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Haeres Petri: Leo I and Church Order

The exact nature of the authority of the Bishop of Rome was a subject for debate from the earliest days of Christianity. Few doubted that he occupied a special place in the life of the Church and exercised a special kind of authority, but the historical and theological foundations of that authority required articulation. The first Pope Leo, focussing on his relationship to the apostle Peter, presented one of the first coherent accounts of papal authority. In this essay the author clarifies the distinctions that need to be made between the various concepts that constitute the notion of authority – demonstrating, finally, that Leo's claims lie not in concepts of potestas or imperium but rather in concepts of firmitas, stabilitas, confirmatio and soliditas. This not only throws light on the growth of the Papacy in the first centuries but suggests ways of approaching similar questions in the present day.