398 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH what regards their domestic discipline, but leaves them dependent on them for faculties to be exercised in behalf of the faithful. Their privileges, however, are moderated and regu- lated in such a manner as not to weaken the diocesan authority, or favor insubordination, but only to encourage religious discipline and promote piety. The superior greatly lightens the burden of episcopal solicitude by training and watching over the members of the com- munity, who themselves are rewarded for the restrictions to which they voluntarily subject themselves, by the security which is given them to pursue unmolested the path they have chosen. (See MONAOHISM.) The history of the church begins with the pastoral com- mission given after Christ's resurrection to the apostle Peter, who, according to Catholic eccle- siastical traditions, sealed his apostolic labors with martyrdom at Rome in the year 67, on the same day as the apostle Paul. This event attached his office to this see. Clement, bish- op of Rome, wrote to the Corinthians, in the name of the church, at the close of this cen- tury, while St. John was still alive, remon- strating with them on a schism which had broken out among them. The labors of the several apostles are not known in full detail. The apostle Paul labored more than all oth- ers, and with marked success. St. James, who is called the brother of the Lord, presided as bishop at Jerusalem, and died a martyr. St. John passed the latter years of his life in Asia, and terminated his course at Ephesus. St. Mark, the evangelist, founded the church at Alexandria. At the close of the apostolic age the Christian religion was widely spread, chiefly throughout Asia Minor and some more distant provinces, Greece, the adjacent islands, Italy, and Egypt. Gaul is believed to have been partially evangelized in that age, and Spain is said to have been visited by the apostle Paul, who purposed making this journey, and, as the national tradition will have it, by St. James. In the early part of the 2d century the coun- tries on the left bank of the Rhine, as far as Belgium, had received the gospel, as St. Ire- najus testifies. This bishop succeeded St. Pho- tinus, disciple of St. Polycarp, at Lyons in 178. Britain received missionaries under Eleu- therius, bishop of Rome, about the same time. A council of 70 African bishops was held at Carthage toward the end of the century; and 90 bishops assembled in Numidia. The rela- tions of the bishops generally to Rome, on ac- count of its higher chieftaincy, are distinctly stated by Iremeus, who, however, earnestly remonstrated with Pope Victor on his deter- mination to cut off various Asiatic churches from communion for their attachment to the usage of celebrating Easter on the same day as the Jews. In the middle of the 3d century a synod of Spanish bishops deposed Martial of Leon and Basilides of Astorga for criminal weakness in the persecution during the reign of Decius. The acts of various councils of African bishops are known, especially from the writings of St. Cyprian, who warmly re- sisted the decree of Pope Stephen by which the repetition of baptism conferred by secta- ries was forbidden. The controversy finally resulted in the following century in the acqui- escence of the church generally in the decree, which was supported by the council of Nice. The 4th century, after some scenes of perse- cution, witnessed the triumph of Christianity by the conversion of the emperor Constantino. Although he decidedly favored it, and lent his power to its support, nevertheless he is be- lieved not to have received baptism until the approach of death. By his mandate a council of bishops was called at Nice, where about 318 convened in the year 325, and proclaimed Christ to be God, consubstantial to the Father. Sylvester, the bishop of Rome, was prevented by old age from being present, but Hosius, bish- op of Cordova, and two priests represented him. The Nicene symbol met with great oppo- sition on the part of bishops who had received the doctrines of Arius, and were supported by Constantius, the successor of Constantine. A council of bishops at Rimini, under imperial influence and constraint, consented to suppress the term which proved so offensive, and the occasion of so much strife ; but on recovering their liberty they retracted, and Pope Liberius annulled their acts by the authority of St. Pe- ter. The 5th century was illustrious for the pontificate of St. Leo, whose prayers were be- lieved to have turned away the wrath of Attila, advancing to destroy Rome. His exposition of the mystery of the incarnation crowned the efforts of his predecessors for the mainte- nance of the faith, and received the homage of the bishops assembled at Chalcedon. " This," they cried, " is the faith of the fathers. We all have this faith. Peter has spoken by the mouth of Leo." At Nice the fathers devel- oped the meaning of the apostolic symbol by phrases and clauses necessary to meet the sub- tleties of innovators. At Constantinople a special statement was inserted in the creed to place the divinity of the Holy Spirit beyond dispute. At Ephesus the bishops inflicted ex- communication on Nestorius, bishop of Con- stantinople, for obstinacy in resisting the au- thority of Pope Celestine, who condemned his errors. At Chalcedon the letter of St. Leo was adopted as the symbol of orthodoxy, and subscription to it was exacted, under the same penalty. Those councils served to define with precision the revealed mysteries, and were generally subsidiary to the papal action. The acts of those of Nice and Constantinople are not preserved in their integrity, but the extant records of those of Ephesus and Chalcedon show that the legates of the pontiff led the way, and the fathers followed his authority. At the close of the 6th century Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, conceived the idea of evangelizing the Angles, or English, who had settled in Britain without adopting the Chris-
