedon, where his legates held at least an honorary presidency,
and where the bishops recognized him as the interpreter of the voice of Peter and as the head of their body, requesting of him
the confirmation of their decrees. He firmly declined to confirm their disciplinary arrangements, which seemed to allow
Constantinople a practically equal authority with Rome[neutrality
disputed] and regarded the civil importance of a city as a determining factor in its ecclesiastical
position; but he strongly supported its dogmatic decrees, especially when, after the accession of the Emperor Leo I (457) there seemed to be a disposition toward compromise with
the Eutychians. He succeeded in having an imperial patriarch, and not the Oriental
Orthodox Pope Timotheus Aelurus, chosen as Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria on the murder of Greek Patriarch Proterius of
Alexandria.
The approaching collapse of the Western Empire gave Leo a further opportunity to appear as the representative of lawful
authority. When Attila invaded Italy in 452 and threatened Rome, it was Leo who, with two high civil functionaries, went to meet him, and effected his
withdrawal. According to Prosper of Aquitaine, he was so impressed by him that he
withdrew.[1] Jordanes,
who represents Leo's contemporary Priscus, gives other grounds. Pragmatic concerns such as the
large sum of gold that accompanied Leo, or logistical and strategic concerns, may have been the true reason for Attila's mercy.
Attila's army was already quite stretched and full from booty from plunder, the Pope's plea for mercy may well have merely served
as an honorable reason to not continuing on and sacking the Roman capitol.[citation needed] Other sources of Catholic hagiographical information cite that a enormously
huge man dressed in priestly robes and armed with a flaming sword, visible only to Attila, threatened him and his army with death
during his discourse with Pope Leo, and this prompted Attila to submit to the Pope's request.[2] Unfortunately Leo's intercession could not prevent the sack of the city by the Vandals in 455, but murder and arson were repressed by his influence. He died probably on November 10, 461.
Leo's significance
The significance of Leo's pontificate lies in the fact of his assertion of the universal jurisdiction of the Roman
bishop[neutrality disputed], which comes out in his letters,
and still more in his ninety-six extant orations. This assertion is commonly referred to as the doctrine of Petrine supremacy[neutrality
disputed].
According to him the Church is built upon Peter, in pursuance of the promise of Matthew
16:16-19. Peter participates in everything which is Christ's; what the other
apostles have in common with him they have through him[neutrality
disputed]. The Lord prays for Peter alone when danger threatens all the apostles[neutrality disputed], because his firmness will
strengthen the others[neutrality disputed]. What is true of Peter is true
also of his successors. Every other bishop is charged with the care of his own special flock, the Roman with that of the whole
Church[neutrality disputed]. Other bishops are only his
assistants[neutrality disputed] in this great task.
Through the see of Peter, Rome has become the capital of the world[neutrality
disputed] in a wider sense than before. For this reason, when the earth was divided among the apostles,
Rome was reserved to Peter, that here, at the very center, the decisive triumph might be won over the earthly wisdom of
philosophy and the power of the demons; and thus from the head the light of truth streams out through the whole body.
In Leo's eyes the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon acquired their validity
from his confirmation[neutrality disputed]. The wide range of this theory
justifies the application to him of the title of the first Pope in a recognizably modern use of the term.
St. Leo's letters and sermons reflect the many aspects of his career and personality, including his great personal influence
for good, and are invaluable historical sources. His rhythmic prose style, called cursus leonicus, influenced ecclesiastical
language for centuries
The Roman Catholic and many Anglican
churches mark November 10 as the feast day of Saint Leo (formerly April 11), while the Eastern Orthodox churches mark
February 18 as his feast day.
See also
References
- Louise Ropes Loomis, The Book of Popes (Liber Pontificalis). Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. ISBN
1-889758-86-8 (Reprint of the 1916 edition. English translation with scholarly footnotes, and illustrations).
- T. Jalland, The Life and Times of St. Leo the Great, (London, 1941).
Footnotes
- ^ http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/attila2.html
- ^ http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintl04.htm
External links
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