Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Church Militant · The Church Spread Throughout the Whole World
Chapter 21: The First Mark Is Explained: The Name Catholic
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. II, De Ecclesia Militante, On the Church Militant (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 Mark is the very name of the Catholic Church and of Christians; for, as Saint Augustine teaches, book against the letter of the foundation, chapter 4, even though every heresy wishes to seem and be called the Catholic Church, yet when the heretics are asked by the pagans where one may assemble to the Catholic Church, no one dares to show his own house. And Cyril, catechesis 18, says: “If thou go into any city, ask not where is the Church or the house of God; for even the heretics say that they have the house of God and the Church; but ask where is the Catholic Church; for this name is proper to this holy Church, the mother of us all”; as if he should say, if thou ask this, no heretic will show his own Church.
Pacian in his letter to Sympronian, which is on the name "Catholic": “Certainly,” he says, “that is not borrowed from man which through so many ages has not fallen. This 'Catholic' sounds neither of Marcion, nor of Apelles, nor of Montanus, nor takes heretics for authors.” And below: “Christian is my name, but Catholic my surname; the one names me, the other shows me.” And in the same place he beautifully says that the name Catholic befits the principal head and trunk of that tree, from which many branches are cut off at various times: for the heretical sects are branches, that is, certain parts cut off from the tree of the Church; but the tree itself, which rests on its own root and always remains the same, and is a whole, is called Catholic. Likewise there is no heresy which does not take its name from some man, its author, and leave the Christian name to those from whom it departs. Thus 1 Corinthians 3 some of the schismatics said, I am of Paul; others, I of Apollo; others, I indeed of Cephas.
Justin in the Dialogue with Trypho: “And they are distinguished by surnames, named from certain men, according as each was the author of some new doctrine. Of these some are called Marcionists, some Valentinians, some Basilidians, some Saturninians, some by another name, each from the first inventor of his dogma.” Irenaeus, Book 1, chapter 20: “They have also names; from Simon, the prince of the most impious opinion, they are called Simonians.” Lactantius, Book 4, chapter 30: “When they are named Marcionists or Arians, they have ceased to be Christians, who, having lost the name of Christ, have put on human and external names.” Athanasius, sermon 2 against the Arians: “Never did the people take a name from their bishops, but from the Lord in whom they believed. Certainly we have not obtained appellations from the blessed Apostles our teachers, but from Christ we are and are called Christians. But those who draw the origin of their faith from elsewhere deservedly bear the surnames of their authors. Wherefore, since from Christ we were all Christians and were so called, Marcion the inventor of the heresy was expelled. But the rest who remained retained the title of Christians; but those who followed Marcion were no longer thence called Christians, but Marcionists. So too Valentinus, Basilides, Manichaeus, and the rest imparted their names to their followers.”
Chrysostom, homily 33 on the Acts of the Apostles: “They have certain men from whom they are named: for as is the name of the heresiarch, so also is the sect called; but to us no man gave a name, but the faith itself.”
Jerome against the Luciferians at the end: “If anywhere you hear those who are called Christians named not from the Lord Jesus Christ, but from some other, as Marcionists, Valentinians, know that it is not the Church of Christ, but the synagogue of Antichrist.” Now, therefore, if some are called Martinists or Lutherans, others Zwinglians, others Calvinists, etc., but no one ever called us from some certain man, it is established that ours alone is the true Church.
But, they say, you are commonly called Papists, Romans, or Romanists. I answer that of old too the Catholics were called Homoousians, but those very names attest to the truth. For they are not the names of some new author and heresiarch, as are their names: but "Homoousian" signifies one who believes the Son consubstantial with the Father, which is a most true dogma. "Papist" is derived from Pope, such as was Peter too, and Christ Himself, as is known; and "Roman" and "Romanist," even more than 1100 years ago, was the same as "Catholic," as is clear from Ambrose in his oration on the death of Satyrus. Add that Chrysostom, homily 33 on the Acts, says that it is not evil if Catholics are named from those who govern the Church in the name of Christ, provided they be not named from some particular man, as the heretics do. Where he seems to have foreseen that we would sometime be called Papists. Add that we are not called Papists except by the Lutherans in Germany and neighboring regions, but we are not so called in Greece, Asia, Africa, the Indies, to omit meanwhile Italy and Spain.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT IV. Explicatur prima Nota. Prima Nota, est ipsum Catholicae Ecclesiae et Christianorum nomen ; nam, utS. Augus¬ tinus docet lib. contra epist. fundamenti, cap. 4. etiam si omnis haeresis velit videri, et dici Catholica Ecclesia, tamen cum inter¬ rogantur haeretici a paganis, ubi ad Catholi¬ cam conveniatur? nemo audet domum suam ostendere, et Gyrillus cateches. 18. dicit : « Si iveris in aliquam urbem, non petas, ubi sit Ecclesia, vel domus Dei ; nam etiam hae¬ retici dicunt se habere domum Dei, et Ec¬ clesiam, sed petas, ubi sit Catholica Eccle¬ sia; id enim nomen proprium est hujus sanc¬ tae Ecclesiae matris omnium nostrum ; quasi dicat, si hoc petas , nullus haereticus suam Ecclesiam ostendet. » Pacianus in epistola ad Sympronianum, quae est de nomine Catholico : « Certe , in¬ quit, non est ab homine mutuatum, quod per saecula tanta non cecidit. Catholicum istud, nec Marcionem, nec Apellem, nec Montanum sonat, nec haereticos sumit auc¬ tores. » Et infra : « Christianus mihi nomen est, Catholicus vero cognomen ; illud me nuncupat, istud ostendit. » Et ibidem pul¬ chre dicit, nomen Catholicum convenire ca¬ piti principali, et trunco illius arboris, unde multi rami variis temporibus excinduntur: sectae enim haereticae sunt rami, id est, par¬ tes quaedam ab arbore Ecclesiae praecisae ; ipsa autem arbor, quae sua radice nititur, et semper eadem manet, et est quid totum, Ca¬ tholica dicitur. Similiter nulla est haeresis, quae non accipiat nomen ab aliquo homine auctore suo, et nomen Christianum iis relin¬ quat , a quibus discedit. Sic I. Corinth. III schismaticorum alii dicebant : Ego sum Pau¬ li, alii, ego Apollo, alii ego vero Cephee (I). Justinus in Triphone : « Et sunt, inquit, distincti cognominibus, denominati a quibus¬ dam viris, ut quisque fuit auctor alicujus novae doctrinae. Ex iis alii vocantur Marcio- nistae, alii Valentiniani, alii Basilidiani, alii Saturniniani, alii alio vocabulo, quisque a primo inventore sui dogmatis. » Irenaeusl. I, cap. 20 : « Habent, inquit, et vocabula, a principe impiissimae sententiae Simone dicti Simoniani. » Lactantius lib. IV, cap. 30. : « Cum Marcionistae aut Ariani nominantur, Christiani esse desierunt, qui Christi nomine amisso, humana et externa vocabula indue¬ runt. » Athanasius serm. 2. contra Arianos : « Numquam, inquit, populus ab Episcopis suis, sed a Domino, in quem creditum fuit, nomen accepit. Certe abeatis Apostolis prae¬ ceptoribus nostris appellationes adepti non sumus, sed a Christo Christiani sumus, et nuncupamur. Illi vero qui aliunde originem suae fidei deducunt , merito auctorum suo¬ rum cognomenta prae se ferunt. Quapropter cum a Christo omnes Christiani essemus, et diceremur, explosus est Marcion inventor haereseos. Reliqui autem qui remanserunt Christiani titulum retinuerunt ; qui vero Marcionem secuti sunt, non jam inde Chris¬ tiani, sed Marcionistae appellati sunt. Ita quoque Valentinus, Basilides, Manichaeus et caeteri sectatoribus suis nomina impertie¬ runt. » Chrysostomus hornil. 33. in acta Aposto¬ lorum : « Illi habent quosdam a quibus ap¬ pellantur : prout enim haeresiarchae nomen, ita et secta vocatur, nobis autem nullus vir nomen dedit, sed fides ipsa. » (1) I. Cor. III, 4. CAPUT V. 367 Hieronymus contra Luciferianos in fine : « Sicubi audietis eos, qui dicuntur Christia¬ ni, non a Domino Jesu Christo, sed a quo¬ quo alio nuncupari, ut Mareionistas, Valen- tinianos ; scito non Ecclesiam Christi, sed Antichristi esse Synagogam. » Jam ergo si nunc dicuntur alii Martinistee, vel Lutherani, alii Zwingliani, alii Calvinistse, etc. nos au¬ tem ab aliquo certo homine nemo unquam vocavit, constat nostram solum esse veram Ecclesiam. At, inquiunt, vos vocamini passim, Papis- tse, Romani, vel Romanenses. Respondeo, etiam olim fuisse vocatos Catholicos homou- sianos, sed ista ipsa nomina veritati attes¬ tantur. Non enim sunt nomina alicujus novi auctoris, et hajresiarcliee, ut sunt ipsorum nomina : sed homousianus significat eum, qui credit Filium Patri consubstantialem, quod est dogma verissimum. Papista dedu¬ citur a Papa, qualis fuit etiam Petrus, et Christus ipse, ut notum est, Romanus au¬ tem, et Romanensis, etiam ante 1100 annos idem erat, quod Catholicus, ut patet ex Am¬ brosio in oratione de obitu Satyri. Adde, quod Ghrysostomus hom. 33. in acta dicit, non esse malum si Catholici denominentur ab iis, qui Ecclesiam gubernant nomine Christi, modo non denominentur ab aliquo homine particulari, sicut haeretici faciunt. Ubi videtur praevidisse nos vocandos quan¬ doque Papistas. Adde, quod non vocamur Papistae, nisi a Lutheranis in Germania, et vicinis regionibus, non sic autem vocamur in Graecia, Asia, Africa, Indiis , ut interim omittam Italiam, et Hispaniam.