The Catholic Undertow

Mary Ann Collins, A Former Catholic Nun

Chapter 5

Forged Documents
and Papal Power

What we now call popes were originally bishops of Rome (one bishop among brother bishops from other cities). Then they became popes, with power over the entire Catholic Church. Then they became so powerful that they were able to depose kings and emperors. They became so powerful that they were able to force kings use their secular might to enforce the Inquisition. In 1870, the Pope was declared to be infallible.

Hans Küng is a Catholic priest and a theologian. He was a theological consultant to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). However, in 1979, he was disciplined by the Vatican because he opposed the doctrine of papal infallibility. According to Küng, historical research shows that, starting as early as the fifth century, the popes “decisively extended their power with explicit forgeries.”[1]

These forged documents were used to change people’s perception of the history of the papacy and of the Catholic Church. They created false credentials and an illusion of antiquity. For example, if a Pope wanted to depose a king, he could cite a forged document that said that an early pope had done the same kind of thing. This would establish a false precedent to justify his actions.

One of the most famous forgeries is the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, which were written around 845 A.D. (They are also known as the False Decretals.) They consist of 115 documents that were supposedly written by early popes.[2]

The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that these are forgeries. It says that the purpose of these forged documents was to enable the Church to be independent of secular power, and to prevent the laity from ruling the Church.[3]

In other words, the purpose of the forgeries was to increase the power of the Pope and the Catholic Church.

In addition to documents that were total forgeries, many genuine documents were altered. Forged material was added to 125 genuine documents, in order to increase the power of the Pope. Many early documents were changed to say the opposite of what they had originally said.[4]

One of the forgeries is a letter that was falsely attributed to Saint Ambrose. It said that if a person does not agree with the Holy See (the Vatican), then he or she is a heretic. This is an example of how papal power was promoted by fraudulently claiming the authority of highly respected Early Fathers.[5]

Another famous forgery from the ninth century was The Donation of Constantine. It claimed that Emperor Constantine gave the western provinces of the Roman Empire to the Bishop of Rome. The Pope used it to claim authority in secular matters.[6]

When Greek Christians tried to discuss issues with the Church in Rome, the popes often used forged documents to back their claims. This happened so frequently that, for 700 years, the Greeks referred to Rome as “the home of forgeries.”[7]

For three hundred years, the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals and other forgeries were used by Roman Popes to claim authority over the Church in the East. The Patriarch of Constantinople rejected these false claims of primacy. This resulted in the separation of the Orthodox Church from the Roman Catholic Church.[8]

In the middle of the twelfth century, a monk named Gratian wrote the Decretum, which became the basis for Canon Law (the legal system for running the Roman Catholic Church). It contained numerous quotations from forged documents. Gratian drew many of his conclusions from those quotations. He quoted 324 passages that were supposedly written by popes of the first four centuries. Of those passages, only 11 are genuine. The other 313 quotations are forgeries.[9]

In the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas wrote the Summa Theologica and numerous other works. His writings are the foundation for scholastic theology. Aquinas used Gratian’s Decretum for quotations from church fathers and early popes.[10] Aquinas also used forged documents that he thought were genuine.[11]

The importance of Thomas Aquinas’ theology can be seen in the encyclical of Pope Pius X on the priesthood. In 1906, Pius said that, in their study of philosophy, theology, and Scripture, men studying for the priesthood should follow the directions given by the popes and the teaching of Thomas Aquinas.[12]

William Webster wrote the book, The Church of Rome at the Bar of History. He is a former Catholic. Webster has an online article called, “Forgeries and the Papacy: The Historical Influence and Use of Forgeries in Promotion of the Doctrine of the Papacy.” It gives detailed information about the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals and other forged documents, showing their influence on the power of the papacy, and on the theology of the Catholic Church.[13]

Four quotations from Webster’s article are below. (They are used by permission.) Webster writes:

“In the middle of the ninth century, a radical change began in the Western Church, that dramatically altered the Constitution of the Church, and laid the ground work for the full development of the papacy. The papacy could never have emerged without a fundamental restructuring of the Constitution of the Church and of men’s perceptions of the history of that Constitution. As long as the true facts of Church history were well known, it would serve as a buffer against any unlawful ambitions. However, in the 9th century, a literary forgery occurred that completely revolutionized the ancient government of the Church in the West. This forgery is known as the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, written around 845 A.D. The Decretals are a complete fabrication of Church history. They set forth precedents for the exercise of sovereign authority of the popes over the universal Church prior to the fourth century and make it appear that the popes had always exercised sovereign dominion and had ultimate authority even over Church Councils.

“...The historical facts reveal that the papacy was never a reality as far as the universal Church is concerned. There are many eminent Roman Catholic historians who have testified to that fact as well as to the importance of the forgeries, especially those of Pseudo-Isidore. One such historian is Johann Joseph Ignaz von Dollinger. He was the most renowned Roman Catholic historian of the last century, who taught Church history for 47 years as a Roman Catholic. [Webster quotes extensively from Dollinger.]

“...In addition to the Pseudo Isidorian Decretals there were other forgeries that were successfully used for the promotion of the doctrine of papal primacy. One famous instance is that of Thomas Aquinas. In 1264 A.D. Thomas authored a work entitled Against the Errors of the Greeks. This work deals with the issues of theological debate between the Greek and Roman Churches in that day on such subjects as the Trinity, the Procession of the Holy Spirit, Purgatory and the Papacy. In his defense of the papacy Thomas bases practically his entire argument on forged quotations of Church fathers... These spurious quotations had enormous influence on many Western theologians in succeeding centuries.

“...The authority claims of Roman Catholicism ultimately devolve upon the institution of the papacy. The papacy is the center and source from which all authority flows for Roman Catholicism. Rome has long claimed that this institution was established by Christ and has been in force in the Church from the very beginning. But the historical record gives a very different picture. This institution was promoted primarily through the falsification of historical fact through the extensive use of forgeries as Thomas Aquinas’ apologetic for the papacy demonstrates. Forgery is its foundation.”

There is a website with several articles about the Catholic Church’s used of forged documents.[14] These forgeries were one of the causes of the “Great Schism” between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.[15]

Forged documents are the foundation of the power of the papacy. They also had a significant influence on Catholic theology and Canon Law.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

We believed false teachings that were based on forgeries. Because of that, some of the confidence that we should have in God was given to the Catholic Church instead. That can make it more difficult for us to trust God at a gut level (even though we understand intellectually that we can trust Him). It can also make us susceptible to the Catholic undertow. God is willing and able to set us free from this.