The Oath Taken By Boniface (Abp. of Mainz) to Pope Gregory II (30 November 722)
Source: C.
H. Talbot, The Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany, Being the Lives of SS.
Willibrord, Boniface, Leoba and Lebuin together with the Hodoepericon of St.
Willibald and a selection from the correspondence of St. Boniface, (London and
New York: Sheed and Ward, 1954). P. 70-71. Available online at: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/boniface-letters.asp
In the name of God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ.In the sixth year of Leo, by the grace of God crowned emperor, the sixth year of his consulship, the fourth of his son the Emperor Constantine, the sixth indiction.I, Boniface, by the grace of God bishop, promise to you, blessed Peter, chief of the Apostles, and to your vicar, the blessed Pope Gregory, and to his successors., in the name of the indivisible Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and on thy most sacred body, that I will uphold the faith and purity of holy Catholic teaching and will persevere in the unity of the same faith in which beyond a doubt the whole salvation of a Christian lies. I will not agree to anything which is opposed to the unity of the Universal Church, no matter who may try to persuade me, but in all things I will show, as I have said, complete loyalty to you and to the welfare of your Church on which, in the person of your vicar and his successors, the power to bind and loose has been conferred.Should it come to my notice that some bishops deviate from the teaching of the Fathers I will have no part or lot with them, but as far as in me lies I will correct them, or, if that is impossible, I will report the matter to the Holy See. And if (which God forbid) I should be led astray into any course of action contrary to this my oath, under whatsoever pretext, may I be found guilty at the last judgment and suffer the punishment meted out to Ananias and Sapphira, who dared to defraud you by making a false declaration of their goods.This text of my oath, I, Boniface, a lowly bishop, have written with my own hand and placed over thy sacred body. I have taken this oath, as prescribed, in the presence of God, my Witness and my judge: I pledge myself to keep it.
See letter to Pope Zacharius (751 CE) for reflection on the oath:
ReplyDelete> When your predecessor once removed, Gregory II, of revered memory, consecrated me bishop, unworthy as I was, and sent me to preach the word of faith to the Germans, he bound me by oath to support by word and deed all those bishops and priests who were canonically elected and of blameless life. This by divine grace I have tried to do. False priests, however, and hypocrites misleading the people, I was either to convert to the way of salvation or to reject and refrain from associating with them. This I have in part accomplished, but in part have not been able to maintain. In spirit I have kept my oath, because I have not agreed with them nor taken part in their counsels; but in the letter I could not avoid contact with them because when I went to the Frankish court on urgent ecclesiastical matters there were men there whom I would rather not have met.