Gelasius I

a pope and saint of the Roman Church succeeded Felix III March 1, 492. He is one of the popes who contributed most to the extension of the temporal power of the see of Rome. He was the first to claim for the Papacy a complete independence of the emperors or from the synyds in matters of faith. See his Letter to Faustus (Manssi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et ampliss. collectio, 8:19), in which he argued that the pope has not only a right to decide all ecclesiastical questions, but that an appeal from such decision to any other tribunal is inadmissible; that the pope holds the first rank (prima sedes) in the Church, and councils derive their authority from his countenance and cooperation (pro suo scilicet principatu). "There are two powers," he wrote to the emperor, "who have sovereign rule over the world: the spiritual and the temporal authority; the sacred authority of the bishops is so much the greater, as on the day of judgment they must render an account of the actions of kings. You know, magnanimous emperor, that your dignity surpasses that of other princes of the earth; nevertheless, you are obliged to submit to the power of the ministersn iin sacred things, for it is to them you address yourself to know what are the sources of your safety, and the rules which you ought to follow in receiving the sacraments, and in disposing of religious things. The bishops persuade the people that God has given you a sovereign power over temporal things, and they cause them to submit to your laws. In return, you should obey, with entire submission, those who are destined to distribute to you the holy sacraments. If the faithful ought blindly to follow the orders of bishops who acquit themselves worthily in their functions, so much the more ought they to receive the decree of the pontiff of Rome, whom God has established as the first of his bishops, and whom the Church has always recognized as its supreme chief."' The schism of the Eastern Church, which had already taken place, continued during his administration, notwithstanding the efforts be made in the Synod of Rome, 495, to heal the breach. He wrote on this controversy his De duabus in Christo naturis adversus Eutychen et Nestorium. He is said to have written also the so-called Decretum Gelasii de libris recipiendis et non recipiendis, which is a list of the scriptural books, etc., considered authentic and unauthentic by another synod, which he held at Rome in 496, but this work was probably compiled in the 6th century. Among the minor works ascribed to Gelasius are a Liber sacramentorum, published by Jos. Maria Thomasius (Rome, 1680), a number of letters. He died in Rome November 19, 496. See Schröckh, Kirchengesec. (17:181 sq.); Regenbrecht, de canonibus Apostolorum. et codice Eccl. hispanae Diss. (Vratisl. 1828). — Herzog, Real-Encyklop. 4:761; Bower, History of the Popes, 2:216 sq.