Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Pope and the Monarchy
In the letter of Pope Gelasius to Emperor Anastasius, the pope's tone and aire of supremacy is not only arrogant, but condescending. You wouldn't think that anyone would speak that way to an emperor, but obviously he wouldn't do it unless he thought he could get away with it. The amount of power and influence the Catholic church had, and especially the Pope, is pretty amazing. It is easy to see how some rulers saw the church as a threat. In his letter, the Pope lets it be known that he holds the keys to eternal salvation and redemption. He uses that as a weapon to show that the power of the church is supreme to the monarchy and that they better not forget it.
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2 comments:
I find amazing how powerful the role of the pope is. I believe that once religious beliefs had been firmly placed in the population, religous leaders knew that they possesed the power of fear. They were able to used religion and fear against other powerful leaders as well. We still see much of this today. More money, more power, more influence.
It's worth pointing out that the pope is a priest; is, indeed, the supreme priest of Catholics. One of a priest's roles is to act as a father, teaching and correcting his children. In fact, "pope" derives from the word for father.
So it wasn't really all that unusual, nor offensive, for a pope to instruct and even to scold. Moreover, kings and emperors and other rulers were viewed as the special charge of popes, for who else would dare to correct them?
Yeah, it's a little disconcerting to read with our modern eyes. And certainly many a monarch objected vehemently to papal claims. But the tone wasn't as surprising to them as it was to us.
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