Another circumstance helped to give the Roman Church a
superior position in the West. It was a vigorous missionary church. Rome, the
largest and most flourishing city in the empire and the seat of the imperial
government, naturally became the center from which Christianity spread over the
western provinces. Many of the early Christian communities planted in Spain,
Gaul, and Africa owed their start to the missionary zeal of the Roman Church.
To Rome, as the great "Mother-church," her daughters in western
Europe would turn henceforth with reverence and affection; they would readily
acknowledge her leading place among the churches; and they would seek her
advice on disputed points of Christian belief or worship.
THE ROMAN CHURCH INDEPENDENT
The independence of the Roman Church also furthered its
development. The bishop of Rome was the sole patriarch in the West, while in
the East there were two, and later four patriarchs, each exercising authority
in religious matters. Furthermore, the removal of the capital from Rome to
Constantinople helped to free the Roman bishop from the close oversight of the
imperial government. He was able, henceforth, to promote the interests of the
church under his control without much interference on the part of the eastern
emperor.
