Pope Liberius

{{Infobox Pope| English name=Liberius| image=Image:Liberius.jpg|200px birth_name=Liberius| term_start=May 17, 352¹| term_end=September 24, 366| predecessor=Julius I| successor=Damasus I| birth_date=???| birthplace=???| dead=dead|death_date=September 24 366| deathplace= Pope Liberius was the bishop of Rome from May 17, 352 to September 24, 366. The successor of Pope Julius I, his first recorded act was, after a synod had been held at Rome, to write to Emperor Constantius II asking that a council might be called at Aquileia with reference to Athanasius of Alexandria; but his messenger Vincentius of Capua was compelled by the emperor at a conciliabulum held in Arles, to subscribe against his will a condemnation of the orthodox patriarch of Alexandria.

In 355 Liberius was one of the few who, along with Eusebius of Vercelli, Dionysius of Milan, and Lucifer of Cagliari, refused to sign the condemnation of Athanasius, which had anew been imposed at Milan by imperial command upon all the Western bishops; the consequence was his relegation to Beroea in Thrace; Antipope Felix II being consecrated his successor.

At the end of an exile of more than two years, the emperor recalled him; but, as the Roman See was officially occupied by Felix, a year passed before Liberius was sent to Rome. It was the emperor's intention that Liberius should govern the Church jointly with Felix, but on the arrival of Liberius, Felix was expelled by the Roman people. Neither Liberius nor Felix took part in the Council of Rimini (359).

After the death of the emperor Constantius in 361, Liberius annulled the decrees of that assembly, but, with the concurrence of bishops Athanasius and Hilary of Poitiers, retained the bishops who had signed and then withdrew their adherence. In 366 Liberius gave a favourable reception to a deputation of the Eastern episcopate, and admitted into his communion the more moderate of the old Arian party. He died on September 24, 366.

Though notcanonized as a saint (however, he is canonized in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Background

By the death of Emperor Constans (January, 350), Constantius I became sole empire. Believing that the Council of Nicaea had erred by anathematizing Arianism, he sought to unite Christendom by a less stringent creed, known to history as a from of semi-Arianism.

Meanwhile bishop Athanasius of Alexandria had been banished from his see and was charged with various political and ecclesiastical charges at Sardica, largely resulting from his hounding of the Arians and his refusal to accept even some of those who accepted the Nicaean formula. Like his predecessor Julius, Liberius upheld the acquittal of Athanasius at Sardica, but also made the decisions of Nicæa the test of orthodoxy.

After the final defeat of the usurper Magnentius and his death in 353, Liberius, in accordance with the wishes of a large number of Italian bishops, sent legates to the emperor in Gaul begging him to hold a council. Constantius, meanwhile, was pressuring the bishops of Gaul to condemn Athanasius and assembled a number of them at Arles where he had wintered. The pope's legates (of whom one was Vincent of Capua, who had been a papal legate at the Council of Nicæa) acquiesced to the emperor's wishes consented to renounce the cause of Athanasius, on condition that all present would condemn Arianism. The emperor's party accepted the compact. Catholic sources claim, however, that Arianism was not condemned and the papal legates were pressured to condemn Athanasius, without gaining any concession for themselves. Liberius, on receiving the news, wrote to Hosius of Cordova of his deep grief at the spiritual fall of Vincent. The pope was so distraught as to admit that he himself desired to die, lest he should be seen as having agreed to a compromise with heresy.

During this time a letter against Athanasius signed by many Eastern bishops had arrived at Rome, complaining that he went far beyond the spirit of Nicaea in his zeal against the Arians. The emperor sent a special envoy to Alexandria, where he arrived May, 22 353, to inform the patriarch that the emperor was willing to grant him a personal interview. Athanasius believed that a trap had been set for him, and did not move. He left Alexandria in the following February, when George, an Arian, was set up as bishop of Alexandria in his place, amid scenes of mob violence. Previously, Athanasius had already held a council in his own defense, and a letter in his favor, signed by 75 Egyptian bishops, had arrived at Rome at the end of May, 353. Constantius publicly accused the pope of preventing peace and of suppressing the letter of the Easterns against Athanasius. Liberius replied with a letter (Obsecro, tranqullissime imperator), in which he declares that he read the letter of the Easterns to a council at Rome (probably an anniversary council, 17 May, 353), but, as the pro-Athanasius letter was signed by a greater number of bishops, it was impossible to condemn Athanasius. He admitted that he himself had never wished to be pope, but he had followed his predecessors in all things. Therefore, he could not make peace with the Easterns, for some of them refused to condemn Arius, and they were in communion with George of Alexandria, who accepted the Arian priests whom the previous bishop, Alexander, had long ago excommunicated. He complains of the Council of Arles, and begs for the assembling of another council, by means of which the exposition of faith to which all had agreed at Nicæa may be enforced for the future. The letter was carried by Lucifer, Bishop of Calaris (Cagliari), the priest Pancratius, and the deacon Hilary, to the emperor at Milan. The pope asked St. Eusebius to assist the legates with his influence, and wrote again to thank him for having done so. A council was in fact convened at Milan, and met there about the spring of 355. St. Eusebius was persuaded to be present, and he insisted that all should begin by signing the Nicene decree. The court bishops declined. The military were called in. Constantius ordered the bishops to take his word for the guilt of Athanasius, and condemn him. Eusebius was banished, together with Lucifer and Dionysius of Milan. Liberius sent another letter to the emperor; and his envoys, the priest Eutropius and the deacon Hilary, were also exiled, the deacon being besides cruelly beaten. The Arian Auxentius was made Bishop of Milan. The pope wrote a letter, generally known as "Quamuis sub imagine," to the exiled bishops, addressing them as martyrs, and expressing his regret that he had not been the first to suffer so as to set an example to others; he asks for their prayers that he may yet be worthy to share their exile.

That these were not mere words was proved, not only by Liberius's noble attitude of protest during the preceding years, but by his subsequent conduct. Constantius was not satisfied by the renewed condemnation of Athanasius by the Italian bishops who had lapsed at Milan under pressure. He knew that the pope was the only ecclesiastical superior of the Bishop of Alexandria, and he "strove with burning desire," says the pagan Ammianus, "that the sentence should be confirmed by the higher authority of the bishop of the eternal city." St. Athanasius assures us that from the beginning the Arians did not spare Liberius, for they calculated that, if they could but persuade him, they would soon get hold of all the rest. Constantius sent to Rome his prefect of the bed-chamber, the eunuch Eusebius, a very powerful personage, with a letter and gifts. "Obey the emperor and take this" was in fact his message, says St. Athanasius, who proceeds to give the pope's reply at length: He could not decide against Athanasius, who had been acquitted by two general synods, and had been dismissed in peace by the Roman Church, nor could he condemn the absent; such was not the tradition he had received from his predecessors and from St. Peter; if the emperor desired peace, he must annul what he had decreed against Athanasius and have a council celebrated without emperor or counts or judges present, so that the Nicene Faith might be preserved; the followers of Arius must be cast out and their heresy anathematized; the unorthodox must not sit in a synod; the Faith must first be settled, and then only could other matters be treated; let Ursacius and Valens, the court bishops from Pannonia, be disregarded, for they had already once disowned their bad actions, and were no longer worthy of credit.

The eunuch was enraged, and went off with his bribes, which he laid before the confession of St. Peter. Liberius severely rebuked the guardians of the holy place for not having prevented this unheard-of sacrilege. He cast the gifts away, which angered the eunuch yet more, so that he wrote to the emperor that it was no longer a question of simply getting Liberius to condemn Athanasius, for he went so far as formally to anathematize the Arians. Constantius was persuaded by his eunuchs to send Palatine officers, notaries, and counts, with letters to the Prefect of Rome, Leontius, ordering that Liberius should be seized either secretly or by violence, and despatched to the court.

There followed a kind of persecution at Rome. Bishops, says St. Athanasius, and pious ladies were obliged to hide, monks were not safe, foreigners were expelled, the gates and the port were watched. "The Ethiopian eunuch," continues the saint, "when he understood not what he read, believed St. Philip; whereas the eunuchs of Constantius do not believe Peter when he confesses Christ, nor the Father indeed, when He reveals His Son"—an allusion to the declarations of the popes that in condemning Arianism they spoke with the voice of Peter and repeated his confession, "Thou art [the] Christ, the Son of the living God," which the Father Himself had revealed to the Apostle. Liberius was dragged before the emperor at Milan. He spoke boldly, bidding Constantius cease fighting against God, and declaring his readiness to go at once into exile before his enemies had time to trump up charges against him. Theodoret has preserved the minutes of an interview between "the glorious Liberius" and Contstantius, which were taken down by good people, he says, at the time. Liberius refuses to acknowledge the decision of the Council of Tyre and to renounce Athanasius; the Mareotic acts against him were false witness, and Ursacius and Valens had confessed as much, and had asked pardon from the Synod of Sardica. Epictetus, the young intruded Bishop of Centumcellæ, interposes, saying that Liberius only wanted to be able to boast to the Roman senators that he had beaten the emperor in argument. "Who are you," adds Constantius, "to stand up for Athanasius against the world?" Liberius replies: "Of old there were found but three to resist the mandate of the king." The eunuch Eusebius cried: "You compare the emperor to Nabuchodonosor." Liberius: "No, but you condemn the innocent." He demands that all shall subscribe the Nicene formula, then the exiles must be restored, and all the bishops must assemble at Alexandria to give Athanasius a fair trial on the spot.

   Epictus: "But the public conveyances will not be enough to carry so many."
   Liberius: "They will not be needed; the ecclesiastics are rich enough to send their bishops as far as the sea."
   Constantius: "General synods must not be too numerous; you alone hold out against the judgment of the whole world. He has injured all, and me above all; not content with the murder of my eldest brother, he set Constans also against me. I should prize a victory over him more than one over Silvanus or Magnentius."
   Liberius: "Do not employ bishops, whose hands are meant to bless, to revenge your own enmity. Have the bishops restored and, if they agree with the Nicene Faith, let them consult as to the peace of the world, that an innocent man be not condemned."
   Constantius: "I am willing to send you back to Rome, if you will join the communion of the Church. Make peace, and sign the condemnation."
   Liberius: "I have already bidden farewell at Rome to the brethren. The laws of the Church are more important than residence in Rome."

The emperor gave the pope three days for consideration, and then banished him to Beroea in Thrace, sending him five hundred gold pieces for his expenses; but he refused them, saying Constantius needed them to pay his soldiers. The empress sent him the same amount, but he sent it to the emperor, saying: "If he does not need it, let him give it to Auxentius or Epictetus, who want such things." Eusebius the eunuch brought him yet more money: "You have laid waste the Churches of the world," the pope broke out, "and do you bring me alms as to a condemned man? Go and first become a Christian."

External links

• Template:1913C.E.
• Opera Omnia by Migne
• Translation of Jaffe-Kaltenbrunner's Register of the Roman Pontiff.

Roman Catholic Popes
Preceded by: Julius I	Bishop of Rome Pope 352–366	Succeeded by: Damasus I

References

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• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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