Digital Continent Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul 2016 | Page 26

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Pope Gelasius had written in Tomus de anathematis vincula
that prior to Christ, there were men who were both king and
priest. When the true King and Pontiff entered the world
the two offices split. Christ, by his divine right arranged all
according to what aided the salvation of man. Man’s
weakness dictated the division of the two powers,
Pope Gelasius

sacerdotal and temporal, in a mutually beneficial
relationship. Neither ruled the other. Pride was avoided by

not possessing both honors. Each power was supreme in its own area of jurisdiction but in some
ways subject to the other. For example, secular leaders could participate in ecclesiastic affairs
under Church guidance.38 The two offices differed but did not conflict.
Pope Gelasius, in his letter to Emperor Anastasius I, did clarify that sacerdotal power was
the greater of the two. Priests were held accountable for the souls of secular princes. The
Roman pontiff, by the commission of Christ, was obligated to preserve the soundness of the
Church. If the See of Peter were to betray the Faith, even in the slightest manner, the body of the
Church would be negatively impacted.39 Entrusted by Christ with the care of the Church, the
successors of Peter had a grave responsibility to preserve the truth of the Faith through conflict
and reform, regardless of resistance.
German Feudalism and the Proprietary Church System

38

Ziegler, 434-35.

39

Whitney, “The Earlier Growth of Papal Jurisdiction,” 12.