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172 fessed that the Holy Roman Church had supreme and full primacy and principality over the whole Catholic Church, received from our Lord himself in Peter, prince and head of the Apostles, whose successor the Roman Pontiff is. The Profession of Faith then adds that the Roman Church "is bound above all Churches to defend the truth; and if any questions arise about the faith, they ought to be defined (or finally determined) by its judgment."

The Council of Florence is still more explicit, as we have already seen; but the words may be repeated in full because they are an implicit assertion of the doctrine of infallibility. The Vatican Council only defined explicitly what the Council of Florence had implicitly affirmed. From the acts of the Council of Trent it is evident that the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff would have been defined but for the state of the Council and the dangers of the times. The Florentine Council in 1439 says that "the Roman Pontiff is the true vicar of Christ and head of the whole Church, and is the father and teacher of all Christians; and to him in blessed Peter the full power was given by our Lord of feeding, ruling, and governing the Universal Church."

The word "to feed" obviously means to feed with the Word of God, which is the food of the soul. But how shall he feed the Universal Church with this pas-