Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On Councils · On the Authority of Councils, Book I
Chapter 7: Councils Partly Confirmed, Partly Rejected
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. II, De Conciliis (De Conciliorum Auctoritate), On Councils, Book I (of the controversy On Councils and the Church). The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
The first general Council partly confirmed, partly rejected, is that of Sardica, of 376 Bishops, in the year of the Lord 351, in the time of Constantius and Julius I; of whom 300 Western Bishops confirmed the Catholic faith, which Hilary sets forth in his book on Synods, while the remaining 76 Eastern Bishops wrote out the Arian faith. See Socrates Book 2 chapter 16, Sozomen Book 3 of the history chapters 10 and 11, and Theodoret Book 2 chapters 7 and 8.
The second is the Council of Sirmium, which was celebrated five years after that of Sardica, that is, in the year of the Lord 356, Liberius being supreme Pontiff and Constantius Emperor. For in this Council two formulas of faith, disagreeing with one another, were put forth. One Marcus of Arethusa composed in Greek — who afterward under Julian bore an illustrious martyrdom — which indeed seems to be that which Hilary, in his book on Synods near the end, sets forth as Catholic. The other, others composed in Latin, full of open blasphemy, which Hilary reproves in his book on Synods not far from the beginning. In the same Council too the heresy of Photinus was condemned, which condemnation all the Churches approved. See Socrates Book 1 chapter 24 and following, and Sozomen Book 4 chapters 5 and 6; see also Epiphanius, heresy 71, who yet seems to have slipped in this, that he took Sardica for Sirmium.
The third is the Quinisext Council, in which are contained the Trullan canons. For it must be known, from Tarasius disputing in the seventh Synod, act 4, that the Sixth Synod, which was celebrated in the time of Constantine IV, put forth no canons, but that after some years, in the time of Justinian, the Bishops returned to Constantinople and in the palace which is called Trullus put forth 102 canons, which are called Trullan, and by Balsamon it is called the Quinisext Council, because this Synod is neither the fifth nor the sixth, but added canons to the fifth and sixth Synod. At what time this Synod was held is not so certain. For a certain historian Theophanes, whom Francis Turrianus cites in his book on the Sixth Synod, teaches that this Synod was celebrated in the 27th year from the dissolution of the true Sixth Synod, namely in the second year of the restored reign of Justinian. But Tarasius in the Seventh Synod act 4, and Epiphanius in the same Synod act 6 volume 1, say that these canons were put forth five years after the dissolution of the Council; which certainly seems to me more probable, for otherwise I do not see what that erratic Synod was, held at Constantinople by Justinian in the time of Pope Sergius, and which the same Pope rejected, as Bede testifies in his book on the six ages, Paul the Deacon Book 6 chapter 4, Otto of Freising Book 5 chapter 13, Regino Book 1, and Ado of Vienne in the Chronicle; for in the 27th year from the dissolution of the Sixth Council, it was not Sergius who sat, but Pope Constantine. And certainly Bede and Tarasius are more ancient than Theophanes; nay, Bede lived in the very time in which Pope Sergius sat. These canons, then, we say are partly rejected, because the supreme Pontiff was not present, neither in person nor through Legates, while these canons were made; and Pope Sergius, who then sat, openly rejected that erratic Synod, as Bede says in his book on the six ages, at Justinian. But partly approved, because, although those canons of themselves have no force, yet some were afterward approved by the Pontiff or by other legitimate Councils — such as is canon 82, on the painting of images, received by Pope Adrian and the Seventh Synod, as is plain from the seventh Synod itself, acts 2 and 4. See what we discoursed against this Quinisext Synod, Book 2 on the supreme Pontiff, chapter 18.
The fourth is the Council of Frankfurt, which was celebrated in the year 794, according to Regino Book 2, under Adrian I the Pontiff and Charlemagne King of the Franks. Which Council was confirmed by Adrian as regards that part in which it is defined that Christ is not the adoptive Son of God, and by the same is rejected as regards the other part, in which by an error the Seventh Synod is condemned. See what we said in Book 2 on Councils, chapter 9.
The fifth is the Council of Constance, of nearly a thousand Fathers, among whom more than 300 Bishops, begun in the year 1414 under John XXIII and finished in the year 1418 under Martin V and the Emperor Sigismund. Platina and Palmerius say that this Council, as regards the first sessions, where it defines that the Council is above the Pope, was rejected in the Council of Florence and the last Lateran; but as regards the last sessions, and all those things which Martin V approved, it is received by all Catholics.
The sixth is the Council of Basel, begun in the year 1431, and continued at Basel, and then at Lausanne, down to the year 1449, at which time both the Council and Pope Felix V (created in schism by that Council) yielded to Pope Nicholas V. See the acts of the Council, and the annexed Bull of Pope Nicholas V. Of this Council nothing is ratified and approved, except certain dispositions concerning Ecclesiastical benefices which had been made by the Council, which (for the sake of peace and unity) the aforesaid Nicholas approved. But the Council itself is rejected in the last Lateran Council, session 11.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT VII. Concilia partim confirmata, partivi reprobata. Primum generale partim confirmatum, partim reprobatum est Sardicense Conci¬ lium, Episcoporum 376, anno Domini 351, tempore Constantii et Julii I, ex quibus 300 Episcopi Occidentales fidem Catholicam con¬ firmarunt, quam exponit Hilarius in lib. de Synodis, reliqui 76 Episcopi Orientales fidem Arianam scripserunt. Vide Socratem lib. II, cap. 16. Sozomenum lib. III hist. cap. 10 et 11. et Tlieodoretum lib. II, cap. 7 et 8. Secundum est Concilium Sirmiense, quod celebratum est annis quinque post Sardi¬ cense, hoc est, anno Domini 356, Liberio summo Pontifice, et Constantio Imperatore. In hoc enim Concilio duse formulae fidei dis¬ sentientes inter se editae sunt. Unam com¬ posuit Graece Marcus Arethusius, qui postea subJuliano illustre martyrium pertulit, quae quidem ea esse videtur, quam Hilarius in lib. de Synodis prope extremum, ut Catho¬ licam explicat. Alteram alii composuerunt Latine, plenam aperta blasphemia, quam Hi¬ larius reprehendit in lib. de Synodis, non procul ab initio. In eodem etiam Concilio Photini haeresis damnata est, quam damna¬ tionem omnes Ecclesiae probaverunt. Vide Socratem lib. I, cap. 24 et seq. et Sozome¬ num lib. IV, cap. 5et6. vide etiam Epipha- nium haeresi 71. qui tamen in eo lapsus vi¬ detur, quod Sardicam pro Sirmio accepe¬ rit. Tertium est Concilium Qui nisextum, in quo continentur canones Trullani. Sciendum est enim ex Tharasio disputante in septima Sy¬ nodo action. 4 sextam Synodum, quae tem¬ pore Constantini IV celebrata est, nullos ca¬ nones edidisse, sed post annos aliquot tem¬ pore Justiniani Episcopos rediisse Constan- tinopolim, et in Palatio, quod dicitur Trul- lum, 102 canones edidisse qui dicuntur Trul¬ lani, et a Balsamone vocatur Concilium Qui- nisextum, quia non est heec Synodus quinta nec sexta, sed canones addidit quintae et sextae Synodo. Quo tempore haec Synodus habita sit, non est adeo certum. Nam Theophanes quidam historicus, quem citat Franciscus Turrianus in libro de VI Synodo, docet celebratam hanc Synodum anno 27 a verae sextae Syno¬ di dissolutione, nimirum anno secundo Im¬ perii Justiniani instaurati. At Tharasius in VII Synodo act. 4. et Epiphanius in eadem Synodo act. 6. tomo I, dicunt post quinque annos a dissolutione Concilii hos canones editos : quod certe probabilius mihi videtur, nam alioqui non video, quae fuerit illa erra¬ tica Synodus Constantinopoli a Justiniano habita, tempore Sergii Papae, et quam idem Papa reprobavit, teste Beda libro de sex ae¬ tatibus; Paulo Diacono lib. VI, cap. 4. Otho¬ ne Frisingensi lib. V, cap. 13. Bbeginone lib. I. et Adone Viennensi in Chronico : nam in anno 27 a dissolutione Concilii sexti, non sedebat Sergius, sed Constantinus Papa. Et certe Beda et Tharasius antiquiores Theo¬ phane sunt. Quin etiam Beda ipso tempore vixit, quo Sergius Papa sedebat. Hos ergo canones dicimus partim repro¬ batos, quia non interfuit summus Pontifex, nec per se, nec per legatos, dum isti cano¬ nes fierent. Et aperte Sergius Papa qui tunc sedebat, reprobavit erraticam istam Syno¬ dum, ut ait Beda in lib. de sex aetatibus in Justiniano. Partim autem approbatos, quia etsi canones illi ex se nullam vim habeant, tamen aliqui postea probati sunt a Pontifice, aut aliis legitimis Conciliis, qualis est can. 82. de pingendis imaginibus, receptus ab Adriano Papa, et VII Synodo, ut patet ex ipsa septima Synodo act. 2. et 4. Vide quae disseruimus adversus hanc Synodum Quini- sextam lib. II de summo Pontifice, cap. 18. Quartum est Concilium Francofordiense, quod celebratum est anno 794, juxta Rhegi- nonem lib. H Adriano I Pontifice, et Carolo Magno Rege Francorum. Quod Concilium ab Adriano confirmatum fuit, quantum ad eam partem, in qua definitur Christum non esse Filium Dei adoptivum, et ab eodem re¬ probatur, quantum ad alteram partem, in qua ex errore damnatur septima Synodus. Vide quae nos diximus in II lib. de Conciliis, cap. 9. Quintum est Concilium Constantiense Pa¬ trum fere mille, ex quibus Episcopi amplius 300, anno 1414 inchoatum sub Joanne XXIII et anno 1418 finitum sub MartinoV et Sigis- mundo Imperatore. Piat. Palmerius dicit, quod hoc Concilium quantum ad primas ses¬ siones, ubi definit Concilium esse supra Pa¬ pam, reprobatum est in Concilio Florentino, et Lateranensi ultimo : quantum ad ultimas sessiones, et ea omnia quae probavit Marti- nus V ab omnibus Catholicis recipitur. Sextum est Concilium Basileense inchoa¬ tum anno 1431, et continuatum Basilese, ac deinde Lausannse usque ad annum 1449, quo tempore cessit Nicolao V Pontifici, tam Concilium, quam Papa Felix V in schismate ab ipso Concilio creatus. Yide acta Concilii, et Bullam annexam Nicolai V Pontificis. Hujus Concilii nihil est ratum et probatum, nisi qugedam dispositiones circa beneficia Ecclesiastica, quae a Concilio factae fuerant, quas (pacis et unitatis gratia) Nicolaus prae¬ dictus approbavit. Concilium vero ipsum reprobatur in Concilio Lateranensi ultimo, sess. 11.