A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure.
Find accurate definitions of words and phrases. a medieval
doctrine on the relation of Church and State, as explained by
Pope Boniface VIII (reigned 1294- 1303): "We are taught by the
words of the Gospel that in this Church and under her control
there are two swords, the spiritual and the temporal . . . both
of these,m i.e., the spritual and the temporal swords, are under
the control of the Church. The first is wielded by the Church;
the second is wielded on behalf of the church. The first is
wielded by the hands of the priest, the second by the hands of
kings and soldiers, but at the wish and by the permission of the
priests. Sword must be subordinate to sword, and it is only
fitting that the temporal authority should be sujbect to the
spiritual" (Unam Sanctam, Denzinger 873). this doctrine was not
fefined by teh Pope but reflected the mentality of the age, when
both "priests and kings" were members of the same Catholci
Church in whose name Pope