Bishop Hefele on Pope Honorius [pp. 273-301]

290 VON HEFELE ON POPE HONORIUS. [April,
repeated in the Seventh and Eighth (Ecumenical Councils,
both of which were held under the presidency of papal
legates.
Pope Adrian II., A. D. 867-872, judged that the condemnation of lIonorius was just because he "was tried on a
charge of heresy, on which ~roun(1 a1o~~e, inferiors may
resist the ordinances of their rulers." It is indeed universally known, that even in the middle ages, when the papal
power was at its height, it was the universal doctrine of the
Church, that the Pope can be deposed for heresy, but only
for heresy. This doctrine too, went over into the canon law
(Corpus Juris Canon.)*
g.In the LTher Diurnw~, i.e. the Book of Formularies of
the Roman Curia (from the fifth to the eleventh century) is
found the old formula for the pontifical oath, undoubtedly
prescribed by Gregory II. (at the beginning of the eighth
century), according to ~hich every new Pope at his entrance
upon his office is bound to declare under oath that, "he recognizes the Sixth General Council, which laid an eternal
anathema upon the inventors of the new heresy, (Monothelism) viz., Sergius, Pyrrhus, etc... together with Honorius,
because he gave encouragement to the depraved assertions 0~
heretics, (quia pravis h~reticonim assertionibus fomentuni
impendit)." Liber D~urnus, ed. Eugene de Roziere, Paris,
1869, No. 84.
From this it follows that, up to the eleventh century, every
new Pope entering upon his office must take oath:
A.That a General Council can judge a Pope, at least for
heresy;
B.And that Honorius was justly anathematized by the
Sixth General Council, because he approved heresy by his
dogmatic edict.
* It is indeed said that this has to do only with the heresy of a Pope as a
private person; bnt if it is possible, in general, for a Pope to become heretical why may it not also ha~~cn tl~at be teach his heretical opinion cx caUieJra?
For lie mast certainly bold it to be Catholic doctrine! Shice we cannot pro~ume that he has an evil will! ["mala volantas."]