Folio 247

Council of Constance, 1414-1418

printed p. 215 · pdf p. 247

656. 30. No one is a civil master, no one is a prelate, no one is a bishop while he is in mortal sin [see n. 595].

See the theological censures of these thirty articles among "Questions of Wycliffe and Hus to be proposed" n. 11 (661 below).

Questions to be Proposed to the Wycliffites and Hussites1

[From the Bull above mentioned "Inter Cunctas," Feb. 22, 1418]

Articles 1–4, 9–10 treat of communion with said heretics.

657. 5. Likewise, whether he believes, holds, and declares, that every general Council, including that of CONSTANCE, represents the universal Church.2

658. 6. Likewise, whether he believes that what the sacred Council of Constance, which represents the Catholic Church, has approved and does approve in favor of faith, and for the salvation of souls, must be approved and maintained by all the faithful of Christ; and that what (the Council) has condemned and does condemn to be contrary to faith and good morals, this must be believed and proclaimed by the same as considered worthy of condemnation.

659. 7. Likewise, whether he believes that the condemnations of John Wycliffe, John Hus, and Jerome of Prague, made by the sacred general Council of CONSTANCE, concerning their persons, books, and documents have been duly and justly made, and that they must be considered and firmly declared as such by every Catholic whatsoever.

660. 8. Likewise, whether he believes, holds, and declares, that John Wycliffe of England, John Hus of Bohemia, and Jerome of Prague have been

  1. Msi XXVII 1211 B ff.; Hrd VIII 914 A ff.; BR(T) 4, 673 a ff.; MBR 1, 292 b ff. ↩

  2. It is clear that the statements made here on the authority of the Council of Constance are to be understood according to the mind of the Apostolic See itself, which never confirmed all its decrees. (They are to be understood) definitely according to this opinion: (the Synod of Constance) "has power immediately from Christ, to which anyone of whatever status or dignity, even if it be papal, is bound to give obedience in matters pertaining to faith. . . ." In the Fourth and Fifth Sessions (Msi XXVII 585 B 590 D) Eugenius IV, Sept. 4, 1439, expressly rejected the statute as impious and scandalous, and on July 22, 1446 he wrote the following to his delegates living in Germany: "As they [our predecessors] were accustomed to accept, embrace, and venerate the general Councils lawfully established and canonically celebrated in their own times, so we with every reverence and devotion accept and venerate the general councils of Constance and Basil from the beginning even to the translation made by us, yet without prejudice to the right, dignity, and pre-eminence of the holy Apostolic See, and to the power conceded to it by Christ and residing canonically in the same in the person of Saint Peter" [Bar(Th) about 1446 n. 3 (28, 461 a)]; cf. Hergenröther-Kirsch, Handb. der allgem. Kirchengesch. 6. Aufl. III (1925): 153 f. ↩