The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-09-23
GREEK CHURCH AND ITS
RELATIONS TO ROME
Continued From Page /.

We again return to the Greek Church to show
its inconsistency, plus its instability ever since it
separated from the Catholic Church.
In the first centuries there were four patriarchs,
whose jurisdiction extended the entire Church
The Bishop of Rome was one. and he was called
the special Patriarch of the nations that spoke Latin
at the time. His official title was Bishop of Rome
Patriarch of the West and Head of the Church.
The three subordinate patriarchs were those of
Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. When Con-
stantine i'll $50, transferred the seat of empire
from Rome to the Bosphorus, Constantinope was
erected into new Patriarchate. It's patriarchs,
because of its newly acquired advantages, claimed
and assumed priority over the old eastern patri-
archs. They yielded to the supreme authority of
the Roman pontiff and acknowledged his universal
jurisdiction. This held good up to the year 800,
when the old Roman empire separated from Con-
stantinope and chose the king of Germany and
France as Emperor of Rome. The emperor, Mich
ae II, jealous of the political change, showed his
displeasure to Rome by assuming spiritual juris-
diction of the See of Constantinople removing its
patriarch, St. lgnatius, whom he sent into exile,
and appointing Photius, then layman, to succeed
the real patriarch. The trouble here began. It's
origin due to national pride and jealousy. 1t
was an assumption of spiritual jurisdiction by
temporal monarch. Michael and his ambitious but
subtle tool strove to sever the link that united the
Eastern and Western Churches for 500 years They
ignored the teaching of all the Greek Fathers and
Strove to break the unity OF Catholic teaching.
When this occurs in civil affairs the Judgment
of the world is not slow in placing the blame where
it belongs. Our civil war threatened the union of
states which had been united and working in har-
mony for nearly hundred years. Who were the
rebels! The common Judgment of mankind has
long since answered The mantle of Washington
had descended unsullied, unbroken and unques
toned down to Lincoln. Within its folds were con-
tanned the power authority and supreme iurisdc-
ton conferred OH the Father of our Country by
God This the people in rebellion meant to destroy
by withholding their allegiance and striving to dis
sever all connection with the union of states
This is precisely what the Greek Schismatics
did; and ever since the final separation took place
they can see their Inconsistency by studying the
writings Of their own Doctors and Fathers of the
early Christian Church One century prior to
Michael III and Photius, ST. John Damascene, so
noted for his golden eloquence that he was sur
named Gold Streaming, wrote regarding the inter
ference of temporal rulers with spiritual author
ity and jurisdiction: "The Emperors have no
right to give laws to the Church. Hearken to the
words of the apostles, prophets, pastors and teach
ers. He Christi says nothing about Emperors.
St. Athanasius is yet more forcible He wrote:
IF the bishops so decree why do you speak of the
Emperor When did an episcopal decree derive
any authority from an Emperor; when was such
decree regarded as an imperial decree? Long be-
fore our day many synods have been assembled, and