In this documentary style video, we dive once more into the historicity behind the Tome of Pope St. Leo at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, and discuss whether or not the Tome was an ex-cathedra statement and a proof of papal infallibility as Catholic apologists often claim. This will likely be our final statement on …
Continue reading Pope St. Leo’s Tome: Proof of Papal Infallibility? (HALF)
The Lateran council of 649, called to combat Monothelitism, is often times cited by Roman Catholic apologists as evidence of Vatican I’s doctrines of papal infallibility and the Pope’s universal, ordinary, and immediate jurisdiction over all the faithful. Such articles containing these claims are included here, here and here. The four pieces of evidence used …
Continue reading Does the Lateran Council of 649 Prove Papal Infallibility?
This is a repost of a florilegium compiled by someone else who has given their permission to repost it and requests they remain unnamed. Like all florilegia, this is a living document so if you have additional quotations on the topic, regardless of which position they take, please post them in the comments section below …
Continue reading Limbo, Orthodoxy, and the Fate of Unbaptized Infants
We have broken these quotations into the following six groups, you can click on the hyperlinks to be taken to each one or read through the introduction first. Universal consensus of bishops: St. Basil, St. Augustine, Council of Chalcedon, Pope St. Gregory the Great. Patriarchal ratification: Council of Chalcedon, Council of Constantinople II, Council of …
Continue reading What Makes a Council Ecumenical? Part I (A Florilegium)
The distinction between God's essence and his uncreated energies are found in (but not limited to) the following patristic writers. It is pertinent to note that in these quotes the terms "operation", "activity", "work" signify "energy". The first part of this series can be found here. We have taken a selection of quotations from each, …
Continue reading Essence – Energies Distinction in the Church Fathers – Part II
The following pages demonstrate the Quinisext Council, known more commonly as "Trullo," was accepted by the Western Church as part of the fifth and sixth ecumenical councils and its canons carried the same weight and authority as those from other ecumenical councils in both the East and the West. The source is Nicolae Dura, "The Ecumenicity …
Continue reading The Council of Trullo was Ecumenical in the West
Prior to beginning, a few words should be said about this great saint and pope of the Orthodox Church. The following is summarized largely from the article on him in the Catholic Encyclopedia found here. St. Boniface (Pope from 418 to 422) was known for his generosity to the poor, humility, and high education and …
The distinction between God's essence and his uncreated energies are found in (but not limited to) the following patristic writers. It is pertinent to note that in these quotes the terms "operation", "activity", "work" signify "energy". We have taken a selection of quotations from each, these do by no means exhaust the number of quotations …
Continue reading Essence – Energies Distinction in the Church Fathers
Despite his praise-filled language for the Apostle Peter and Roman See, the Frankish Archbishop Hincmar of Reims (d. 882) had a turbulant relationship with Rome and was no believer in Vatican I's universal and immediate jurisdiction of the Pope. This was due to his exceeding expertise in canon law. In this paper, Tavard analyzes Hincmar's …
Continue reading Episcopacy & Apostolic Succession according to Hincmar of Rheims
The following paper is written by Fr. Richard Price. Richard Price is Professor of the History of Christianity. MA (Oxford), DPhil (Oxford), BD (London), MTh (London). More on his biography can be found here. https://www.academia.edu/5371755/Presidency_and_Procedure_at_the_Early_Ecumenical_Councils
Though there is much debate concerning the orthodoxy of Pope Honorius, notoriously condemned for heresy in 681 by the Sixth Ecumenical Council, later popes attempted to downplay it to negligence in teaching the faith – a distinction without a difference for reasons we will discuss later - little has been written concerning Pope St. Vitalian …
https://youtu.be/Zz4z_NvdkMU Had a great time with Jay and Lewis on Jay's live stream. Many thanks again to Jay for hosting us.
Though the Pope of Rome, the Pope of Alexandria, and the Patriarch of Antioch (among others) are the successors of Peter by lineage, all bishops are successors to Peter and this is reflected in a variety of patristic sources. If you know of additional quotations related to this, please post them below and we will …
Continue reading All Bishops Are Successors of Peter (Florilegium)
In Part I of this series, we began discussing Mr. Ybarra’s claims (here and here) that St. Maximus the Confessor was actually an ardent supporter of Vatican I dogmas. In Part II, we will respond to Mr. Ybarra’s attempts at 'interacting' with actual experts and see why he again falls flat on his face being …
I am pleased to announce that on January 24th, I will have the honor of doing a live stream with Jay Dyer. We will be discussing my Catholic upbringing, being a 'rad trad,' my conversion to Orthodox Christianity and how my family took it, dealing with "papal quote mines," Latin language and why it is …
Mr. Ybarra initially posted this article on February 28, 2017 but updated it to “interact” with what Prof. Ed Siecienski wrote concerning St. Maximus. Because the initial article is fairly long, the response will be broken into multiple posts for the sake of readability. In his article, Mr. Ybarra attempts to argue that St. Maximus …
The following is from "Sophronius of Jerusalem and Seventh-Century Heresy" by Pauline Allen, (Oxford University Press, 2009; pages 161-217). The even numbered pages have been left out as they are the Greek text. (Use of this material in this post is protected under Fair Use Laws). Document 1: Cyrus, First Letter to Sergius; p. 161-163Document …
Continue reading Letters of Pope Honorius to Sergius of Constantinople and other Monothelite Texts
Ubi Petrus Ibi Ecclesia 