Pope Clement VIII - Aeternus Ille (1589) - a New Translation

The following is a new translation of the papal bull, Aeternus Ille, based on the public domain Latin Text (available here).

The eternal Creator and Governor of all celestial and terrestrial things, God, wonderfully planted and nurtured the Holy Church, as a Paradise of delights, with various plants and roots by His own hand, like a provident Farmer. At the same time, He irrigated it with the abundant source of the Holy Scriptures, spreading them like many rivers throughout the entire world, so that the holy mysteries and divine oracles contained in the sacred books, prepared for the salvation of all nations, would be proclaimed in those three languages which have been most widespread among all nations and consecrated by the title of the most Holy Cross. They declared the Kingdom of our Savior to the Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins.

But the cunning and wicked enemy of the human race, whose envy brought the sting of death and whose pride was the teacher of sin, left no stone unturned to suppress the heavenly seed of the divine word as much as possible. Whether by oppressing it at its birth, uprooting it when grown, or corrupting it when mature, he particularly tried by all means and devices to bring forth some most corrupt editions of the sacred Scriptures, so that impiety would hide under the guise of piety, and people would be offered dross instead of silver, dragon's bile instead of wine, and poison instead of milk.

And since not only among heretics, but even among some Catholics, although with different intentions, there arose an excessive and not entirely praiseworthy zeal, almost a lust for interpreting the Scriptures into Latin, Satan, the author of all evil, used them, even if they were unaware, to create such confusion and diversity of versions that he tried to make everything doubtful. He endeavored to bring the matter to the point that, while different interpreters introduced different forms and appearances into the words of the Scriptures, nothing certain, nothing stable, and no inviolable authority could be found in them without great difficulty, so that it was greatly feared that we might return to that ancient chaos of editions about which St. Jerome said: "Among the Latins, there are as many versions as there are copies. Each one added or subtracted according to his own judgment, and certainly, what is inconsistent cannot be true."

Likewise, St. Augustine said that the Latin interpreters of the Scriptures could not be numbered. For, as he says, in the early days of faith, anyone who got hold of a Greek manuscript and seemed to have some knowledge of both languages dared to translate it. Therefore, the holy Council of Trent, wishing to remedy this disorder, decreed that among all the Latin editions of the sacred books, the old and commonly used Vulgate, which had been approved by the long-standing use of so many centuries in the Church, should be held as authentic in public readings, disputations, sermons, and expositions, and that no one should dare or presume to reject it under any pretext.

However, although the Vulgate edition was one, it seemed to be divided into several by various readings. Although some of these readings were introduced by the authority of old manuscripts or the holy Fathers, many others crept in due to the injury of time, the carelessness of scribes, the ignorance of printers, the rashness of emenders, or the audacity of recent interpreters who, although they are sons of the Church, thought they should pay more attention to the Jewish Rabbis than to the doctors of the Church. Moreover, they infiltrated from the annotations of heretics and their deceitful tricks at the margins. And although nothing has been found in this great variety of readings that could cast a shadow over the causes of faith and morals, it was feared that, with the increasing boldness of adding and subtracting, this most approved edition of the Scriptures, which ought to be the bond of peace, the unity of faith, the link of charity, the consent of the dissenting, and the most certain rule in doubtful matters, might become the introduction of schism and heresy, the wave of doubts, the entanglement of questions, the seed of discord, and the multiple entanglement of pious minds.

This is what St. Jerome mentioned happened to the Greek edition of the seventy interpreters, and St. Augustine to the Latin one. So that this plague might not spread further and gradually contaminate our Vulgate edition, the same wise ecumenical Council of Trent decreed that this old and Vulgate edition should be printed as accurately as possible. But since it would have been of no use to decree the authority of this edition if its genuine reading were not known, and the sacred text were left open to the arbitrary will of disputants, so that what had been drawn against the perfidious enemy as a very sharp sword could also become a shield to cover the sides of the weakened and already defeated enemy, we, indignantly bearing this, and all the more so because in these past twenty-two years from the decree of the said Council of Trent to the beginning of our Pontificate, although such a work had sometimes been begun, it was nevertheless interrupted perhaps due to other occupations, and no remedy had been applied to this imminent evil. Therefore, considering it our duty to pursue this matter with greater care and diligence, as it is both sought by all the churches of God and feared by the synagogues of Satan, as soon as divine mercy called us to the Apostolic See of blessed Peter, although unequal to the merits, we had nothing more urgent than to undertake the desired correction of the Vulgate edition as soon as possible.

Thus, we selected and gathered many learned men who excelled in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, sacred Theology, many languages, and long experience in various matters, as well as in sharp judgment and skill when something needs to be discerned, so that they might work diligently in seeking the genuine and pure edition of the sacred text and assist us. For we, considering the magnitude of the matter and wisely reflecting on it, from the special and singular privilege of God, and from the true and legitimate succession of the Prince of the Apostles, St. Peter, for whom our Lord and Redeemer undoubtedly prayed to the eternal Father, out of His reverence, not just once but always, that his faith, not revealed by flesh and blood but by the same Father, might never fail, and to whom the Lord also enjoined to confirm the other Apostles in the same faith, and who, as we trust, does not cease to implore divine help for us until the end of the world, promised to the Catholic Church, and as God disposed, we have been established in the Chair of Peter, in which his power lives and his authority excels, believed that this whole judgment belonged properly and especially to us.

Invoking the help of Almighty God and relying on the authority of the Prince of the Apostles, for the public utility of the holy Church of God, we were not reluctant to undertake this considerable labor of accurate study among other occupations of Pontifical concern. We read through everything that others had collected or thought, considered the reasons for the different readings, reviewed the opinions of the holy Doctors, and judged which should be preferred, so that in this most laborious course of correction, in which we thought it necessary to devote daily effort for many hours, others' work was to consult, ours to choose what was best among many.

Nevertheless, we have entirely retained the old reading received in the Church for many centuries. Meanwhile, we have magnificently built a new printing press in our Apostolic Vatican Palace primarily for this purpose, and to its care, we have appointed a congregation of several Cardinals of the holy Roman Church and a distinguished college of very learned men from almost all nations of the Christian world and the most celebrated universities, endowed with ample and rich revenues, so that the corrected volume of the Scriptures might be printed there. This matter, to ensure it was done without corruption, we ourselves corrected with our own hand any errors that had crept into the press and distinguished those confused or likely to be confused by spacing, larger notes, and punctuation.

Moreover, so that the reasons for this our plan and undertaking may not be unknown, but rather very well known and testified to the whole Catholic Church and posterity, and that all may easily understand what order in this work was observed, what law and method were followed, and what rule of investigating the truth was kept by us: we wish it to be certain and clear to all that our labors and vigils never aimed to bring forth a new edition but to print the old Vulgate edition, as prescribed by the Council of Trent, corrected and restored as closely as possible to its original purity as it first came from the hand and pen of the interpreter.

In this search for the genuine text, it is generally agreed among all that there is no argument more certain and firm than the faith of old and approved Latin manuscripts, both printed and handwritten, which we have procured from various libraries. Therefore, in any reading where more and older and more corrected books agreed, we have decided that this should be retained as the words of the original text or as closest to them. Where assistance was needed to establish the genuine edition, the explanations of the holy Fathers and old expositors who illustrated various places and books of the Scriptures were of great help. Whatever was observed to be useful was included in this work. Finally, in those places where neither the manuscripts nor the doctors' great consensus seemed sufficient, we deemed it necessary to resort to Hebrew and Greek examples, not to correct the errors of the Latin interpreter but to provide something certain and undoubted in place of words that, although ambiguous among the Latins, could have been interpreted otherwise than necessary. Thus, what was inconstant, diverse, and manifold due to varying manuscripts was established uniformly, consistently, and in one manner, with the truth of the sources duly considered.

For the great Doctor St. Jerome wisely advised that, in explaining the sacred Scriptures, as in the New Testament, when a question arises among the Latins and there is variety among the copies, it is customary to refer to the Greek source from which the New Testament was written. St. Augustine also handed down this rule among others to those who handle the Scriptures. Therefore, we religiously followed the laudable custom of the holy Fathers by applying careful attention wherever something was ambiguously said or varied among the Latins. For we know that many think most of the words and expressions of this Latin edition could have been translated more properly, elegantly, clearly, briefly, or copiously by the Latin interpreter, measuring word for word. But such minute and narrow disputation seems trivial, and not of such importance that the reverence for the older Church and the authority of the most holy Fathers should not be rightfully preferred.

Indeed, as St. Gregory attests, it is entirely unworthy that the words of the heavenly oracle should be confined by the rules of Donatus. The authority and excellence of the Vulgate edition are so great that it seems utterly pointless to desire a greater one. For, as handed down to us by our ancestors, the books contained in it were partly retained from a certain common and very ancient Latin edition, which St. Jerome called the Vulgate edition, St. Augustine the Itala, and St. Gregory the old translation, which St. Augustine also considered preferable to the many others then in use because it was more tenacious of the words with clarity of meaning. Partly, they were adopted from the translation of St. Jerome, to whom the honor due is easily understood by anyone who recognizes the dignity of the interpreter.

For St. Jerome, as the same St. Augustine testifies, was learned in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and passing from the Western to the Eastern Church, he lived in the holy places and sacred letters until old age. He almost saw or read all who had written about Ecclesiastical doctrine before him from both parts of the world. Not only did Augustine, Chromatius, Paulinus, and other most holy Bishops consult him about the places of the Scriptures, but also Pope Damasus of Rome. He rightly achieved such great fame, especially in the knowledge of the holy Scriptures, that he spared no vigils, no pilgrimages to attain it. He listened to the most learned in Gaul, heard Gregory Nazianzen in Constantinople, Didymus in Alexandria, and sought out others elsewhere, using the most famous teachers of the Hebrew language. Not content with one teacher, he employed many and the most learned, being a diligent investigator not only of things but also of names.

He even inspected the places often mentioned in the Scriptures and testified that this greatly helped him understand the Scriptures. Therefore, anyone who considers the sanctity, genius, learning, diligence, teachers, labors, and the age in which he lived, when studies of all languages, especially Hebrew, flourished, will easily condemn the judgment of those who do not rest content with the works of such an eminent Doctor or believe they can produce better or equal ones. Much more rightly did St. Isidore, the venerable Bede the Presbyter, St. Remigius, Alcuin, Fortunatus, Rabanus Maurus, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, Haymo, Richard and Hugh of St. Victor, Peter of Cluny, Rupert the Abbot, and many other distinguished Doctors who shone in the Church for a thousand years, who used Jerome's version in all disputations, expositions, declamations, so that the others, which were almost innumerable, fell out of the hands of Catholic Fathers and became obsolete. Therefore, we read in St. Isidore that since St. Jerome alone translated the sacred Scriptures from Hebrew into Latin, all Churches everywhere generally use his edition because it is more truthful in meanings and clearer in words.

Before Isidore, St. Gregory the Great felt almost the same. Not only Latin Fathers, but also Hebrews and Greeks, although neglecting or ignoring other Latin interpreters, considered Jerome worthy of their highest testimony and honor. St. Augustine wrote about the Hebrews, and St. Jerome himself about the Greeks, that Sophronius, a very learned man, translated the Psalms and Prophets, which Jerome had translated from Hebrew into Latin, into Greek in an elegant style. Therefore, it is commendable to seek the help of foreign languages where our codes themselves cannot be reconciled or understood. But when this is not necessary, not to revere the sanctity, wisdom, consensus of our ancestors, and the very ancient custom of the Church, for the slightest reasons, must be considered sheer temerity and obstinacy. For this reason, St. Jerome, who advised consulting Hebrews and Greeks in doubtful matters, also thought that this should be done sparingly and as rarely as possible, so that things long accepted do not waver.

For this reason, although he was reluctant to translate the New Testament, calling it a pious labor but a dangerous presumption, he judged that it should be judged by others. To change the language of an old man and recall the already aging world to the beginnings of children seemed a perilous task. For who, learned or unlearned, taking up a volume in his hands and seeing it differ from what he has read, would not immediately cry out, calling the translator a falsifier and a sacrilegious person who dares to add, change, or correct anything in the old writings?

It is well known about the gourd of Jonah, which was read in the Old edition; when Jerome placed an ivy instead, such a tumult was raised among the people because of the disagreement over one word that the bishop who read Jerome's interpretation in the church was compelled, lest he be deposed from the priesthood, to condemn what he had read. Therefore, the sacred Council of Trent rightfully decreed that the books of the old Vulgate edition should be received as canonical, not otherwise than as they have been accustomed to being read in the Church.

To ensure that this old edition, now printed from our press, fully corresponds to the prescription of the same Synod, we not only preserved the old and received modes of speaking but also rejected apocryphal books, retaining the authentic ones. For the third and fourth books of Esdras and the third book of Maccabees, which the Synod does not enumerate among the canonical books, we have entirely excluded from this edition with the assent of the Cardinals of the Congregation appointed over the Vatican printing house. We have also rejected the prayer of Manasseh, which is neither in the Hebrew nor the Greek text, nor found in the older Latin manuscripts, but only in the printed editions appended after the second book of Chronicles, as something sewn on, added, and not holding a place in the text of the sacred books.

We have also deleted certain sentences sometimes inserted from elsewhere into the Vulgate edition but not found in the old manuscripts or the commentaries of the holy Fathers. Finally, we have accurately corrected and purified this edition from various errors that had crept in and restored it to its pristine truth with the greatest diligence.

No one should be surprised if some places in the sacred Scriptures are read differently in certain holy Doctors than in this edition. For Ambrose, Augustine, and many others generally followed the edition of the seventy interpreters. To the praise and glory of Almighty God, for the preservation and increase of the Catholic faith, and the utility of the holy universal Church, by this our constitution, which is to remain in force forever, with the counsel and assent of our venerable brethren the Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, appointed over the Vatican printing house, whose work and diligence we used in the more serious matters of this correction of the Vulgate edition, and from our certain knowledge and the fullness of Apostolic power, we decree and declare that the Vulgate Latin edition of the sacred pages, both old and new Testament, which was received as authentic by the Council of Trent, is to be considered without any doubt or controversy as the very one which, corrected as well as possible and printed in the Vatican printing house, we now publish to be read in the entire Christian Republic and in all the Churches of the Christian world, decreeing that it is confirmed, first by the universal consent of the holy Church and the holy Fathers, then by the decree of the General Council of Trent, and now also by the Apostolic authority handed down to us by the Lord, as the true, legitimate, authentic, and undoubted one, to be received and held in all public and private disputations, readings, sermons, and expositions.

We strictly forbid anyone ever in the future to print any new Vulgate edition of the Scriptures without express permission from the Apostolic See, or to compose any other edition according to their private or peculiar sense, or to print this old Vulgate, now restored by us as mentioned, anywhere else than in our Vatican printing house for ten years from the date of these presents, whether this side of or beyond the mountains. After the aforesaid decade has elapsed, we prescribe that no one should presume to print the holy Scriptures unless they have first received an edition printed in the Vatican printing house, signed with the Inquisitor's own hand of heretical depravity in that province, or, if there is no Inquisitor in that province, with the Bishop's hand of the same place, confirming that not the slightest particle has been changed, added, or subtracted from it. And after the books have been faithfully printed, they should not be sold or published unless, again, an edition signed by the Inquisitor, or, in his absence, the Bishop, has been reviewed to ensure they are printed correctly.

Because of the various readings hitherto written at the margins, it follows that when such variety is first presented to the eyes, it distracts the reader's mind from what he is then engaged in, leading him at an inappropriate time to compare the different readings in the manuscripts. It is not easy to read the Scriptures with an unoffending foot amidst such a variety of readings and to distinguish, in the forest of diversity, what should be preferred. We think it best and believe it will be agreeable to all pious people to free the children of the Church from these perplexities by the judgment of the same Church. Therefore, we command that henceforth only uniform Vulgate Bibles be printed, and nothing diverse from the text be written in the margin. Those printed hitherto in any places should be corrected word for word according to this our text.

In printed or to be printed Missals, Rituals, Pontificals, Ceremonials, and other ecclesiastical books, this should be observed only regarding those Scripture readings and words taken from the Vulgate edition and inserted in the same books. If any printer in any kingdoms, cities, provinces, and places, subject or not subject to our temporal jurisdiction, within the said decade in any way, or after the decade other than according to such an edition handed to him by the Inquisitor or, in his absence, the Bishop, with not even the slightest particle changed, added, or subtracted, or written at the margin or in the text, even by way of annotations, notes, or glosses, should presume to print, or to sell, or offer for sale, or publish such printed books, he, who in any of the above cases or their equivalents has not complied with our Constitution, shall incur not only the loss of all the books and other temporal penalties at discretion, but also the sentence of major excommunication, from which he cannot be absolved, except in the article of death, by anyone other than the existing Roman Pontiff.

If the Inquisitor or Bishop should approve an edition differing from what he handed over for printing, or approved as printed with his sign or subscription, which actually differs, then if he is a bishop, even if he holds an archiepiscopal, primatial, patriarchal, or other major dignity, he shall incur the sentence of interdiction from entering the church; if he is inferior, the sentence of excommunication ipso facto, and not to be absolved by anyone other than the Roman Pontiff. Moreover, the Inquisitor or Bishop who approved such books differing from the Vatican print, and the printer or bookseller who disobeys our expressed orders and prohibitions in any way, shall be bound to give an account of such actions in strict judgment before the Cardinals of the holy Roman and universal Inquisition against heretical depravity, or before a Judge or Judges deputed by the same Congregation, and shall be punished with severe penalties according to the measure of their fault.

If manuscripts or printed Bibles of this Vulgate edition are preserved for the beauty of their characters or some remarkable ornament of the codex, or for the excellence of the print, or for the notes written at the margin, and have not been corrected according to this our exemplar, they shall henceforth have no authority and no faith in matters where they differ from this our edition. We command all Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Prelates of churches and places, both regular and secular, throughout the entire world, to ensure that this present Constitution is perpetually, firmly, and inviolately observed by all in their churches, provinces, cities, dioceses, and jurisdictions, compelling the disobedient by ecclesiastical censures and other suitable legal and factual remedies, without any appeal, invoking also the aid of the secular arm if necessary. Notwithstanding any Apostolic constitutions and ordinances, general or provincial councils, statutes, and customs of any churches, orders, congregations, colleges, and universities, even if fortified by oath, Apostolic confirmation, or any other firmness, privileges, indulgences, and Apostolic letters granted to them, their prelates, superiors, and persons by any Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors, or by us and the aforesaid See, motu proprio, from certain knowledge, and from the fullness of Apostolic power, and other clauses, derogatory clauses, or any other decrees, whether general or specific.

All these, and each of them, even if they contain the explicit provision that they should not be derogated from in any way or without the consent of certain persons, or under certain manner and form expressed therein, and other derogations made to them be null and void, we derogate from to the effect of these presents alone, considering them as expressed in full, and not to be otherwise valid against the aforesaid.

If anyone claims it has been granted by the Apostolic See that they cannot be interdicted, suspended, or excommunicated by Apostolic letters, without full, express, and word-for-word mention of the indult, we will that these letters be published at the doors of the Lateran Basilica, and of the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles in the city, and of the Apostolic Chancery, as usual, and within four months for those on this side of the mountains, and within eight months for those beyond the mountains from the day of publication, to bind and affect them as if each of them had been personally intimated.

We decree that transcriptions, even printed ones, signed by a notary public and sealed with the seal of an ecclesiastical prelate, should everywhere be given the same faith as these original letters exhibited or shown.

Therefore, let no one at all infringe this page of our statute, declaration, decree, will, prohibition, and derogation, or dare to contradict it with audacious intent. If anyone should presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God and the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.

Given at Rome, at Saint Mary Major, in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1589, on the Kalends of March, in the fifth year of our pontificate.