"Only the learned who have studied the origin and development of the authority of the Roman Church, can really understand its greatness. Thus, to create solid and stable convictions in the minds of the uncultured masses, there must be something that appeals to the eye; a popular faith, sustained only on doctrines, will never be anything but feeble and vacillating. But if the authority of the Holy See were visibly displayed in majestic buildings, imperishable memorials and witnesses seemingly planted by the hand of God Himself, belief would grow and strengthen like a tradition from one generation to another, and all the world would accept and revere it. Noble edifices combining taste and beauty with imposing proportions would immensely conduce to the exaltation of the chair of St. Peter."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Death-bed speech, quoted in Ludwig Pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, Volume II (1891), pp. 166–167
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_Nicholas_V
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Pope Nicholas V
Pope Nicholas V (Latin: Nicholaus V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was Pope from 6 March 1447 until his death. Pope Eugene made him a cardinal in 1446 after successful trips to Italy and Germany, and when Eugene died the next year Parentucelli was elected in his place. He took his name Nicholas in memory of his obligations to Niccolò Albergati.
3 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Pope Nicholas V →
Related Quotes
"We grant to you by these present documents with our Apostolic authority, full and free permission to invade, search o…"
"Nicholas's plan was to make Rome, the centre of the Church, a focus of literature and art, a city of splendid monumen…"
"This same norm of Apostolic doctrine is firmly maintained by his (Peter's) successors, of him to whom the Lord entrus…"
"His own sanctity of life, severity of morals, and aversion to luxury made more resplendent his virtues and talents."
"God forgive you! What have you done?"
"A man of a spirit most pure and blameless. It was however remarked, half jestingly, that as he had come into the worl…"
"All the lands of the West have their eyes directed toward our humility; by them we are considered as a God upon earth."
"Now do we say that the nature of the Word became flesh by undergoing change, nor that it was transformed into an enti…"
"Anathema 1. If anyone does not confess that the Emmanuel is in truth God, and that the Holy Virgin is, in consequence…"
"Fragments of the schisms came to mind, passages from the heresies that had divided the Western and Eastern Churches f…"