The M+G+R Foundation
How the Original Catholic Church
Hierarchy Allowed Emperor Constantine to Act as a Pope
The Price That Had To Be Paid
PURPOSE
The purpose of this brief historical
document is not to denigrate the Catholic Faith that we uphold
and strive to live with every breath we take, nor the office of the
Bishop of Rome - the true Petrine Ministry. Our sole intent is to help
the Faithful
understand the historical facts which eventually caused the Roman
Church Administration to abandon the path set by Our Lord Jesus Christ
while, at the same time, and in spite of those errors, defend and
uphold
the core of the Catholic Faith that has reached the 21st Century to
help and nourish us through this very difficult times.
BACKGROUND
Emperor Constantine intervened in Church matters such as dogmas and
discipline although his interest was strictly political. Tragically,
his actions were setting the pace that the Church, back in the hands of
the Hierarchy, would take in the future, distancing, at every step,
more and more from the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Religious discrepancies were a threat to the unity of the Roman Empire
thus a personal threat to Constantine. His concerns were so great that
he went as far, with the tacit approval of the Hierarchy as if he were
the Vicar of Christ and not the Pope. Constantine's excessive
interference in Ecclesiastical affairs are highlighted by his direct or
indirect participation in three Church Councils.
DETAILS
* The Donatist Problem
Around the year 312 an ecclesial
movement took form in Northern Africa to oppose the appointment of
Ceciliano as Bishop of Carthage. The Donatists, followers of Donato,
the former diocese ordinary, considered Ceciliano's ordination invalid.
Ceciliano's consecration was considered invalid because it was
performed by priest who had abjured the Faith during Diocletian
persecutions.
* Two Synods
Constantine could care less about the
theological aspects of the Donatist issue. What he was concerned about
was that the Donatists rejected his interference in Church affairs.
After convening two Synods, Lateran (313) and Arles (314), Constantine
ordered their elimination through violent means in the year 317.
Nonetheless, the Donatist schism lasted until the Seventh Century
Muslim expansion in North Africa.
* The Heresy of
Arrio
While the Donatist controversy was
running its course, a worse heresy made its debut. This heresy was
formulated around the year 320 by a priest of Alexandria named Arrio.
This heresy set the Church of the East against the Church of the West.
Arianism held that the Son was subordinate to the Father since the Son
was created. That is, they denied the Divinity of Jesus. This question,
paraphrasing Constantine, "blown out of proportion" caused the greatest
schims of the Fourth Century.
* The Church Unity
Begins to Crack
In spite of the fact that Arianism drew the support of influential
members of the Church such as Eusebio of Cesarea, Constantine
biographer, and Eusebio of Nicomedia, the one who baptized Constantine,
Arrio was excommunicated by the Egyptian Episcopate at the insistence
of Alexander and Atanasio of Alexandria.
The Church Unity begins to fail and, with it, the unity of the Empire.
In 21st Century terms - Constantine panics and decides to directly
intervene.
* The Council of
Nicea
Constantine convened the first
Ecumenical Council of the history which lasted from May 20th through
August 25th, 325. This first Ecumenical Council was attended by 300
Bishops, mostly Greek, in addition to priests, deacons and laity.
The Synod was presided by Osio of Cordoba, but the real director was
Constantine. Pope Silvester I limited his involvement by sending two
priests as representatives - Victor and Vicentio.
* The Church Headed
by the Emperor and Not the Pope
The Council of Nicea condemned
Arianism as expected; after all, that was Constantine's reason for
convening the Council. It proclaimed that the Father and the Son are
co- substantial (foundation, in union with the Holy Spirit, of the
Trinity), established the date for Easter and approved the first Creed.
In addition, the Council served to prove, without a doubt, that it was
Constantine the one who controlled the Administration of the Church and
not the Pope (Silvester I at the time). Constantine opened and closed
the Council from a golden throne amidst the reverences and adulation of
the Bishops in attendance.
* Constantine's
Baptism - Another Great Incoherence
In spite of of condemning Arianism,
Constantine was baptized in his deathbed by Eusebio of Nicomedia, a
supporter of Arianism, and not by Pope Silvester I as it was invented
later on.
This is another example of the Imperial authority over the
Ecclesiastical authority. In his last years, Constantine did not think
it wise to harass the followers of Arianism since they were a majority
in the East. It was Emperor Theodosio and the Council of Constantinople
who brought the schism caused by Arianism to an end in the year 381.
CONCLUSION
As the reader may see, it was Constantine, by the default of the
understandably weak Church Administration, who converted the Church of
Jesus Christ into an Imperial Church. Later on, the Church
Administrators invented the Constantine
Donation
(1) to
regain their rightful control of the Church.
The problem was that instead of creating a document in which
Constantine, once he had established the Church on solid temporal
ground, surrendered all Imperial rights over the Church Administration
to the rightful Hierarchy, they became very greedy and claimed that
Constantine had willed the Roman Empire - East and West to the Pope.
The proposed first pseudo-fabrication would have sailed through the
centuries and up to today uncontested, but the ridiculous notion that
the Empire had been willed to the Pope could not last very long and, as
all other lies from the Church Administrators, ended up weakening the
Faith and propitiating the foundation of groups which became enemies of
the Church, this the Faith, such as the Illuminati
(2) and others.
We cannot allow, by means of prayer and setting every possible record
straight, that what is left of the pristine
Catholic Faith
(3)
be destroyed by the continuous unchecked abuses within its
Administration
(4)
and the activities of the sects
(5)
within it.
NOTES
(1) The Forgery of the Alleged Donation of
Constantine
(2) The
Illuminati. Fact or Fiction?
(3) The
pristine
Catholic Faith
(4) From "Karol Cardinal Wojtyla" To "His
Holiness John Paul II"
(5) Simple questions to ask yourserlf...
before joining an overly zealous religious group
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