Continued
from previous post -
Although
the "Donation" never occurred, Constantine did hand over
the Lateran
Palace to the
bishop of Rome, and began the construction of Old
St. Peter's Basilica
(the "Constantinian Basilica"). The gift of the Lateran
probably occurred during the reign of Miltiades (311–14), Sylvester
I's predecessor, who began using it as his residence. Construction of
Old St. Peter's begun between 326 and 330 and took three decades to
complete.
The change to a very different role comes during the brief pontificate of Miltiades (311-314). In 313 AD he holds a council openly in Rome, at the behest of the emperor, in the Lateran palace. A lasting link, between the papacy and temporal power, has begun. And there are immediate signs of the change. For these changes to take place smoothly Catholic group had to do some compromises such as accepting concept of virgin Mary to replace Rhea Silvia, Vestal priestess, mother of foundere of Rome city as principle deity in the Christian religion. Cult of Vestals was thus introduced into the system of Church to accomodate virgins from Vestal priestess as Nuns. Mother of Jesus, Maria, was declared to have been a virgin even though in facts she was not one. All customs of Vestal priencess were accepted by Roman Catholic Church and that continues till today.
The
first churches: AD 312-337
Concrete
evidence of the new status of Christianity is seen in the emergence
of the first church buildings. The change is most visible in Rome,
the strongest Christian community. Until now, in spite of the size of
the congregation of Christians in Rome, worship has been conducted
discreetly in private houses. Suddenly churches become public
buildings, city landmarks as prominent as the temples of the pagan
cult.
Some of the churches evolve from the private houses already in use for worship; one such example is SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Rome. Others in the capital city are new and more striking foundations.
Leo
I [AD 440-461] was the first effective Pope who proved the power of
Church to be stronger than that of the throne. He managed the vandals
from Gothic and Hun looters. He was the first pope to indicate the
real potential of the papacy. He uses his time well, not only in the
papal duty of restraining heretics but also in rehearsing other roles
to be played by Rome.
These include defining Catholic orthodoxy (his epistle called Tome is widely accepted by his contemporaries in this context), and the assertion of the pope's authority over other bishops by the power of the keys, presumably granted by Jesus to Peter:
Mathew:16:19
I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be lost in heaven.”
Presumably
passed on to his successors, here we say presumably because Jesus did
not suggest that possibility. The KEY was given only to Peter. Church
conveniently decided that that authority is given to his followers.
Therefore, by this authority Pope of Rome became and shall continue
to remain chief of all Bishops in all Churches. With the collapse of
imperial authority in the western empire, as Visigoths,
Vandals and Huns move around almost at will, the papacy finds itself
well placed to take a lead in temporal affairs. Ambrose
[Roman
priest, who became bishop of Milan; the first Church Father born and
raised in the Christian faith; composer of hymns; imposed orthodoxy
on the early Christian church and built up its secular power; a saint
and Doctor of the Church (340?-397)] in
Milan has already demonstrated how a bishop can exert spiritual
authority over an emperor.
Continues
in the next post -
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me on my Email ID given below,
You are invited to
visit my other blogs
Ashok
Kothare, http://ashokkotharesblog.blogspot.com/
for
stories
I
reckon,
http://kotharesviews.blogspot.com/
for philosophy
You
may visit blog, Freedom of Expression,
http://blogs.siliconindia.com/kothare/
for intelligent discussions.
Freedom
of Expression, http://kothare-thinks.blogspot.in/
Marathi
blog, http://kothare-marathi.blogspot.in/
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