Unam Sanctam

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(Latinthe One Holy, i.e. Church), theBull onpapal supremacy issued 18 November, 1302, byBoniface VIII during the dispute withPhilip the Fair, King ofFrance. It is named from its opening words (seeBONIFACE VIII). TheBull waspromulgated in connection with the Roman Council of October, 1302, at which it had probably been discussed. It is not impossible thatBoniface VIII himself revised theBull; still it also appears that Aegidius Colonna, Archibishop ofBourges, who had come to the council atRome notwithstanding the royal prohibition, influenced the text. The original of theBull is no longer in existence; the oldest text is to be found in the registers ofBoniface VIII in the Vatican archives ["Reg. Vatic.", L, fol. 387]. It was also incorporated in the "Corpus juris canonici" ("Extravag. Comm.", I, vii, 1; ed. Friedberg, II, 1245). The genuineness of theBull is absolutely established by the entry of it in the official registers of thepapal Briefs, and its incorporation in the canon law. The objections to its genuineness raised by such scholars asDamberger, Mury, and Verlaque are fully removed by this external testimony. At a later date Mury withdrew his opinion.

TheBull lays down dogmatic propositions on theunity of the Church, the necessity of belonging to it foreternalsalvation, the position of thepope as supreme head of theChurch, and theduty thence arising of submission to thepope in order to belong to theChurch and thus to attainsalvation. Thepope further emphasizes the higher position of the spiritual in comparison with the secular order. From these premises he then draws conclusions concerning the relation between the spiritual power of theChurch andsecular authority. The main propositions of theBull are the following: First, theunity of the Church and its necessity forsalvation are declared and established by various passages from theBible and by reference to the oneArk of the Flood, and to the seamless garment ofChrist. Thepope then affirms that, as the unity of the body of theChurch so is the unity of its head established in Peter and his successors. Consequently, all who wish to belong to the fold ofChrist are placed under the dominion of Peter and his successors. When, therefore, the Greeks and others say they are not subject to the authority of Peter and his successors, they thus acknowledge that they do not belong toChrist's sheep.

Then follow some principles and conclusions concerning the spiritual and thesecular power:

"Now, therefore, we declare, say, determine and pronounce that for every human creature it isnecessary forsalvation to be subject to the authority of theRoman pontiff" (Porro subesse Romano Pontifici omni humanae creaturae declaramus, dicimus, definimus, et pronuntiamus omnino esse de necessitate salutis).

TheBull is universal in character. As its content shows, a careful distinction is made between the fundamental principles concerning the Roman primacy and the declarations as to the application of these to thesecular power and its representatives. In the registers, on the margin of the text of the record, the last sentence is noted as its real definition: "Declaratio quod subesse Romano Pontifici est omni humanae creaturae de necessitate salutis" (It is here stated that forsalvation it isnecessary that every human creature be subject to the authority of theRoman pontiff). This definition, the meaning and importance of which are clearly evident from the connection with the first part on the necessity of the one Church forsalvation, and on thepope as the one supreme head of theChurch, expresses the necessity for everyone who wishes to attainsalvation of belonging to theChurch, and therefore of being subject to the authority of thepope in all religious matters. This has been the constant teaching of theChurch, and it was declared in the same sense by the Fifth Ecumenical Council of the Lateran, in 1516: "De necessitate esse salutis omnes Christi fideles Romano Pontifici subesse" (That it is of the necessity ofsalvation for allChrist's faithful to be subject to theRoman pontiff). The translation by Berchtold of the expressionhumanae creaturae by "temporal authorities" is absolutely wrong. TheBull also proclaims the subjection of thesecular power to the spiritual as the one higher in rank, and draws from it the conclusion that the representatives of the spiritual power can install the possessors ofsecular authority and exercise judgment over their administration, should it be contrary toChristian law.

This is a fundamental principle which had grown out of the entire development in the earlyMiddle Ages of the central position of thepapacy in theChristian national family of WesternEurope. It had been expressed from the eleventh century bytheologians likeBernard of Clairvaux andJohn of Salisbury, and bypopes likeNicholas II andLeo IX.Boniface VIII gave it precise expression in opposing the procedure of the French king. The main propositions are drawn from the writings of St. Bernard,Hugh of St. Victor,St. Thomas Aquinas, and letters ofInnocent III. Both from these authorities and from declarations made byBoniface VIII himself, it is also evident that thejurisdiction of the spiritual power over the secular has for its basis the concept of theChurch as guardian of theChristian law ofmorals, hence herjurisdiction extends as far as thislaw is concerned. Consequently, when King Philip protested,Clement V was able, in hisBrief "Meruit", of 1 February, 1306, to declare that the French king andFrance were to suffer no disadvantage on account of theBull "Unam Sanctam", and that the issuing of thisBull had not made them subject to the authority of theRoman Church in any other manner than formerly. In this way,Clement V was able to giveFrance and its ruler a guarantee of security from the ecclesiastico-political results of the opinions elaborated in theBull, while its dogmatic decision suffered no detriment of any kind. In the struggles of the Gallican party against the authority of theRoman See, and also in the writings of non-Catholic authors against the definition ofPapal Infallibility, theBull "Unam Sanctam" was used againstBoniface VIII as well as against thepapal primacy in a manner not justified by its content. The statements concerning the relations between the spiritual and thesecular power are of a purely historical character, so far as they do not refer to the nature of the spiritual power, and are based on the actual conditions ofmedieval WesternEurope.

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