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The following is adapted from the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
INNOCENT I, Saint (d. 417), Pope from 402. A man of great ability, firm resolution, and high moral character, he made more substantial claims for the Papacy than any of his predecessors at Rome. He insisted that major causes of dispute should be brought to the judgement of the Apostolic See. In the controversy with Celestius, Pelagius, and their supporters, Innocent took the side of Saint Jerome against John, Bishop of Jerusalem, and endorsed the doctrines propounded by the African Councils. Through his Vicar, the Bishop of Thessalonica, he exercised authority in a sphere which had recently come under the control of the E. Empire. He was, however, unable to save Saint John Chrysostom from exile. His famous letter to Decentius, Bishop of Eugubium (19 Mar. 416), is important for the history of the Canon of the Mass; it also speaks of Confirmation as reserved for bishops and mentions the rites of Unction and Penance. Feast day, 28 July, dropped in 1969.
For his correspondence see J. P. Migne, PL 20. 457–636; also ‘Collectio Avellana’ (CSEL 35; 1895–8), pp. 92–8. Crit. edn. of his letter to Decentius, with Fr. tr. and comm., by R. Cabié (Bibliothèque de la RHE, 58; 1973); it is also conveniently pr. in G. A. Michell, Landmarks in Liturgy (1961), pp. 220–4. LP(Duchesne), 1, pp. 220–4 (Eng. tr. [1989], pp. 31–3). H. Gebhardt, Die Bedeutung Innocenz I für die Entwickelung der päpstlichen Gewalt (Diss., Leipzig, 1901). É. Demougeot, ‘A propos des interventions du Pape Innocent Ier dans la politique séculière’, RH 212 (1954), pp. 23–38. B. Capelle, OSB, ‘Innocent Ier et le Canon de la Messe’, RTAM 19 (1952), pp. 5–16, repr. in his Travaux liturgiques, 2 (Louvain, 1962), pp. 236–47. E. Caspar, Geschichte des Papsttums, 1 (1930), pp. 296–343. C. Pietri, Roma Christiana: Recherches sur l’Eglise de Rome … (311–440) (Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d’Athènes et de Rome, 224; 1976), esp. chs. 11–16 (see index). J. Barnaby in DCB 3 (1882), pp. 243–9, s.v.; A. Pollastri in Enciclopedia dei Papi, 1 (2000), pp. 385–92.
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[From the epistle (29) "In requirendis" to the African bishops, Jan. 27, 417] 100 (1) |
Saint Innocent I, Ep. 'In requirendis' ad episcopos Conc. Carthag., 27 Jan. 417 |
| IN seeking the things of God . . . preserving the examples of ancient tradition . . . you have strengthened the vigor of your religion . . . | In requirendis divinis (Dei) rebus ... antiquae traditionis exempla servantes ... nostrae religionis vigorem |
| non minus nunc in consulendo quam antea, cum pronuntiaretis, | |
| with true reason, for you have confirmed that reference must be made to our judgment, realizing what is due the Apostolic See, | vera ratione firmatis (firmastis), qui ad Nostrum referendum adprobastis esse iudicium, scientes, quid Apostolicae Sedi, |
| since all of us placed in this position desire to follow the Apostle, from whom the episcopate itself and all the authority of this name have emerged. | cum omnes hoc loco positi ipsum sequi desideremus Apostolum, debeatur, a quo ipse episcopatus et tota auctoritas nominis huius emersit. |
| Following him we know how to condemn evils just as (well as how) to approve praiseworthy things. Take this as an example, guarding with your sacerdotal office the practices of the fathers you resolve that (they) must not be trampled upon, because they made their decisions not by human, but by divine judgment, | Quem sequentes tam mala iam damnare novimus quam probare laudanda, vel(ut) id vero, quod Patrum instituta sacerdotali custodientes officio non censetis esse calcanda quod illi non humana sed divina decrevere sententia, |
| so that they thought that nothing whatever, although it concerned separated and remote provinces, should be concluded, unless it first came to the attention of this See, | ut quicquid quamvis de disiunctis remotisque provinciis ageretur, non prius ducerent finiendum, nisi ad huius Sedis notitiam perveniret, |
| so that what was a just proclamation might be confirmed by the total authority of this See, | ut tota huius auctoritate, ius ta quae fuerit pronuntiatio, firmaretur, |
| and from this source (just as all waters proceed from their natal fountain and through diverse regions of the whole world remain pure liquids of an uncorrupted source), the other churches might assume what [they ought] to teach, whom they ought to wash, those whom the water worthy of clean bodies would shun as though defiled with filth incapable of being cleansed. | indeque sumerent ceterae Ecclesiae, velut de natali suo fonte aquae cunctae procederent et per diversas totius mundi regiones puri (latices) capitis incorruptae manarent, quid praecipere, quos abluere, quos velut in caeno inemundabili sordidatos mundis digna corporibus unda vitaret. |
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