18
November 1302 A.D. Unam Sanctam: No Salvation Apart from
Submission to Bishop of Rome, e.g. Boniface
Graves,
Dan. “Boniface: Salvation if you Submit
to Pope.” Christianity.com. Apr
2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/boniface-salvation-if-you-submit-to-pope-11629852.html. Accessed
11 Jun 2014.
Pope
Boniface VIII published a bull on this day, November 18,
1302, titled Unam sanctam. It still generates deep controversy. The bull
denies salvation to any human being who does not submit to the Roman Catholic
Church and its head, the pope.
"...There
is one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, outside of which there is neither
salvation nor remission of sins..."
"...Indeed we declare, say,
pronounce, and define that it is altogether necessary to salvation for every
human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff."
A bull is a solemn papal letter.
The form was given this name because it was sealed with a bulla,
a round lead seal. This particular bull was written as the latest round in an
ongoing war of words between the pope and King Philip IV "the Fair"
of France.
The pope had denounced the sins
of Philip as a bad example to the nation he ruled. Boniface called a council of
bishops to consider reform of the French church. Philip refused to allow French
bishops to attend. Philip said that the pope claimed feudal lordship over of
France. Boniface denied this but acknowledged that he was prepared to depose
the French king just as earlier popes had deposed other French kings.
The date of the council came and
Philip still refused to allow his bishops to attend. Pope Boniface VIII then
published Unam sanctam.
Apologists for the Roman Church
now say that it applied only to Catholics, who were all under the jurisdiction
of the Roman church. Protestantism had not yet appeared on the scene, they
note. And only the last line, they insist, provides a new statement of
doctrine--saying there is salvation only for those who submit to the pope.
Protestants find that last line
the most troubling, of course. They can agree that salvation is possible only
in the church, because they define the true church as everyone who loves Christ
and lives in him. They can accept Unam sanctam's lines about the Greeks,
because Greek bishops can demonstrate succession back to the apostles. What
they cannot agree upon is that all must submit to the pope.
Unam sanctam also seems to disagree with decisions of Vatican II, which acknowledge
that some Protestants--and even some pagans--will be saved. According to
Vatican II, the divine design of salvation embraces all human beings; and those
"who without fault on their part do not know the Gospel of Christ and His
Church but seek God with a sincere heart, and under the influence of grace
endeavor to do His will as recognized through the prompting of their
conscience," they too in a manner known only to God "can obtain
eternal salvation."
Boniface's bull raises
controversy about the infallibility of the popes. Because it has implications
for other doctrines of the Roman Church, as well as on the possibility of
ecumenical cooperation, a true interpretation of Unam sanctam remains
important to scholars and Christians to this day.
Bibliography:
1. Barry, William. Story of the Nations: Papal Monarchy. Putnam,
1902.
2. "Boniface VIII" and "Unam Sanctam." New
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House, 1954.
3. "Boniface VIII" and "Unam Sanctam." The Oxford
Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A.
Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
4. Brusher, J. Popes Through the Ages. Princeton, New Jersey: Van Nostrand,
1964.
5. Eerdman's Handbook to the History of Christianity. Editor Tim Dowley. Berkhamsted, Herts, England:
Lion Publishing, 1977.
6. Kirsch, J.P. "Unam Sanctam." The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
7. Oestreich, Thomas. "Boniface VIII." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
8. Montor, Chevalier Artaud de. Lives and Times of the Popes. New York:
Catholic Publication Society of America, 1911.
9. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.
Last updated April,
2007.
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