Page:William John Sparrow-Simpson - Roman Catholic Opposition to Papal Infallibility (1909).djvu/55

 ] This conclusion was followed up by burning the heretical letters, including that of Pope Honorius. It is significant that when the Council were about to proceed to pronounce the Anathemas, George, Patriarch of Constantinople, was anxious to secure the omission of his predecessors' name, but the majority overruled him. So the sentence was uttered, "Anathema to the heretic Sergius, to the heretic Cyrus, to the heretic Honorius."

The announcement of these decisions was made not to Pope Agatho, for he had died; but to his successor, Leo II. Leo accepted the decisions of Constantinople. He has carefully examined the Acts of the Council and found them in harmony with the declarations of faith of his predecessor, Agatho, and of the Synod of the Lateran. He anathematised all these heretics, including his predecessor, Honorius, "who so far from aiding the Apostolic See with the doctrine of the Apostolic Tradition, attempted to subvert the faith by a profane betrayal."

This condemnation of Honorius was reiterated by two more Ecumenical Councils. It recurs in the papal Profession of Faith uttered by each Pope on his accession down to the eleventh century. This formula is contained in the Liber Diurnus, a volume which has had a remarkable history. The Liber Diurnus is a collection of ancient documents relating to the Papal Office, forms of faith, and other formulas, which were in use in the Roman Church probably from the sixth to the eleventh centuries. The collection was made in Rome itself. At what precise date the formulas therein contained ceased to be in use the learned appear unable to say.

The Liber Diurnus disappeared from sight and almost from memory. Its very existence seemed uncertain.