Extracts
from the Acts.
Session III.
(Labbe and Cossart,
Concilia
, Tom. III., col.
621.)
Juvenal the bishop of Jerusalem said to Arcadius and
Projectus the most reverend bishops, and to Philip the most reverend
presbyter; Yesterday while this holy and great synod was in session,
when your holiness was present, you demanded after the reading of the
letter of the most holy and blessed bishop of Great Rome,
Cœlestine, that the minutes made in the Acts with regard to the
deposition of Nestorius the heretic should be read. And thereupon
the Synod ordered this to be done. Your holiness will be good
enough to inform us whether you have read them and understand their
power.
Philip the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See
said: From reading the Acts we have found what things have been
done in your holy synod with regard to Nestorius. We have found
from the minutes that all things have been decided in accordance with
the canons and with ecclesiastical discipline. And now also we
seek from your honour, although it may be useless, that what things
have been read in your synod, the same should now again be read to us
also; so that we may follow the formula (
τύπῳ
) of the most holy pope
Cœlestine (who committed this same care to us), and of your
holiness also, and may be able to confirm (
βεβαιώσαι
)
the judgment.
[
Arcadius having seconded Philip’s motion,
Memnon directed the acts to be read which was done by the primicerius
of the notaries
.]
Philip the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See
said: There is no doubt, and in fact it has been known in all
ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince (
ἔξαρχος
) and
head of the Apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation (
θεμέλιος
) of
the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer of the human race, and that to
him was given the power of loosing and binding sins: who down
even to to-day and forever both lives and judges in his
successors. The holy and most blessed pope Cœlestine,
according to due order, is his successor and holds his place, and us he
sent to supply his place in this holy synod, which the most humane and
Christian Emperors have commanded to assemble, bearing in mind and
continually watching over the Catholic faith. For they both have
kept and are now keeping intact the apostolic doctrine handed down to
them from their most pious and humane grandfathers and fathers of holy
memory down to the present time, etc.
[
There is no further reference in the speech to the
papal prerogatives
.]
Arcadius the most reverend bishop and legate of the
Apostolic See said: Nestorius hath brought us great
sorrow.…And since of his own accord he hath made himself an alien
and an exile from us, we following the sanctions handed down from the
beginning by the holy Apostles, and by the Catholic Church (for they
taught what they had received from our Lord Jesus Christ), also
following the types (
τύποις
) of
Cœlestine, most holy pope of the Apostolic See, who has
condescended to send us as his executors of this business, and also
following the decrees of the holy Synod [we give this as our
conclusion]: Let Nestorius know that he is deprived of all
episcopal dignity, and is an alien from the whole Church and from the
communion of all its priests.
Projectus, bishop and legate of the Roman Church
said: Most clearly from the reading, etc.…Moreover I also,
by my authority as legate of the holy Apostolic See, define, being with
my brethren an executor (
ἐκβιβαστὴς
)
of the aforesaid sentence, that the beforenamed Nestorius is an
enemy of the truth, a corrupter of
the faith, and as guilty of the things of which he was accused, has
been removed from the grade of Episcopal honour, and moreover from the
communion of all orthodox priests.
Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria said: The
professions which have been made by Arcadius and Projectus, the most
holy and pious bishops, as also by Philip, the most religious presbyter
of the Roman Church, stand manifest to the holy Synod. For they
have made their profession in the place of the Apostolic See, and of
the whole of the holy synod of the God-beloved and most holy bishops of
the West. Wherefore let those things which were defined by the
most holy Cœlestine, the God-beloved bishop, be carried into
effect, and the vote cast against Nestorius the heretic, by the holy
Synod, which met in the metropolis of Ephesus be agreed to universally;
for this purpose let there be added to the already prepared acts the
proceedings of yesterday and today, and let them be shewn to their
holiness, so that by their subscription according to custom, their
canonical agreement with all of us may be manifest.
Arcadius the most reverend bishop and legate of the
Roman Church, said: According to the acts of this holy Synod, we
necessarily confirm with our subscriptions their doctrines.
The Holy Synod said: Since Arcadius and Projectus
the most reverend and most religious bishops and legates and Philip,
the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See, have said that they are
of the same mind with us, it only remains, that they redeem their
promises and confirm the acts with their signatures, and then let the
minutes of the acts be shewn to them.
[
The three then signed
.]