10 - Leo I

Summary

Leo I’s jurisprudence should be understood against the background of the earlier papal rulings available to him in the archive. He could not assume that these rulings would be generally known outside Rome, though they were being passed around. For that reason as well as for emphasis, repetition of earlier decisions was in order, but Leo I tended to draw out their logic and explain their rationale more fully than his predecessors had done. He worked within the already well-defined paradigm created by the first half-century of papal jurisprudence. Issues he dealt with included baptism’s relation to the liturgical year, the implication of penance for subsequent careers, indissolubility of marriage, pollution and celibacy, election of bishops and hierarchy.