A sermon preached at Christ-Church in Dublin before the Lord Lieutenant and Council, the fifth day of July, 1674 by Mr. Andrew Sall ...

Pope's Supremacy.

To this enormity of robbing God of his prerogatives, is joyned ano∣ther of making the Pope Supreme Head, and Master of all Christians; not only in spiritual matters, but al∣so in their temporal interests, with power to depose Kings, and move their Subjects to Rebellion against them, when they do not obey his will; as it was declared in the Lateran Council under Innocent the Third by these terrible words: If a temporal Lord warned by the Church doth neglect to purge his Land of He∣resie, let him be excommunicated by

the Metropolitan; and if within a year he gives no satisfaction, let that be signified to the Pope, that from thence∣forth he may declare his Subjects ab∣solved from their obedience to him, and expose his lands to be occupied by Catholicks. And so was done to King John of England by the same Pope Innocent the Third as it is re∣corded by Polidor Virgil; to the Emperour Henry the Fourth by Gregory the Fourth; To Frederick the 2d. by Innocent the 4th. and to several other Christian Princes, as Suarez relates; making the Practice of Popes herein an Argument of their Power for doing so. Which kind of arguing as I was admiring in so exact a Schoolman, and refle∣cting upon the power of prejudice, and education even over the most sublime wits; an ingenious Divine of the University of Dublin reply'd fa∣cetiously, it was a very concluding argument, that proceedeth ab actu ad potentiam, being he did so, it's

sign he could do it; that was good for a jest: But Suarez to be in earn∣est, and give consistence to his argu∣ment, subsumed, that the Church Universal did see and approve of this proceeding; and the Church being Infallible, could not approve it if not Lawful. Many other contro∣versies would have a quick decision, if this discourse were Legal. That all saw it, is allowed; but that all approved of it freely, is denyed. Force and fear made them suffer, what they would have resisted if they knew how.

I remit enlarging upon the inju∣stice of the Pope's pretensions here∣in, to another occasion; and their unreasonable exclamations against the claim of our Princes to Suprema∣cy of power over their subjects; be∣ing they pretend no other, than such as the godly Kings of Israel had in their time over the Jews, and the Christian Emperors in the primitive Church over their respective sub∣jects;

as it is declared in the 37. Article and 2. Canon of the Church of England.

Only I will reflect at present up∣on the cruelty the Pope has practi∣sed of late towards the unhappy Irish his Followers, in pursuit of his pretended power of deposing Kings; That being no matter of Faith, nor passing a probable Opinion, as Azor, Peron, and other very learned Authors of his own party do declare: If we may call proba∣ble a doctrine so damnable, that the great Parliament of France, (where∣in, of 200. Votes, only 6. were Pro∣testants, in the year 1604.) comman∣ded Suarez his Book containing this doctrine, to be burned by the hands of the publick Executioner; and or∣dered the Jesuits to have their prea∣chers exhort the people to the con∣trary doctrine; or otherwise they should be proceeded against as Tray∣tors and Disturbers of the publick peace: Besides, all their own Di∣vines

generally asserting, that in a probable controversie, one may with safety of conscience follow the side he pleaseth: Yet the Pope prohibi∣ted severely the Irish to disclaim that seditious doctrine, let them suf∣fer never so many penalties and sus∣picions for it. So zealous is his Ho∣liness, not of the salvation of souls, but of the conservation of his own Grandeur; in having all power up∣on Earth at his will, and the Crowns of Kings to stand or fall at his beck! is not this to exercise tyranny and cruelty in the conduct of souls?

Notes

• Concil Laterar. c. 3.
• Polidor. lib. 15. Suar. li. 3. defens. c. 23.
• Azor to. 2 li. 11. c. 5. q. 8. Peronus in replica sua typis data an∣no 1620.