Not until the second century did the episcopate become monarchical and
the holder of the office the supreme authority within the Church by which he
was elected. The change was complete by the time of Irenaeus, who wrote circa
180 A.D.; to him we owe our earliest catalogue of Roman bishops, beginning with
Linus and ending with Eleutherus, the twelfth from Peter and the contemporary
of Irenaeus. The later names in the list are doubtless those of authentic
bishops; the earlier may be in some sense historical, the names of famous
presbyters or of men who made their mark on the old episcopal committee. A
point of secondary interest is that Irenaeus speaks of bishops, not of Popes;
this title came into use a hundred years after his time.
More important is the
fact that, in the third century, when our documents become more copious, Rome
is generally recognised as first in dignity among the churches (ecclesia principalis),
but has no appellate jurisdiction and no legislative powers. It is only
admitted that, when disputes arise on points of tradition, her testimony is
entitled to special honour, as that of a church which preserves the memory of
Peter's teaching. As doctrinal controversies become more acute and more
fundamental, the importance of tradition is emphasised, the authority of those
who voice it is magnified. Ultimately all the pretensions of the Holy See are
founded on the claim that she possesses the only undefiled tradition. But it
was not until long after the third century that the consequences of the claim
were realised even by the claimants.
