Veneration of Holy Images

DUODECIMUM SAECULUM (Veneration Of Holy Images)

Pope John Paul II

Apostolic Letter of the Supreme Pontiff to the Episcopate of the Catholic Church on the occasion of the 1200th Anniversary of the Second Council of Nicaea.

Venerable Brothers, Greetings and the Apostolic Blessing!

1.The Twelfth Centenary of the Second Council of Nicaea (787) wasthe object of many ecclesial and academic celebrations in which theHoly See itself took part.(1)The event was also commemorated bythe publication of an Encyclical from His Holiness the Patriarch ofConstantinople and of the Holy Synod,(2) an initiative whichunderlines the theological importance and the ecumenical significanceof the seventh and last Council fully recognized by both the CatholicChurch and the Orthodox Church.The doctrine defined by this Councilconcerning the lawfulness of the veneration of icons also meritsspecial attention, not only for the wealth of its spiritualimplications, but also for the demands that it imposes on the wholeof sacred art.

The importance given by Nicaea II to the argument of tradition, andmore specifically the unwritten tradition, constitutes for usCatholics as well as for our Orthodox brethren an invitation totravel again together the road of the undivided Church, and tore-examine in her light the differences between us that the centuriesof separation have accentuated, in order to rediscover that for whichJesus prayed to the Father (cf. John 17, 11; 20-21), full communionin visible unity.

I

2.In giving an account of the Council of Nicaea II to Pope HadrianI, the moderator of the Council, Saint Taraise, wrote: "having alltaken our places we took Christ as (our) head.In fact, the HolyGospel was placed on a throne, inviting all those present to judgeaccording to justice."(3)Putting Christ in evidence as thepresident of the conciliar assembly, which was meeting in his nameand under his authority, was an eloquent gesture to affirm that theunity of the Church can only achieved in obedience to its one Lord.

3.The rulers Irene and Constantine VI, who convoked the Council,had invited my predecessor Hadrian I in his capacity as "the realfirst pontiff who presides in the place and on the seat of the Saintand very venerable Apostle Peter."(4)Hadrian I was represented bythe arch-priest of the Roman Church and the head of the Greekmonastery of Saint Saba in Rome.To ensure the universalrepresentation of the Church, the presence of the Eastern Patriarchswas also required.(5)Since their territories were already underMuslim domination, the Patriarchs Alexandria and Antioch sent a jointletter to Taraise, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem sent a synodalletter; both of these were read at the Council.(6)It was acceptedthat the decisions of an Ecumenical Council were valid only if theBishop of Rome had offered his collaboration and if the EasternPatriarchs had given their agreement.(7)In this process, the roleof the Church of Rome was recognized as irreplaceable.(8)ThusNicaea II approved the explanation of the deacon John according towhich the iconoclast meeting of Hieria of 754 was not legitimatebecause "neither the Pope of Rome nor the bishops who surround himhad collaborated in it, either through their legates or by anencyclical letter, according to the law of the synods," and that thePatriarchs of the East ... and the bishops who are with them had notgiven their consent to it."(9)Besides, the Fathers of Nicaeadeclared that they "followed, received and accepted" the letter sentby Hadrian to the emperors,(10) as well as the one addressed to thePatriarch.Both were read in Latin and in their Greek translation,and all were invited to give their individual approval.(11)

II

4.In the papal legates the Council greeted the "Church of the HolyApostle Peter"(12) and of the "Apostolic See,"(13) according to theRoman formula;(14) and the Patriarch Taraise, writing to mypredecessor in the name of the Council, recognized in him the one"who has inherited the chair of the divine Apostle Peter," and who,"vested with the supreme priesthood, presides legitimately, by thewill of God, over the religious hierarchy,"(15)

One of the decisive moments when the Council pronounced in favor ofre-establishing the cult of images seems to have been when theyunanimously accepted the proposal of the Roman legates to have avenerable icon brought to the meeting so that Fathers could payhomage of it.(16)

The last Ecumenical Council recognized by both the Catholic andOrthodox Churches is a remarkable example of collaboration betweenthe See of Rome and a conciliar assembly.It was set in theperspective of patristic ecclesiology of communion, founded ontradition, which the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council has justlyhighlighted.

5.Nicaea II solemnly affirmed the existence of "written andunwritten ecclesiastical tradition,"(17) as the normative referencefor the faith and discipline of the Church.The Fathers affirmedthat they wished to "conserve intact all the traditions of the Churchwhich were entrusted (to them), whether written or not.One ofthese consist precisely in the painting of icons, in conformity tothe letter of apostolic preaching."(18)Against the iconoclastcurrent which had also appealed to Scripture and the Tradition of theFathers, especially in the pseudo-synod of Hieria in 754, Nicaea IIsanctioned the lawfulness of the veneration of images, confirming"the divinely inspired teachings of the holy Fathers and thetradition of the Catholic Church."(19)

The Fathers of Nicaea II understood "ecclesiastical tradition" asthat of the six previous ecumenical Councils and that of the orthodoxFathers whose teaching was commonly accepted in the Church.Thus theCouncil defined as being of the faith this essential truth accordingto which the Christian message is "tradition," paradosis.As theChurch developed in time and space, her understanding of thetradition which she carries has also known stages of development, thestudy of which constitutes an obligatory itinerary for ecumenicaldialogue and all authentic theological reflection.

6.From Saint Paul we learn that, for the first Christiangeneration, the paradosis is the proclamation of the event ofChrist and its actual meaning, which effects salvation through theaction of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 15, 3-8; 11, 2).The traditionof the Lord's words and actions, without being exhausted (cf. Luke 1,1; John 20, 30; 21, 25) was gathered in the four Gospels.Thisfounding tradition is "apostolic" tradition (cf. Thess. 2, 14-15;Jude 17; 2 Peter 3, 2).It concerns not only the "deposit" of the"true doctrine" (cf. 2 Tim. 1, 6-12; Tit. 1, 9), but also the normsof behavior and the rules for community life (cf. I Thess, 4, 1-7; 1Cor, 4, 17; 7, 17; 11, 16; 14, 33).The Church reads Scripture inthe light of the "rule of faith,"(20) that is, of her living faiththat has remained faithful to the teaching of the Apostles.What theChurch has always believed and practiced, she justly considers as"apostolic tradition." Saint Augustine says: "An observance kept bythe whole Church and always maintained without having been institutedby the Councils, is regarded in all justice as nothing else than atradition that emanates from the authority of the Apostles."(21)

In fact, the stand taken by the Fathers in the great theologicaldebates of the fourth and fifth centuries of the growing importanceof the synodal institution at the regional and universal levels havegradually made of tradition the "tradition of the Fathers," or the"ecclesiastical tradition," conceived as the homogeneous developmentof apostolic tradition.Thus Saint Basil the Great appeals to theunwritten traditions" which are the "traditions of the Fathers"(22)on which to base his Trinitarian theology, and he stresses the doubleorigin of the Church's doctrine, "from the written teaching as wellas from apostolic tradition."(23)

The Council of Nicaea II which aptly quotes Saint Basil on thequestion of the theology of images (24) also invokes the authority ofthe great orthodox doctors such as Saint John Chrysostom, SaintGregory of Nyssa, Saint Cyril of Alexandria and Saint GregoryNazianzen.Saint John Damascene also revealed the importance for thefaith of "unwritten traditions," that is, not contained in Scripture,when he states: "If somebody were to bring a Gospel other than thatwhich the Catholic Church received from the holy Apostles, theFathers and the Councils, and which she has kept to our day, do notlisten to him."(25)

7.Closer to us, the Second Vatican Council has put in full lightthe importance of the "tradition that comes from the Apostles." "Infact, Sacred Scripture is the Word of God in that, under theinspiration of the Divine Spirit, it is put in writing; as for HolyTradition, it carries the Word of God, entrusted by the Lord Christand the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and fully transmitted to theirsuccessors."(26) "The Tradition received from the Apostles includeseverything that contributes to the holiness of life and increase infaith of the People of God."(27)With Sacred Scripture, "holyTradition constitutes a sole sacred deposit of the word of Godentrusted to the Church." The authentic interpretation of the "wordof God, written or transmitted, has been entrusted to the one livingmagisterium of the Church whose authority is exercised in the name ofJesus Christ."(28)It is in equal fidelity to the common treasure oftradition which goes back to the Apostles that the Churches today aretrying to examine carefully the reasons for their differences and howto overcome them.

III

8.The terrible "quarrel over images" that tore the Byzantine Empireapart under the Isaurian emperors Leo III and Constantine V, between730 and 780, and again under Leo V, from 814 to 843, is explainedmainly by the theological debate which was originally at stake.

Without ignoring the danger of an ever possible resurgence of theidolatrous practices of paganism, the Church permitted that the Lord,the Blessed Virgin Mary, the martyrs and the saints should berepresented in pictorial form or in sculpture to sustain the prayerand devotion of the faithful.It was clear to everyone, according toSaint Basil's formula recalled at Nicaea II, that "the honor renderedto the icon reaches the prototype."(29)In the West, Pope SaintGregory the Great had insisted on the didactic aspect of the paintingsin the churches, which were useful for the illiterate "to read on thewalls what they were incapable of reading in books," and stressedthat this contemplation should lead to the adoration of the "one andomnipotent Holy Trinity."(30)It is in that context that theredeveloped, particularly in Rome in the eighth century, the cult ofimages of the saints which gave rise to an admirable artistic production.

In breaking with the authentic tradition of the Church, theiconoclast movement considered the veneration of images as a returnto idolatry.Not without contradiction or ambiguity, they forbaderepresentations of Christ and religious images in general butcontinued to allow profane images, in particular those of the Emperorwith the signs of reverence that were attached to them.The basis ofthe iconoclast argument was of a Christological nature.How was itpossible to depict Christ, who unites in his person, withoutconfusing or separating them, the divine nature and the human Nature?To represent his unfathomable divinity would be impossible; torepresent him in his humanity would only be to divide him, toseparate the divinity and humanity in him.To choose one or theother of these options would lead to the opposed Christologicalheresies of Monophysitism and Nestorianism.For, in trying torepresent Christ in his divinity, one would necessarily have toabsorb his humanity; in showing only a human picture, one would hidethe fact that he is also God.

9.The dilemma posed by the iconoclasts involved much more than thequestion of the possibility of Christian art; it called into questionthe whole Christian vision of the reality of the Incarnation andtherefore the relationships of God and the world, grace and nature,in short, the specific character of the "new covenant" that God madewith humanity in Jesus Christ.The defenders of images saw it well:according to the Patriarch of Constantinople, Saint Germain, anillustrious victim of the iconoclast heresy, it is "the divineeconomy according to the flesh"(31) that was being questioned.For,to see represented the human face of the Son of God, "image of theinvisible God," (Col. 1, 15), is to see the Word made flesh (cf. John1, 14), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (cf. John1, 29).Therefore art can represent the form, the effigy of God'shuman face and lead the one who contemplates it to the ineffablemystery of God made man for our salvation.Thus Pope Hadrian couldwrite: "By means of a visible face, our spirit will be carried by aspiritual attraction towards the invisible majesty of the divinitythrough the contemplation of the image where is represented the fleshthat the Son of God deigned to take for our salvation.May we thusadore and praise him together while glorifying in spirit this sameRedeemer for, as it is written, `God is Spirit,' and that is why wespiritually adore his divinity."(32)

Hence, Nicaea II solemnly reaffirmed the traditional distinctionbetween "the true adoration (latreia)" which "according to ourfaith is rendered to the unique divine nature" and "and theprostration of honor (timetike proskynesis) "which is attributed toicons, for "he who prostrates before the icon does so before theperson (hypostasis) who is represented therein".(33)

Therefore the iconography of Christ involves the whole faith in thereality of the Incarnation and its inexhaustible meaning for theChurch and the world.If the Church practices it, it is because sheis convinced that the God revealed in Jesus Christ has truly redeemedand sanctified the flesh and the whole sensible world, that is manwith his five senses, to allow him to be ever renewed in the image ofhis creator (cf. Col. 3, 10).

IV

10.Nicaea II sanctioned the tradition according to which "venerableand holy images, done in color, mosaics and all other appropriatematerials, of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ as well as thoseof Mary Immaculate, the Holy Theotokos, the honorable angels andall holy and pious people are to be exposed in the holy churches ofGod, on sacred vessels and vestments, on the walls and on the floors,in the houses and in the streets."(34)The doctrine of this Councilhas nourished the art of the Church in the West as much as in theEast, inspiring works of sublime beauty and depth.

In particular, the Greek and Slav Churches, basing themselves on theworks of the iconodulous theologians Saints Nicephorous ofConstantinople and Theodore Studite, considered the veneration oficons as an integral part of the liturgy, like the celebration of theWord.Just as the reading of material books allows the hearing ofthe living word of the Lord, so also the showing of the painted iconallows those who contemplate it to accede to the mystery of salvationby the sense of sight, "What on the one hand is represented by inkand paper is represented on the other hand in the icon, thanks tothe various colors and other materials." (35)

In the West, the Church of Rome distinguished herself by the unbrokencontinuity of her action in favor of images,(36) especially at thecritical moment between 825 and 843, when both the Byzantine and Frankish Empires were hostile to Nicaea II.At the Council of Trentthe Catholic Church reaffirmed the traditional doctrine against a newform of iconoclasm that was then manifesting itself.More recently,Vatican II recalled with sobriety the permanent attitude of theChurch regarding images (37) and sacred art in general.(38)

11.Over the past several decades we have observed a resurgence ofinterest in the theology and spirituality of Oriental icons, a signof the growing need for a spiritual language of authenticallyChristian art.In this regard, I can only invite my brothers in theepiscopate to "maintain firmly the practice of proposing to thefaithful the veneration of sacred images in the churches"(39) and todo everything so that more works of truly ecclesial quality may beproduced.The believer of today, like the one yesterday, must behelped in his prayer and spiritual life by seeing works that attemptto express the mystery and never hide it.That is why today, as inthe past, faith is the necessary inspiration of Church art.

Art for art's sake, which only refers to the author, withoutestablishing a relationship with the divine world, does not have itsplace in the Christian concept of the icon.No matter what style isadopted, all sacred art must express the faith and hope of theChurch.The tradition of the icon shows that the artist must beconscious of fulfilling a mission of service to the Church.

Authentic Christian art is that which, through sensible perception,gives the intuition that the Lord is present in his Church, that theevents of salvation history give meaning and orientation to our life,that the glory that is promised us already transforms our existence.Sacred art must tend to offer us a visual synthesis of all dimensionsof our faith.Church art must aim at speaking the language of theIncarnation and, with the elements of matter, express the One who"deigned to dwell in matter and bring about our salvation throughmatter" according to Saint John Damascene's beautiful expression.(40)

The rediscovery of the Christian icon will also help in raising theawareness of the urgency of reacting against the depersonalizing andat times degrading effects of the many images that condition ourlives in advertisements and the media, for it is an image that turnstowards us the look of Another invisible one and gives us access tothe reality of the eschatological world.

12.Beloved brothers,In recalling the pertinence of the teaching of the Seventh EcumenicalCouncil, it seems that we are sent back to our primordial task ofevangelization.The growing secularization of society shows thatthat it is becoming largely estranged from spiritual values, from themystery of our salvation in Jesus Christ, from the reality of theworld to come.Our most authentic tradition, which we share with ourOrthodox brethren, teaches us that the language of beauty placed atthe service of faith is capable of reaching people's hearts andmaking them know from within the One whom we dare to represent inimages, Jesus Christ, Son of God made man, "the same yesterday, todayand forever" (Heb. 13, 8).

To all I cordially impart the Apostolic Blessing.

Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, 4 December 1987, memorial of SaintJohn Damascene, priest and doctor of the Church, in the tenth year ofmy pontificate.

NOTES

(1)Especially by the letter of October 8, 1987, from the CardinalSecretary of State to the President of the International Society for the History of Councils, on the occasion of the Istanbul Symposium(L'Osservatore Romano, October 12-13, 1987).

(2) Epi te 1200e epeteio apo tes suykleseos tes en Nikaia hagias z' oikoumenikes Sunodou 787-1987), Phanar, September 14, 1987.

(3)J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima Collectio (Mansi) XIII, 459C.

(4)Mansi XII, 985.

(5)Cf. Mansi XII, 1007. 1086 and Monumenta Germaniae Historica (MGH), Epistulae V (Epistulae Karolini Aevi, t. 3), p. 29, 30-33.

(6)Cf. Mansi XII, 1127-1135 and 1135-1145.

(7)So said the priest John, representing the Eastern Patriarchs,Mansi XII, 990A and XIII, 4A.

(8)Cf. Mansi XII, 1134.

(9)Cf. Mansi XIII, 208-209.

(10)Cf. Mansi XII, 1085.

(11)Mansi XII, 1085-1111.

(12)Mansi XII, 994, 1041, 1114; XIII, 157, 204, 366.

(13)Mansi XII, 1086.

(14)Cf. Letter of Hadrian I to Charlemagne, in: MGH, Epistulae III, (Epistulae Merowingici et Karolini Aevi, t. 1), p. 587, 5.

(15)Mansi XIII, 463BC.

(16)Mansi XIII, 200.

(17)Cf. 4th anathema, in: Mansi XIII, 400.

(18)Horos, in: Mansi XIII, 377BC.

(19)Ibid., 377BC.

(20)Cf. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 1, 10, 1; 22, 1; in Sources Chretiennes (SCh) 264, p. 154-158; 308-310; Tertullian, De Praescriptione 13, 16, in: Corpus Christianorum, series Latina(CChL) I, pp. 197-198; Origen, Peri Archon Praef. 4-10, in: SCh 252, pp. 80-89.

(21) De baptismo IV 24, 31, in Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL) 51, p. 259.

(22) On the Holy Spirit VII 16, 21, 32; IX 22, 3; XXIX 71, 6; XXX79, 15, in: SCh 17bis, pp. 298, 300, 322, 500, 528.

(23)Ibid., XXVII 66, 1-3, pp. 478-480.

(24)Cf. Horos, in Mansi XIII, 378E.

(25) Discourses on images III, 3, in: PG 94, 1320-1321; or B.Kotter, Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos, vol. III (Contra imaginum calumniatores orationes tres), "Patristische Studien" 17,Berlin-New York, 1975, III, pp. 72-73.

(26)Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 9.

(27)Ibid., 8.

(28)Ibid., 10.

(29) On the Holy Spirit XVIII, 45, 19, in: SCh 17bis, p. 496;Nicaea II, Horos, in: Mansi XIII 377E.

(30)Letters of Saint Gregory the Great to the Bishop Serenus ofMarseille, in: MGH, Gregorii I Papae registrum Epistularum, II, 1,lib. IX, 208, p. 195. and II, 2, lib. XI, 10, pp. 270-271; or in: CChL 140A, lib. IX, 209, p. 768 and lib. XI, 10, pp. 874-875.

(31)According to Theophane, Chronographia ad annum 6221, ed. C.de Boor, I, Leipzig, 1883, p. 404; or PG 108, 821C.

(32)Letter of Hadrian I to the Emperors, in: Mansi XII, 1062AB.

(33)Horos, in: Mansi XIII, 377E.

(34)Ibid., 377D.

(35)Theodore Studite, Antirrheticus, 1, 10, in: PG 99, 339D.

(36)Cf. Letter of Hadrian to Charlemagne, in MGH, Epistulae V (Epistulae Karolini Aevi, t. III), pp. 5-57; or PL 98, 1248-1292.

(37)Cf. Constitutions Sacrosanctum Concilium, 111, 1; 125; 128; Lumen Gentium, 51; 67; Gaudium et Spes, 62, 4-5; and also Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 1255 and 1276.

(38) Sacrosanctum Concilium, 122-124.

(39)Ibid., 125.

(40) Discourse on images, I 16, in: PG 94, 1246A; or ed.Kotter, 1 16, p. 89.

Catholic Position Papers Series A — Number 156 May, 1988 — Japan Edition Seido Foundation for the Advancement of Education 12-6 Funado-Cho, Ashiya-ShiJapanOriginal articles published in these Papers may be reprinted without prior permission, if credited to CPP.Copies of all reprints would be appreciated.Downloaded from THE WESTERN DOMINICAN BBS — 503-343-3825

Electronic Copyright � 1999 EWTN
All Rights Reserved

.