Dogmatic Facts

(1) The supreme authority of the Pope of Rome over all churches.

(2) His right to decide arbitrarily all controversies.

(3) His right to convoke councils at will.

(4) His right to revise, repeal, or confirm decrees.

(5) His right to issue decrees bearing on discipline, morals and doctrine.

(6) The Pope is the centre of communion, and separation from him is excommunication.

(7) He has ultimate authority to appoint all bishops.

(8) He has power to depose any ecclesiastic.

(9) He has power to judge every question of doctrine, and pronounce infallibly what the Church shall or shall not accept.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.