- UNAM SANCTAM Bull of Pope Boniface VIII (promulgated 18111!

"#$ -
Urged by faith, we are obliged to believe and to maintain that the Church is one, holy, catholic, and also
apostolic. We believe in her firmly and we confess with simplicity that outside of her there is neither
salvation nor the remission of sins, as the Spouse in the Canticles [Canticles 6:! proclaims: "#ne is my
dove, my perfect one. She is the only one, the chosen of her who bore her," and she represents one
sole mystical body whose head is Christ and the head of Christ is $od [%. Corinthians %%:&!. 'n her then
is one (ord, one faith, one baptism [)phesians *:+!. ,here had been at the time of the deluge only one
ar- of .oah, prefiguring the one Church, which ar-, having been finished to a single cubit, had only one
pilot and guide, i.e., .oah, and we read that, outside of this ar-, all that subsisted on the earth was
destroyed.
We venerate this Church as one, the (ord having said by the mouth of the prophet: "/eliver, # $od, my
soul from the sword and my only one from the hand of the dog." [0salm 11:12! 3e has prayed for his
soul, that is for himself, heart and body4 and this body, that is to say, the Church, 3e has called one
because of the unity of the Spouse, of the faith, of the sacraments, and of the charity of the Church.
,his is the tunic of the (ord, the seamless tunic, which was not rent but which was cast by lot [5ohn
%6:1&7 1*!.
,herefore, of the one and only Church there is one body and one head, not two heads li-e a monster4
that is, Christ and the 8icar of Christ, 0eter and the successor of 0eter, since the (ord spea-ing to 0eter
3imself said: "9eed my sheep" [5ohn 1%:%:!, meaning, my sheep in general, not these, nor those in
particular, whence we understand that 3e entrusted all to him [0eter!. ,herefore, if the $ree-s or others
should say that they are not confided to 0eter and to his successors, they must confess not being the
sheep of Christ, since #ur (ord says in 5ohn "there is one sheepfold and one shepherd." We are
informed by the te;ts of the gospels that in this Church and in its power are two swords4 namely, the
spiritual and the temporal. 9or when the <postles say: "=ehold, here are two swords" [(u-e 11:&! that is
to say, in the Church, since the <postles were spea-ing, the (ord did not reply that there were too
many, but sufficient. Certainly the one who denies that the temporal sword is in the power of 0eter has
not listened well to the word of the (ord commanding: "0ut up thy sword into thy scabbard" [>atthew
16:+1!. =oth, therefore, are in the power of the Church, that is to say, the spiritual and the material
sword, but the former is to be administered for the Church but the latter by the Church4 the former in the
hands of the priest4 the latter by the hands of -ings and soldiers, but at the will and sufferance of the
priest.
3owever, one sword ought to be subordinated to the other and temporal authority, sub?ected to spiritual
power. 9or since the <postle said: ",here is no power e;cept from $od and the things that are, are
ordained of $od" [@omans %&:%71!, but they would not be ordained if one sword were not subordinated
to the other and if the inferior one, as it were, were not led upwards by the other.
9or, according to the =lessed /ionysius, it is a law of the divinity that the lowest things reach the highest
place by intermediaries. ,hen, according to the order of the universe, all things are not led bac- to order
eAually and immediately, but the lowest by the intermediary, and the inferior by the superior. 3ence we
must recogniBe the more clearly that spiritual power surpasses in dignity and in nobility any temporal
power whatever, as spiritual things surpass the temporal. ,his we see very clearly also by the payment,
benediction, and consecration of the tithes, but the acceptance of power itself and by the government
even of things. 9or with truth as our witness, it belongs to spiritual power to establish the terrestrial
power and to pass ?udgement if it has not been good. ,hus is accomplished the prophecy of 5eremiah
concerning the Church and the ecclesiastical power: "=ehold to7day ' have placed you over nations, and
over -ingdoms" and the rest. ,herefore, if the terrestrial power err, it will be ?udged by the spiritual
power4 but if a minor spiritual power err, it will be ?udged by a superior spiritual power4 but if the highest
power of all err, it can be ?udged only by $od, and not by man, according to the testimony of the
<postle: ",he spiritual man ?udges of all things and he himself is ?udged by no man" [%.Corinthians 1:%+!.
,his authority, however, Cthough it has been given to man and is e;ercised by manD, is not human but
rather divine, granted to 0eter by a divine word and reaffirmed to him C0eterD and his successors by the
#ne Whom 0eter confessed, the (ord saying to 0eter himself, "Whatsoever you shall bind on earth,
shall be bound also in 3eaven" etc., [>atthew %6:%6!. ,herefore whoever resists this power thus
ordained by $od, resists the ordinance of $od [@omans %&:1!, unless he invent li-e >anicheus two
beginnings, which is false and ?udged by us heretical, since according to the testimony of >oses, it is
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not in the beginnings but in the beginning that $od created heaven and earth [$enesis %:%!.
9urthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every
human creature be sub?ect to the @oman 0ontiff.
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