I would be interested in what you understand to have been Gregory's perception of his "special role over the universal church."
Gregory believed that the
care of the entire church had been entrusted to the Bishop of Rome: "by the authority of God, Peter [and the Roman bishops] holds principality in the church [universal]". This would involve teaching and administration.
Yes, but Gregory I located the see of Peter in three different apostolic sees...
Gregory the Great (Gregory I c. 540-603): Your most sweet Holiness has spoken much in your letter to me about
the chair of Saint Peter, Prince of the apostles, saying that he himself now sits on it in the persons of his successors. And indeed I acknowledge myself to be unworthy, not only in the dignity of such as preside, but even in the number of such as stand. But
I gladly accepted all that has been said, in that he has spoken to me about Peter’s chair who occupies Peter’s chair. And, though special honor to myself in no wise delights me, yet I greatly rejoiced because you, most holy ones, have given to yourselves what you have bestowed upon me. For who can be ignorant that holy Church has been made firm in the solidity of the Prince of the apostles, who derived his name from the firmness of his mind, so as to be called Petrus from petra. And to him it is said by the voice of the Truth, To thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19). And again it is said to him, And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren (22:32). And once more, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? Feed my sheep (John 21:17).
Wherefore though there are many apostles, yet with regard to the principality itself the See of the Prince of the apostles alone has grown strong in authority, which in three places is the See of one. For he himself exalted the See in which he deigned even to rest and end the present life. He himself adorned the See to which he sent his disciple as evangelist. He himself stablished the See in which, though he was to leave it, he sat for seven years. Since then it is the See of one, and one See,
over which by Divine authority three bishops now preside, whatever good I hear of you, this I impute to myself. If you believe anything good of me, impute this to your merits, since we are one in Him Who says, That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee that they also may be one in us (John 17:21).
NPNF2: Vol. XII, Selected Epistles, Book 7, Epistle 40 - To Eulogius, bishop.
William J. La Due on the quote above: Although his meaning is not entirely clear, Pope Gregory envisioned the see of Peter as being the principal see which gives firmness and stability to all the other churches. But he held to a threefold location
[i.e., Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome] of the one chair of Peter, so that the one Petrine see seemed actually to be realized in three places—and that these three were somehow one. Save just for a couple of exceptions over his long pontificate, he never addressed any of the patriarchs in anything but a fraternal tone. He did not present himself as their superior, but as a brother, always sensitive to that special bond uniting the sees of Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome. William J. La Due,
The Chair of Saint Peter: A History of the Papacy (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999), pp. 67-68.
How did that place Gregory in that position alone in his lifetime?
Thanks,
DTK
