SEMPITERNUS REX. - Encyclical of Pius XII for the 15th centenary of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (Sept. 8, 1951).

The Council of Chalcedon is the third of the great Christological Councils, after that of Nicaea (commemorated in the Holy Year 1925) and that of Ephesus (encyclical Lux Veritatis, Dec. 25, 1931), which defined respectively the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father and the unity of person in Christ. After this brief reminder, the encyclical recalls the historical circumstances and the theological climate in which the Council of Chalcedon took place, emphasizing the request made by the Eastern bishops and the acceptance of the intervention of Pope St. Leo the Great. Within the framework of this important solemn affirmation of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff, canon 28 is presented in its true value; although, according to the intentions of its authors, it did not contain a true denial of the primacy, it was rejected by the Pope and then by the Emperor and by the bishop of Constantinople himself, who judged it devoid of value because it had been drawn up in the absence of the pontifical legates. In the second part of the encyclical the meaning of the dogmatic formula of Chalcedon is illustrated, warning against errors that are creeping about today, which compromise the unity of person in Christ. The Supreme Pontiff does not intend only to speak of the kenotic theory widespread among non-Catholics, but alludes to certain currents within Catholic theology itself.

The distinguished document ends with an appeal to dissident Easterners to return to the unity of the fold and to union with the Apostolic See, whose primacy was excellently recognized by their fathers in the ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (AAS, 43 [1951], pp. 625-44).

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: P. Parente, Valore storico dottrinale del Concilio di Calcedonia nella luce dell'encicl. S. R., in Eudes Doce, 4 (1951), pp. 339-63; Das Konzil v. Chalchedon, raccolta di studi a cura di A. Grillmeier e H. Bacht, Würzburg 1951; V. Monachino, Genesi storica del can. 28 di Calcedonia, in Gregorianum, 33 (1952), pp. 292-98.

Antonio Piolanti

@incollection{ec11_sempiternus_rex, author = {Piolanti, Antonio}, title = {Sempiternus Rex}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {297--298}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/sempiternus-rex} }

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