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ABOUT this period Liberius died, and Damasus succeeded to the
see of Rome. A deacon named Ursicius, who had obtained some votes
in his favor, but could not endure the defeat, therefore caused
himself to be clandestinely ordained by some bishops of little note,
and endeavored to create a division among the people and to hold a
separate church. He succeeded in effecting this division, and some of
the people respected him as bishop, while the rest adhered to
Damasus. This gave rise to much contention and revolt among the
people, which at length proceeded to the evil of wounds and murder.
The prefect of Rome was obliged to interfere, and to punish many of
the people and of the clergy; and he put an end to the attempt of
Ursicius.
With respect to doctrine, however, no dissension arose either at
Rome or in any other of the Western churches. The people unanimously
adhered to the form of belief established at Nicaea, and regarded the
three persons of the Trinity as equal in dignity and in power.
Auxentius and his followers differed from the others in opinion; he
was then president of the church in Milan, and, in conjunction with a
few partisans, was intent upon the introduction of innovations, and
the maintenance of the Arian dogma of the dissimilarity of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost, according to the inquiry which had last sprung
up, in opposition to the unanimous agreement of the Western priests.
The bishops of Gaul and of Venetia having reported that similar
attempts to disturb the peace of the Church were being made by others
among them, the bishops of several provinces assembled not long after
at Rome, and decreed that Auxentius and those who held his sentiments
should be aliens from their communion. They confirmed the traditional
faith established by the council of Nicaea, and annulled all the
decrees that had been issued at Ariminum contrary to that faith, under
the plea that these decrees had not received the assent of the bishop of
Rome, nor of other bishops who agreed with them, and that many who
had been present at the Synod, had disapproved of the enactments there
made by them. That such was the decision really formed by the Synod
is testified by the epistle addressed by Damasus, the Roman bishop,
and the rest of the assembly, to the bishops of Illyria. It is as
follows:
"Damasus, Valerius, and the other bishops of the holy assembly
convened at Rome to the dearly beloved brethren settled in IIlyria,
greeting in the Lord.
We believe that you uphold and teach to the people our holy faith,
which is rounded on the doctrine of the apostles. This faith differs
in no respect from that defined by the Fathers; neither is it
allowable for the priests of God, whose right it is to instruct the
wise, to have any other thought. We have, however, been informed by
some of our brethren of Gaul and of Venice, that certain individuals
are bent upon the introduction of heresy.
All bishops should diligently guard against this evil, lest some of
their flock should be led by inexperience, and others by simplicity,
to oppose the proper interpretations.
Those who devise strange doctrines ought not to be followed; but the
opinions of our fathers ought to be retained, whatever may be the
diversity of judgment around us.
Hence Auxentius, bishop of Milan, has been publicly declared to be
condemned preeminently in this matter. It is right, therefore, that
all the teachers of the Roman world should be of one mind, and not
pollute the faith by divers conflicting doctrines.
For when the malice of the heretics first began to mature itself, as
the blasphemy of the Arians has even now done, may it be far from us,
our fathers to the number of three hundred and eighteen elect, after
making an investigation in Nicaea, erected the wall against the
weapons of the devil, and repelled the deadly poison by this antidote.
This antidote consists in the belief, that the Father and the Son
have one Godhead, one virtue, and one substance. It is also
requisite to believe that the Holy Ghost is of the same hypostasis.
We have decreed that those who hold any other doctrines are to be
aliens from our communion.
Some have decreed to discolor this saving definition and adorable
view; but in the very beginning, some of the persons who made the
innovation at the council of Ariminum, or who were compelled to vote
for the change, have since, in some measure, made amends by
confessing that they were deceived by certain specious arguments, which
did not appear to them to be contrary to the principles laid down by our
fathers at Nicaea. The number of individuals congregated at the
council of Ariminum proves nothing in prejudice of orthodox doctrines;
for the council was held without the sanction of the bishops at Rome,
whose opinion, before that of all others, ought to have been
received, and without the assent either of Vincentius, who during a
very long series of years guarded the episcopate without spot, or of
many other bishops who agreed with those last mentioned.
Besides, as has been before stated, those very persons who seemed
inclined to something illusory, testified their disapprobation of their
own proceedings as soon as they made use of a better judgment.
Therefore your purity must see that this alone is the faith which was
established at Nicaea upon the authority of the apostles, and which
must ever be retained inviolate, and that all bishops, whether of the
East, or of the West, who profess the Catholic religion, ought to
consider it an honor to be in communion with us. We believe that it
will not be long before those who maintain other sentiments will be
excluded from communion, and deprived of the name and dignity of
bishop; so that the people who are now oppressed by the yoke of those
pernicious and deceitful principles, may have liberty to breathe. For
it is not in the power of these bishops to rectify the error of the
people, inasmuch as they are themselves held by error. Let,
therefore, the opinion of your honor also be in accord with all the
priests of God, in which we believe you to be holy and firm. That we
ought so to believe along with you will be proved by the exchange of
letters with your love."
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