Denver, Colo., Dec 11, 2011 / 05:13 am
On Dec. 11, both Roman Catholics and Eastern Catholics commemorate Pope St. Damasus I, who led the Church through a critical part of the fourth-century Arian controversy over Jesus' divinity.
While not necessarily a figure of popular devotion today, Pope Damasus I made decisions that shaped the future of Western Catholicism and the universal Church. During his pontificate, Latin became the official liturgical language of the Roman Church, which had used Greek extensively in the past.
The same Pope authorized St. Jerome to revise the Latin translation of the Bible into what became the widely-used “Vulgate” edition. Pope Damasus also authorized the decrees of the Second Ecumenical Council, which expanded the Nicene Creed's profession of faith in the Holy Spirit and added portions on the Church, baptism, and the resurrection of the dead.
Pope Damasus' letters testify to the origin of the papacy as a office instituted by Christ. The need to articulate this doctrine grew during the fourth century, after the Emperor Constantine and his successors increased the profile of Constantinople as a center of political and religious affairs.