Pope St. Damasus I
quotes from Pope Damasus I:→
Pope Damasus I (305 – 384) was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death. He presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon of sacred scripture, including the New Testament that we use today. He both encouraged and supported St Jerome with the production of the Latin Vulgate Bible, which was the first vernacular translation as most Roman citizens at the time spoke Latin. He also spoke out against major heresies, including Apollinarianism and Macedonianism.
Extant Writings:
Quotes & Excerpts
Decree of Damasus, Chapter 3: (Jurgens, W. A., The Faith of the Early Fathers: A Source-Book of Theological and Historical Passages, vol 1, Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press, 1970. p. 402-404.)
“the most blessed apostle Paul, who contended and was crowned with a glorious death along with Peter in the city of Rome in the time of Caesar Nero. . . . They equally consecrated the above-mentioned holy Roman Church to Christ the Lord; and by their own presence and by their venerable triumph they set it at the forefront over the others of all the cities of the whole world…”
“the holy Roman Church… has received the primacy by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, who says: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you shall have bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall have loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. The first see, therefore, is that of Peter the apostle, that of the Roman Church, which has neither stain nor blemish nor anything like it.”