Note N38 — St. PETER (continued 7)

If Syricius is to blame (and who, but Baronius, can excuse him?) for not acknowleging Flavianus, at least after the Death of Paulinus, the Election of his Successor Evagrius being unquestionably uncanonical and illegal; how much more is he to blame for not acknowleging him even after the Death of Evagrius, when he had no Pretence whatsoever for denying him his Communion, and by granting it he might have put an End to the Schism? Baronius, to conceal the Truth, and mislead his Readers, takes a great deal of Pains, in his Account of this Schism, to place in a false Light all the Transactions relating to it. But, in spite of all the Art he has been able to use, to varnish over the Conduct of Syricius, and impose on the Public, it must appear undeniable to every impartial, I may say, to every rational, Man, that the Schism, and the many Evils attending it, which are pathetically described by Chrysostom, who was then at Antioch[1], were intirely owing to the Pride and Obstinacy of the Bishop of Rome, at least during the last Six Years, that is, from the Year 382. when Evagrius died, to 388. when he yielded, at last, upon his being courted to it by a solemn Embassy. He had nothing then to object against the Election, and much less against the Conduct of Flavianus; and, if he had nothing then, he could have nothing before; so that it was merely from a haughty and obstinate Spirit that he refused to communicate with him, and, by such a Refusal, kept up and fomented a Division so pernicious to the Church. Baronius represents him as labouring with indefatigable Pains to restore the Tranquillity of the Church, and leaving nothing unattempted that could any-ways contribute to the promoting of so pious an Undertaking, an Undertaking which he had so much at Heart. But that he had nothing at Heart besides the Glory of his See, is but too manifest from his Conduct; for the Minute that was saved, as it was by the above-mentioned Deputation, all the Difficulties vanished at once, which till then had obstructed the Work. As for the Conduct of Flavianus, in refusing to submit his Cause to the Judgment of the Council of Capua, or of the Egyptian Bishops, appointed to judge it by that Council, it must appear, if impartially considered, more worthy of Commendation than Blame, tho’ condemned, in very unbecoming Terms, by the Sticklers for the See of Rome. He had been chosen in the Oecumenical Council of Constantinople, in the Year 381. by the unanimous Voice of all the Bishops of the Diocese of the East, or the Patriarchate of Antioch, and soon after ordained in their Presence, at Antioch, with the Approbation of Nestorius, then Bishop of Constantinople, and the loud Acclamations of the far greater Part of the People of Antioch, promising themselves, in him, a second Meletius, in whose room he was chosen[2]. Being thus chosen and ordained, he was acknowleged by all the Bishops of the East, except those of Egypt, of the Island of Cyprus, and Arabia. Could he therefore, without shamefully betraying the undoubted Right, which the Bishops of each Diocese had of chusing their Metropolitan, suffer his Election to be questioned and canvassed by the Western Bishops, who had no Concern in it; and, besides, had openly espoused the Cause of his Competitor Paulinus, and supported him, so long as he lived, with the most open and avowed Partiality? Could he, without foregoing, in a manner still more shameful, both his own Right, and that of his Electors, out of Compliance to the Bishops assembled at Capua, put himself upon the Level with Evagrius, whose Election and Ordination were undoubtedly illegal? Besides, Flavianus was sensible, that the Eastern Bishops would have paid no manner of Regard to the Sentence of the Council; that, had the Council adjudged the See of Antioch to Evagrius, such a Judgment, instead of closing, would have widened the Breach between the East and the West; and consequently, that his complying with their Summons, far from answering the End they proposed to themselves, would more probably have had a quite contrary Effect, since he had but too much room to suppose, that the strong Prejudice, which they had on all Occasions betrayed against him, would incline them to favour his Competitor, notwithstanding the known Illegality both of his Election and Ordination. It was therefore, upon the Whole, very prudent in him to decline putting the Affair upon that Issue.