Pope Sergius III - Relations With Constantinople

Relations With Constantinople

Sergius, like his predecessors, continued to defend the Filoque clause of the Nicene Creed. His legates who attended the Synod of Trosle in June 909 attacked the Byzantine position, which the synod then condemned in the fourteenth canon:

” As the Holy Apostolic See has made known to us that the blasphemous errors of a certain Photius against the Holy Ghost are still vigorous in the East, errors which teach that the Holy Spirit proceeds not from the Son but from the Father only we exhort you venerable brethren, together with us, in accordance with the admonition of the ruler of the Roman See, after a careful study of the works of the Fathers, to draw from the quiver of Holy Writ arrows sharp enough to slay the monster which is again springing into life.”

Almost a century later later, this decision would see Sergius’ name removed from the Diptychs by Patriarch Sergius II of Constantinople . However, the major issue that presented itself during Sergius’ pontificate was the question over the fourth marriage of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI. Both the emperor, who wanted to marry Zoe Karbonopsina and the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicholas Mystikos, appealed to Sergius; the pope sent papal legates to Constantinople, who confirmed the pope’s ruling in favour of the emperor, on the grounds that fourth marriages had not been condemned by the Church as a whole. Nicholas’ refusal to accept this ruling saw him deposed by Leo VI, upon which he too appealed to Sergius, claiming his deposition was unjustified.