Synod, or singly one by one, following the immemorial custom of the Churches of the Catholic unity—for, as Tertullian says, "what is found in all places is not error, but tradition"—have faithfully guarded the form of primitive order, especially when any new peril threatened the dogma of faith, by bringing their causes or controversies to the Apostolic See. This they did "that the breaches of the faith might be repaired," as St. Bernard said, "by the authority in which faith cannot fail." These are the words of St. Bernard, but they ought not to be new to Englishmen, for they are almost the words of two Archbishops of Canterbury. St. Thomas, in a letter to the Bishop of Hereford, asks:—
Who doubts that the Church of Rome is the head of all the Churches and the fountain of Catholic truth? Who is ignorant that the keys of the kingdom of heaven were entrusted to Peter? Does not the structure of the whole Church rise from the faith and doctrine of Peter?
St. Anselm almost anticipates the decree of the Council of Florence. He writes as follows:—
Forasmuch as the providence of God has chosen your Holiness to commit to your custody the [guidance of the] life and faith of Christians and the government of the Church, to no other can reference be more rightly made, if so be anything contrary to the Catholic faith arise in the Church, in order that it may be corrected by his authority.
Sometimes the Pontiffs have proceeded by consultation with the bishops dispersed throughout the
