Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/379



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 373

ascended into heaven, to designate a vicegerent on earth. " Should any one say that Christ is the one head and the one shepherd, the one spouse of the one Church, he does not give an adequate reply. It is clear, indeed, that Christ is the author of grace in the sacraments of the Church; it is Clirist HimseK who bagtizesj^ it is He,_who_forgives^ ^sins; it is He'who TsTHe^true priest who hath offered Him- self upon the altar of the cross, and it is by His power that His body is daily consecrated upon the altar; and still, because He was not to be visibly present to all the faithful, He made choice of ministers through whom the aforesaid sacraments should be dispensed to the faithful as said above." ^ "For the same reason, therefore, because He was about to \\athdraw His visible presence from the Church, it \yas necessary that He should appoint someone jn His._placej to have the charge of the universal Church. Hence before His ascension He said to Peter, 'Feed My sheep.'"'

Je sus Chr ist, therefore, .appointed J'eter to be the head of the Church; and He also determined that the^authority instituted in perpetuity for the salvation of all should be inherite d by Hi s s uccesso rsÂ«Jn whom the same permanent authorityof Peter himself should continue. And so He made that remarkable promise to Peter and to no one else : Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will huild My Church.^ "To Peter the Lord spoke: to one, therefore, that He might estabhsh unity upon one."* "Without any pre- lude He mentions St. Peter's name and that of his father (Blessed art thou Simon, son of John) and He does not wnsh Him to be called any more Simon; claiming him for Himself according to His divine authority. He aptly jiames him Peter^^ i^jn jpeti'a the rock, since upon .himJHe was a bout to found HiaXhurch.' ' ^

' Cap. 74.

^ St. Thomas, Contra Gentiles, lib. iv., cap. 76.

HIatt. xA-i. 18.


 * S. Pacianus ad Sempronivim, Ep. iii., n. 11.

' S. Cyrillus Alexaiidrinus, In Evang. Joan., lib. ii., in cap. i. v. 42.