'It was for this cause that our Saviour gave to the bishop of Rome the keys, to bind and unbind such as wandered from the ways of truth, that they may be constrained to return by the bonds of correction and obligation. We may say, therefore, of the apostolical authority, that when in the judgement of the church, it has consigned those over to Satan who have led others into error, it has exerted its power for the salvation of their souls, and to teach others not to blaspheme.
'The blessed pope Sixtus says, 'We keep in our remembrance that we govern under the name of that church in which our greatest pleasure is to glorify our dear Saviour Jesus Christ, whose faith nourishes not heresy but totally destroys it. For this reason, we hold it unlawful to exert our powers, except when the interest of the whole church shall call for it.
'In truth, during the latter days, our very beloved sons master Hutin de la Plante, doctor of laws, master John de Plato, doctor of laws, and master Venture du Chastel, licentiate,—all of them presidents at the congregation of the general council of the holy church, the second enjoying the office of proctor, and the last procurator of the said council,—have exposed before us the account of the lamentable quarrels that have taken place in the said council, in these words: 'Most holy and reverend father, although this sacred and œcumenical general council has been legally assembled for the preservation of the peace of the catholic and apostolical roman church, which the blessed Holy Spirit, under the person of our Lord, in the book of Canticles, plainly points out, by saying, 'My dove, my undefiled, is but one: she is the only one of her mother: she is the choice one of her that bare her.'
'St Paul demonstrates the union of the church, and the sacredness of this union, by calling it the body, soul, and hope, of our vocation: one Lord, one faith, one baptism,—by baptism, one God; and as the blessed St Cyprian says, she is the head, a fruitful mother, and, as spouse to Jesus Christ, as pure and unadulterated, chaste and holy. The same Cyprian declares, in another place, that there is no ecclesiastical ordinance that does not maintain the unity of the Christian church. Pope Pelagius affirms the same from the words of the blessed St Austin a celebrated doctor in the church, and that it has an apostolical throne, irradiated by a succession of bishops.
'Nevertheless, from the commencement of this church, the wickedness and wanton conduct of mankind have ever sought to deny and destroy the peace thereof,—against which wickedness, according to the authority of the holy fathers, divine vengeance has been excited. Whoever therefore shall dare sacrilegiously, and with diabolical intention, to deny this spotless unity, the sacred canon points him out as an enemy to the church, and declares that he cannot have God for his father, unless he hold the unity of the universal church; for, since Christ died for the church, the church is the body of Christ—there can therefore be no doubt but that he who divides the church is guilty of dividing and tearing asunder the body of Jesus Christ.
'When Dathan and Abiran formed a schism against the honour of God, Divine vengeance caused the earth to open and swallow them,—and their adherents perished by fire from heaven. The more inseparable the holy sacrament is with the union of the church, the greater guilt do they incur who attempt to divide them,—and who, leaving the legal spouse of the church choose to follow a false doctrine.
'Examples of similar wickedness, and the punishments that ensued, are displayed in the book of Kings; for when the Jews made a distinction between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the other ten tribes, and, laying aside their lawful king, elected another, the lord was indignant against the seed of Israel, and held them in derision: he also turned away his face from them.
'The anger of God is always excited against such as create schisms and division. When the prophet was sent to Jeroboam to reproach him for his sins, and to foretel to him the vengeance that God would take on him and on his race, God forbade him to taste meat or drink with Jeroboam. The prophet however, disobeyed the commandment, and in consequence, on his return was attacked by a lion, who slew him on the road. From these instances, as St Jerome says, no one can doubt but that the crime of schism will be severely punished by God.
'For some time past, and since the holy general council at Constance, this pernicious schism has laboured to afflict the church of God, and the Christian religion, not only in regard to individuals, but whole cities and provinces have suffered persecution for a length of time, to the ruin of their souls; but at last, through the ineffable mercy of God, and by the labours of many kings and princes, as well secular as ecclesiastic, and of many universities and other loyal Christians, this abominable schism was put an end to.