BONIFACE VIII

(Pope Boniface VIII)


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Boniface VIII

There is one fold and one shepherd.
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Boniface VIII

If the earthly power errs, it shall be judged by the spiritual power ... but if the supreme spiritual power errs it can be judged only by God, and not by man ... Therefore we declare, state, define and pronounce that it is altogether necessary to salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman pontiff.
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Boniface VIII

We declare, say , define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.
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Boniface VIII

If, therefore, the Greeks or others say that they are not committed to Peter and to his successors, they necessarily say that they are not of the sheep of Christ, since the Lord says that there is only one fold and one shepherd (Jn.10:16). Whoever, therefore, resists this authority, resists the command of God Himself.
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Boniface VIII

Anything done for another is done for oneself.
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Boniface VIII

We are compelled, our faith urging us, to believe and to hold—and we do firmly believe and simply confess—that there is one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, outside of which there is neither salvation nor remission of sins.
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Boniface VIII

Silence gives consent.
[Lat., Qui tacet, consentire videtur.]
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Boniface VIII

Under the control of the Church are two swords … the spiritual is wielded … by the hand of the clergy. The secular is to be employed for the Church by the hand of the civil authority, but under the direction of the spiritual power.
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This concept is not terribly different from the concept of the theocracy of the Islamic government of Iran in the 21st century. There is a civil government but it serves and is “under the direction of the spiritual power.”

Boniface VIII

It is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.
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The Roman Catholic Church then maintained that salvation was dependent upon obedience to the Pope in all things civil and religious. See {595166} for the way that the Church at the time allowed some authority to civil authorities.

Boniface VIII

There is no more harm in adultery than in rubbing one's hands together.
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Boniface VIII
© Giotto di Bondone (–1337)
Boniface VIII
  • Born: October 11, 1230
  • Died: October 11, 1303
  • Nationality:
  • Profession:
Biography

Pope Boniface VIII was pope from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. Caetani was of baronial origin with family connections to the papacy. He succeeded Pope Celestine V, a Benedictine, who had abdicated from the papal throne. Boniface spent his early career abroad in diplomatic roles. In the College of Cardinals, he discriminated not only against the Benedictines but also members of the Colonna family, some of whom had contested the validity of the 1294 papal conclave that elected him following the unusual abdication of Pope Celestine V. The dispute resulted in battles between troops of Boniface and his adversaries and the deliberate destruction and salting of the town of Palestrina, despite the pope's assurances that the surrendering city would be spared.