TOUCHING THE FORM OF THE OATH OF THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

PIUS, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for the perpetual memory hereof.

The office of apostolic servitude enjoined on us requires, that those matters, which Almighty God has vouchsafed divinely to inspire into the minds of the holy fathers assembled in his name for the provident guidance of his Church, we should hasten unhesitatingly to execute, unto his praise and glory. Whereas, therefore, according to the resolution of the Council of Trent, all who may happen henceforward to be placed over cathedral and superior churches, or who may have to take care respecting their dignities, canonries, and any other ecclesiastical benefices soever having the cure of souls, are bound to make a public profession of the orthodox faith, and to promise and swear that they will continue in obedience to the Church of Rome: We, willing that the same thing be observed likewise by all persons soever, who shall have the charge of monasteries, convents, houses, and any other places soever, of all regular orders soever, even of military ones, under what name or title soever, and besides, to the end that the profession of one and the same faith be uniformly exhibited by all, and that one only, and a certain form of it be made known unto all, we, [willing] that a want of our solicitude should by no means be felt by any one in this particular, by strictly prescribing the tenor of these presents, we, by virtue of our apostolic authority, command, that the form itself be published, and be received and observed everywhere by those whom it concerns; in consequence of the decrees of the council itself, as well as the other parties aforesaid, and that the aforesaid profession be made solemnly according to this, and no other form, under the penalties enacted by the council itself against all contravening, under the following terms:—

I, N. with steadfast faith believe and profess all and every particular contained in the symbol of faith, which the Holy Roman Church uses, to wit: “I believe in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages, God of God, light of light; very God of very God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnated of the Holy Ghost from the Virgin Mary, and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried; and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of the Father, and will again come with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there shall not be an end; and in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who together with the Father and Son is adored and glorified; who spake through the prophets; and one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins, and I await the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.” The apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and the other observances and constitutions of the same Church, I most steadfastly admit and embrace. I likewise admit the Holy Scripture according to that sense which our Holy Mother Church has held and does hold, whose province it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the sacred scriptures. Nor will I ever understand or interpret it, except according to the unanimous consent of the holy fathers. I also profess that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the new Law instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all necessary to each individual; to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony, and that they confer grace, and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Orders cannot be reiterated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit all the received and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church in the solemn administration of all the above-mentioned sacraments. I embrace and receive all and everything which in the holy Synod of Trent has been defined and declared concerning original sin and justification. I profess likewise that in the Mass is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead, and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that there takes place a conversion of the entire substance of the bread into the body, and of the entire substance of the wine into the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls transubstantiation. I also confess that under one kind alone, Christ is taken whole and entire, and a true sacrament. I steadfastly hold that there exists a purgatory, and that the souls there detained are assisted by the suffrages of the faithful; in like manner also that the saints reigning along with Christ are to be venerated and invoked, and that they offer up prayers for us, and that their relics are to be venerated. I steadfastly assert that the images of Christ and of the ever Virgin Mother of God, and in like manner of other saints, are to be kept and retained, and that due honour and veneration is to be awarded to them; I also maintain that the power of indulgences has been left by Christ in his Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to the Christian people. I recognize the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church as the mother and mistress of all churches; and I promise and swear true obedience to the Roman pontiff, successor of St. Peter, prince of the apostles, and vicar of Jesus Christ. All other things also delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and œcumenical councils, and particularly by the holy Synod of Trent, I undoubtingly receive and profess, and at the same time all things contrary, and any heresies soever condemned by the Church, and rejected and anathematized, I, in like manner, condemn, reject, and anathematize. This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, which at present I readily profess and truly hold, I, N. promise, vow, and swear, that I will most steadfastly retain and confess the same entire and undefiled to the last breath of life (with God’s help), and that I will take care, as far as shall be in my power, that it be held, taught, and preached by my subjects, or those whose charge shall devolve on me in virtue of my office. So help me God, and these holy gospels of God.

But we will that the present letter be read according to custom in our Apostolic chancery. And that they may the more readily be open to all, let them be written out in its Quinternum, and also be printed.

Be it, therefore, lawful for no person soever to infringe this page of our will and command, or to contravene it by any rash daring. But if any one shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of his blessed apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, in the year of the incarnation of our Lord 1564, on the ides of November, and in the fifth year of our pontificate.

FED. CARDINAL CAESIUS.

CAE. GLORIERIUS.

The above-written letter was read and published at Rome in the Apostolic chancery, in the year of the incarnation of our Lord 1564, on the Sabbath, 9th of the month of December, in the fifth year of the pontificate of our most holy father and lord in Christ, Pius IV. Pope.

A. LOMELLINUS, Custos.