Exultate Deo Also Ends The Debate

By Brother Peter Dimond, O.S.B.

Source: vaticancatholic.com

I have discussed the teaching of the Council of Florence on Baptism in earlier sections; but, due to the fact that the teaching of Exultate Deo from the Council of Florence excludes the possibility of baptism of desire and baptism of blood, I want to show clearly that it is infallible and cannot be contradicted. 

Pope Eugene IV, The Council of Florence, “Exultate Deo,” Nov. 22, 1439, ex cathedra:  “Holy baptism, which is the gateway to the spiritual life, holds the first place among all the sacraments; through it we are made members of Christ and of the body of the Church.  And since death entered the universe through the first man, ‘unless we are born again of water and the Spirit, we cannot,’ as the Truth says, ‘enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5].  The matter of this sacrament is real and natural water.”[1]

It is important to point out that not everything in the Bull Exultate Deo (the Decree for the Armenians) deals with faith and morals to be believed by the universal Church.  Those areas are not necessarily taught ex cathedra (from the Chair of Peter) or infallibly.  But this quotation above most certainly does deal with faith and morals to be believed by the universal Church and is therefore taught ex cathedra.  Some people point out the fact that Exultate Deo does not have the same solemn language as Cantate Domino from the Council of Florence, which everyone agrees is infallible.  Some conclude, therefore, that it’s possible that Exultate Deo might not be infallible in faith and morals.  But this argument is easily refuted.  Not only was the Bull Exultate Deo approved by Pope Eugene IV and included in the decrees of the Council, but it was required for the Armenians as a profession of faith, as the true doctrine of the Catholic religion.  This proves that it is infallible.

Pope Leo XIII, Paterna caritas (# 2), July 25, 1888: “Then the Constitution of the Council, Exultate Deo, was published by the pope, in which he taught them all that he considered to be necessary for the right knowledge of Catholic truth; and upon this, the Legates, in the name of their Patriarch, and of the whole Armenian race, declared that they received the Constitution in entire submission and readiness to obey, ‘promising in the same name, as true sons of obedience, loyally to obey the behests and commands of the Apostolic See.”[2]

Furthermore, Exultate Deo (the Decree for the Armenians) was solemnly confirmed by a number of other infallible Bulls in the same Council, including Cantate Domino.

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” Sess. 11, Feb. 4, 1442, ex cathedra: “The Holy Roman Church embraces, approves and accepts all other universal synods which were legitimately summoned, celebrated and confirmed by the authority of a Roman Pontiff, and especially this holy synod of Florence, in which, among other things, most holy unions with the Greeks and the Armenians have been achieved and many most salutary definitions in respect of each of these unions have been issued, as is contained in full in the decrees previously promulgated, which are as follows: Letentur coeli; Exultate Deo…”[3]

In Sess. 13 of the Council of Florence, Pope Eugene IV issued another Bull – this one on union with the Syrians – in which he again infallibly approves of the doctrine contained in Exultate Deo (the Decree for the Armenians).  The Bull ends with Pope Eugene IV invoking the wrath of God upon anyone who would contradict it.  Here is the pertinent portion of the text.

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Bull of Union with the Syrians, Sess. 13, Nov. 30, 1444: “Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record… we ordain and decree that he (the archbishop Abdala) ought to receive and embrace, in the name of the above persons, whatever has been defined and established at various times by the holy Roman Church, especially the decrees on the Greeks and the Armenians (Exultate Deo) and the Jacobites, which were issued in the sacred ecumenical council of Florence…”[4]

In addition, Exultate Deo itself begins its section on the sacraments – in which the quote on the necessity of the Sacrament of Baptism is contained – with authoritative language which proves that it is the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church.

Pope Eugene IV, The Council of Florence, “Exultate Deo,” Nov. 22, 1439: “Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record… for the easier instruction of the Armenians today and in the future we reduce the truth about the sacraments of the Church to the following brief scheme.”[5]

Therefore, the teaching contained in Exultate Deo, concerning points of faith and morals to be believed by the universal Church, is infallible and dogmatic.  It cannot contain error.  Thus, when Exultate Deo defines that unless we are born again of water and the Holy Ghost, we cannot, as the Truth says, enter into the kingdom of God, this excludes any possibility of salvation without water baptism.  What’s interesting about this definition in particular is that it is not merely a quotation of John 3:5 incorporated into the Council’s definition.  Rather, it is the Council of Florence teaching the same thing as John 3:5, while presenting it in its own words.  That is to say, the Council of Florence is defining the doctrine found in John 3:5, not simply quoting the scripture. 

Pope Eugene IV, The Council of Florence, “Exultate Deo,” Nov. 22, 1439, ex cathedra:  “Holy baptism, which is the gateway to the spiritual life, holds the first place among all the sacraments; through it we are made members of Christ and of the body of the Church.  And since death entered the universe through the first man, ‘unless we are born of water and the Spirit, we cannot,’ as the Truth says, ‘enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5].  The matter of this sacrament is real and natural water.”[6]

To hold that one can enter into the kingdom of heaven without being born again of water and the Spirit is to contradict this infallible teaching.