Between God and Man

Sermon 2. On the Consecration of the Supreme Pontiff

  ON THE CONSECRATION OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF Innocent III composed this sermon for the occasion of his consecration as Bishop of Rome, February , , the Feast of St. Peter’s Chair at Antioch, six weeks after his election as Pope.1 The Gospel reading for the feast day included the “Tu es Petrus” account of Peter ’s being chosen by Christ as head of his church, an appropriate text for a papal sermon. However, the newly consecrated Pope, ignoring the Petrine passage, took as the pericope for his inaugural sermon the parable of the “faithful and prudent servant,” a text from the consecration ceremony that had just occurred. In that choice he placed himself in the age-old tradition “servus servorum Dei,” the Pope as “the servant of the servants of God.” By invoking the theme of episcopal and papal servanthood, Innocent followed two great models: Pope Gregory the Great’s instruction for pastors, Liber Regulae Pastoralis (Pastoral Care), and Saint Bernard’s advice to Pope Eugenius III, De consideratione (Concerning Contemplation). Gregory and Bernard were deeply spiritual men who were also powerful leaders, intensely involved with the distracting and demanding daily problems of administration, a situation Innocent had already encountered in the weeks since his election. It was understandable that the young Pope would turn to these experienced authorities for guidance in his new role. It is especially Bernard’s considerations of papal ministry that echo frequently throughout this sermon, indicating that Innocent had studied the saintly abbot’s admonitions to an earlier Pope, and had taken them to heart.2  Gregory, Bernard, and Innocent all portray the Gospel servant first as a field worker, assigned like Jeremiah to heavy labor: “I have constituted you today over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to pull down, and to waste and to destroy, to build and to plant.”3 This is God’s commission to the young and reluctant prophet. Bernard is clear: “Learn that you need a hoe, not a scepter, to do the work of the Prophet. Indeed, he did not rise up to reign, but to root out.”4 The Pope, then, was ordered to work in the field of the Lord, “which is uncultivated out of neglect or uprooted by deceit.”5 Bernard left no room for doubt that whatever power the Pope holds, “a ministry has been imposed upon us rather than a dominion bestowed,”6 a mandate that Innocent reiterates, word for word. Bernard then stresses the Pope’s stewardship, the work of the servant given charge of the household.This servant, though not the lord of the estate, nevertheless “should preside in order to provide, to counsel, to administer, and to serve.”7 Here we find again Innocent’s favorite theme of priest and prelate as intermediaries between God and mankind, God’s household. Not to be overlooked is the eschatological import of the Gospel servant’s position.The contract to which Innocent was bound carried with it, as he notes, the powers necessary for carrying out his commission, and he was not reluctant to claim those powers. However, the time of the master’s return would also be the time for the servant’s giving an account for his use of those powers.Toward the end of his pontificate, at Lateran Council IV, Innocent would recall this commissioning of his priesthood and consecration, and attest that the master’s return will find his servant still faithfully guarding the household. The structure of this sermon is based on a series of rhetorical questions: quis, quem, qualem, quid, quare, quando. Finding the answers to the questions is an efficient mechanical method for content development that is familiar to all writers, and is especially characteristic of scholastic study.The content generated by this method might easily be dismissed as pedestrian and unoriginal.Yet Innocent himself warns against such an evaluation of the material, telling his listeners to, “Weigh every single word.” By providing that critical focus he dispels any notion that this is simply a formulaic discourse.       Innocent’s choice of text and content for this sermon must be viewed against the magnificent setting in which it was delivered. According to custom, the consecration of the pontiff took place at St. Peter’s Church, the tomb of the “Prince of the Apostles.” It was preceded by a triumphal procession through the magnificently decorated city streets. It was attended by all...