Lets also add a pope who was later condemed by later councils as a heretic:
Patriarch Macarius of Antioch was deposed in the 12th session. In the thirteenth session (28 March, 681) after anathematizing the chief Monothelitic heretics mentioned in the letter of Pope Agatho, i.e. Sergius of Constantinople, Cyrus of Alexandria, Pyrrhus, Paul, and Peter of Constantinople, and Theodore of Pharan, the council added : â**And in addition to these we decide that **Honorius ****also, who was Pope of Elder Rome, be with them cast out of the Holy Church of God, and be anathematized with them, because we have found by his letter to Sergius that he followed his opinion in all things and confirmed his wicked dogmas.â A similar condemnation of Pope Honorius occurs in the dogmatic decree of the final session (16 Sept., 681), which was signed by the legates and the emperor.
This attack against Pope Honorius 1 is a âred herringâ cast by some Christians who oppose the dogma of papal infallibilty. Meanwhile they confuse papal infallibilty with human impeccabilty: the legal or authoritative with the moral. JA4 fails to notice that Pope Honorius was not condemned for having officially âtaughtâ Monothelitism. The Holy See in Rome ruled that Honorius had not intended to âteachâ this heresy, and was thus not a positive heretic. He was not condemned as a Monothelite.
When, in 680, Pope St. Agatho sent legates to preside at the Council on his behalf. They brought with them a dogmatic letter in which the pope confirmed the faith in light of Honoriusâ negligence (He had failed to publicly issue a definition âex cathedraâ.): that the Apostolic Church of St. Peter has never fallen into error and never will. No valdily elected pontiff has ever been condemned by the Church for having taught something non-infallibly or infallibly in an encyclical or Apostolic Constitution of his and never will be, for he is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit in these capacities. This is the Catholic faith!
Pope Honorius may have been expected to reach a dogmatic decision on the question of one or two wills in the Person of Christ, but the fact is he never expressed a final decision. Meanwhile his reply in an official letter to Sergius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, was not an authoritative declaration of the Church. The pope did not claim to make a pronouncement from the Chair of Peter: âex-cathedraâ. He merely agreed with Sergiusâ caution of having discarded the expression âone operationâ for it sounded Eutychian, but he was mistaken by agreeing that Sergius should reject the expression âtwo operationsâ because the latter expression smacked of Nestorianism. It appears both Honorius and Sergius asserted only one will in Christ meaning that he possessed no contrary human will which was vitiated by sin. Honorius, at least, did not intend to deny the existence of a human will in Christ, but he expressed himself in his letter so ambiguously that it reflected Monophysitism [cf. John Chapman: Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol Vll]. This was while Honorius was still alive. The controversy flared up after he died. So he wasnât around to explain what he actually meant to say to Sergius with respect to the latterâs formula. Still he hadnât made a final and conclusive decision for or against the patriarchâs Christology during his pontificate; more a bungling of the exercise of the Divine Office than anything else and an instance of human imperfection. For this he was condemned by the Council.
Pope Honorius was not condemned because he taught heresy, but because of his apparently permissive attitude toward Monothelitism. When Pope Leo ll confirmed the anathema borne by the 6th Ecumenical Council, convoked by Pope Agatho before his death, he pointed out that the offense consisted in this: Honorius did not extinguish the fire of heresy at the beginning as was fitting for the pope to do, but on the contrary he fomented it by his guilty negligence. [cf. New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol Vll, p.123; Vol Vlll, p.639]. Hence, Pope Leo condemned Pope Honorius for negligence of duty in the face of heresy; he should have ascertained that Sergius was teaching not a mere oneness of wills in Christ, but literally one divine will in Christ to the exclusion of his human will. Since Honorius never made an âex cathedraâ pronouncement on this matter, the question of papal infallibilty does not arise. Donât expect Pope Pius lX to be anathematized for dogmatically declaring the Immaculate Conception a divinely revealed truth. It ainât gonna happen. :nope: On the other hand, Bishop Nestorious, the priest Arius, and the priest Martin Luther were condemned as positive heretics, for their heresies originated with them and these men consciously taught and spread their false doctrines. :yup:
In memory of our venerable Pope Honorius 1 ( 625-638) and for the repose of his immortal soul:
In you Lord is our hope.
We shall never hope in vain.
We shall dance and rejoice in your mercy.
We shall never hope in vain.
Amen :byzsoc:
{From the Divine Office for the Dead}
Pax vobiscum
Good Fella
