The Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals ("False Decretals") of the Roman Catholic church are a set of extensive, influential medieval forgeries written by a scholar (or group of scholars) known as Pseudo-Isidore. These contain fictitious letters ascribed to early popes, from Clement to Gregory the Great, incorporated in a ninth-century collection of canons purporting to have been made by "Isidore Mercator."

Three other law books of the same time and place are closely connected with these false decretals and are necessarily treated with them, viz.: the Pseudo-Isidorian recension of the Spanish collection of canons; the Capitula Angilramni; and the capitularies of Benedict Levita. The name "Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals" has been in use since the awakening of criticism in the sixteenth century, and Bernhard Eduard Simson in 1886 gave the fitting designation "Pseudo-Isidorian Forgeries" to the whole series. In the present article the collection of "Isidore Mercator" is referred to as the Pseudo-Isidoriana, its author (or authors; see V., below) as the Pseudo-Isidore.

The Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals whose author(s), used the pseudonym of Isidore Mercator, are believed to have been created by a group of Frankish Roman Catholic clerics writing in the second quarter of the 9th century.

Over the centuries the Catholic church has forged numerous documents, ranging from letters supposedly written by Augustine, the Apostles Creed, the Immaculate Conception, to the so called "apostolic writings" by Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas (O. C. Lambert, Catholicism Against Itself, 1956, pgs. 54-68.)

It speaks to the total duplicity of Roman religion that many of these forged Catholic doctrines still remain in force today, decreeing the primacy and infallibility of the bishop of Rome, aka, the pope, all founded upon a set of documents forged by the corrupt Roman Catholic church in the ninth century.

Although these "False Decretals" or the "Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals," claimed the authorship of early century popes, but were known to be forgeries, amazingly, all the phony doctrines known to be based on these lying documents are still in force today, having never been removed or even apologized for by Rome's ruling Hierarchy.

They consist of 115 documents which were supposedly written by early popes. The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that these are forgeries. It says that the purpose of these forged documents was to enable the Church to be independent of secular power, and to prevent the laity from ruling the Church.

Lying is Satan’s primary weapon against God’s children. He uses the tactic of deceit to separate people from their Triune God; God, the Father, Jesus, who is God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. Some of his more common lies are “the Bible cannot be trusted,” and “your good works will get you into heaven.” The apostle Paul tells us that Satan “masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), in order that what he says and does sounds good and appears reasonable. But it is nothing more than a mask, disguising his true evil nature.

The Bible has many names for Satan to describe his true nature, including “ruler of this world” (John 12:31), “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), “tempter” (1 Thessalonians 3:5), “deceiver” (Revelation 12:9), “Beelzebub” (literally, “lord of the flies,” the ruler of demons, in Matthew 10:25), and “Belial,” meaning “wicked” (2 Corinthians 6:15).

Jesus said, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).

This Roman Catholic church built on the shifting sands of centuries of Satan's lies and the quicksand of his deadly deceit, can have but one father, and that is Satan, whom Jesus called a liar, the little "g" god of this age, and the Father of liars.

This document is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Calvin College.

https://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc09/htm/iv.v.lxxiv.htm

Forged Documents and Papal Power

(A Former Catholic Nun)

www.CatholicConcerns.com

June 2002

What we now call popes were originally bishops of Rome (one bishop among brother bishops from other cities). Then they became popes, with power over the entire Church. Then they became so powerful that they were able to depose kings and emperors. They became so powerful that they were able to force kings to use their secular might to enforce the Inquisition, which was conducted by Catholic priests and monks. In 1870, the Pope was declared to be infallible. The process of increasing papal power was influenced by forged documents which changed people’'s perception of the history of the papacy and of the Church.

I’m just going to briefly summarize some information about these forgeries. At the end of this paper is a link to an on-line article which gives detailed historical information.

One of the most famous forgeries is the “Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals,” which were written around 845 A.D. (They are also known as the “False Decretals”.) They consist of 115 documents which were supposedly written by early popes. (Note 1)

The “Catholic Encyclopedia” admits that these are forgeries. It says that the purpose of these forged documents was to enable the Church to be independent of secular power, and to prevent the laity from ruling the Church. (Note 2 gives the address of an on-line article.) In other words, their purpose was to increase the power of the Pope and the Catholic Church.

In addition to documents which were total forgeries, genuine documents were altered. One hundred twenty-five genuine documents had forged material added to them, which increased the power of the Pope. Many early documents were changed to say the opposite of what they had originally said. (Note 3)
One of the forgeries is a letter which was falsely attributed to Saint Ambrose. It said that if a person does not agree with the Holy See, then he or she is a heretic. (Note 4) This is an example of how papal power was promoted by fraudulently claiming the authority of highly respected Early Fathers.

Another famous forgery from the ninth century was “The Donation of Constantine”. It claimed that Emperor Constantine gave the western provinces of the Roman Empire to the Bishop of Rome. The Pope used it to claim authority in secular matters. (Note 5)

When Greek Christians tried to discuss issues with the Church in Rome, the popes often used forged documents to back their claims. This happened so frequently that for 700 years the Greeks referred to Rome as “the home of forgeries”. (Note 6)

For three hundred years, the “Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals” and other forgeries were used by Roman Popes to claim authority over the Church in the East. The Patriarch of Constantinople rejected these false claims of primacy. This resulted in the separation of the Orthodox Church from the Roman Catholic Church. (Note 7 gives addresses of on-line articles.)

In the middle of the twelfth century, a monk named Gratian wrote the “Decretum,” which became the basis for Canon Law (the legal system for running the Roman Catholic Church). It contained numerous quotations from forged documents. Gratian drew many of his conclusions from those quotations. Gratian quoted 324 passages which were supposedly written by popes of the first four centuries. Of those passages, only eleven are genuine. The other 313 quotations are forgeries. (Note 8)

In the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas wrote the “Summa Theologica” and numerous other works. His writings are the foundation for scholastic theology. Aquinas used Gratian’s “Decretum” for quotations from church fathers and early popes. (Note 9) Aquinas also used forged documents which he thought were genuine. (Note 10)

The importance of Thomas Aquinas’ theology can be seen in the encyclical of Pope Pius X on the priesthood. In 1906, Pius said that in their study of philosophy, theology, and Scripture, men studying for the priesthood should follow the directions given by the popes and the teaching of Thomas Aquinas. (This papal encyclical is available on-line. Note 11 gives addresses.)

William Webster is the author of “The Church of Rome at the Bar of History”. (I recommend this book.) His web site has an article entitled “Forgeries and the Papacy: The Historical Influence and Use of Forgeries in Promotion of the Doctrine of the Papacy”. The article gives detailed information about the “Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals” and other forged documents, showing their influence on the papacy and on the Catholic Church. Four quotations from his article are below. (They are used by permission.)

“In the middle of the ninth century, a radical change began in the Western Church, which dramatically altered the Constitution of the Church, and laid the ground work for the full development of the papacy. The papacy could never have emerged without a fundamental restructuring of the Constitution of the Church and of men’s perceptions of the history of that Constitution. As long as the true facts of Church history were well known, it would serve as a buffer against any unlawful ambitions. However, in the 9th century, a literary forgery occurred which completely revolutionized the ancient government of the Church in the West. This forgery is known as the “Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals,” written around 845 A.D. The “Decretals” are a complete fabrication of Church history. They set forth precedents for the exercise of sovereign authority of the popes over the universal Church prior to the fourth century and make it appear that the popes had always exercised sovereign dominion and had ultimate authority even over Church Councils.”

“The historical facts reveal that the papacy was never a reality as far as the universal Church is concerned. There are many eminent Roman Catholic historians who have testified to that fact as well as to the importance of the forgeries, especially those of “Pseudo-Isidore”. One such historian is Johann Joseph Ignaz von Dollinger. He was the most renowned Roman Catholic historian of the last century, who taught Church history for 47 years as a Roman Catholic.” (Webster quotes extensitely from Dollinger.)

“In addition to the “Pseudo Isidorian Decretals” there were other forgeries which were successfully used for the promotion of the doctrine of papal primacy. One famous instance is that of Thomas Aquinas. In 1264 A.D. Thomas authored a work entitled ‘Against the Errors of the Greeks’. This work deals with the issues of theological debate between the Greek and Roman Churches in that day on such subjects as the Trinity, the Procession of the Holy Spirit, Purgatory and the Papacy. In his defense of the papacy Thomas bases practically his entire argument on forged quotations of Church fathers…. These spurious quotations had enormous influence on many Western theologians in succeeding centuries.”

“The authority claims of Roman Catholicism ultimately devolve upon the institution of the papacy. The papacy is the center and source from which all authority flows for Roman Catholicism. Rome has long claimed that this institution was established by Christ and has been in force in the Church from the very beginning. But the historical record gives a very different picture. This institution was promoted primarily through the falsification of historical fact through the extensive use of forgeries as Thomas Aquinas’ apologetic for the papacy demonstrates. Forgery is its foundation.”

I strongly encourage you to read William Webster’s article. It has an abundance of valuable historical information. The address of the article is:

http://www.christiantruth.com/forgeries.html

USE OF THIS ARTICLE

I encourage you to link to this article and to put it on your own web site. You have my permission to copy this entire article or portions of it, and to quote from it. You have my permission to incorporate this entire article or portions of it into publications of your own, including translating it into other languages. You have my permission to distribute copies of this article, including selling it for profit. I do not want any royalties or financial remuneration of any kind. Please give this information to anybody who might be interested in it.

NOTES

(1) William Webster, “The Church of Rome at the Bar of History” (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995), pages 62-63. Webster is a former Catholic.

Peter de Rosa, “Vicars of Christ” (Dublin, Ireland: Poolbeg Press, 1988, 2000), pages 58-61, 174, 208. De Rosa is a Catholic, and a former Catholic priest. He was able to do historical research in the Vatican Archives.

Paul Johnson, “A History of Christianity” (New York: A Touchstone Book, Simon & Schuster, 1976, 1995), page 195. Johnson is a Catholic and a prominent historian.

(2) “Benedict Levita” in the “Catholic Encyclopedia”. (Benedict Levita is the pseudonym of the author of the “Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals”.)

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02466a.htm

(3) De Rosa, page 59.

(4) De Rosa, page 166.

(5) Johnson, pages 170-172.

(6) De Rosa, page 59.

(7) Orthodox Christian Information Center, “The False Decretals of Isidore”. An excerpt from “The Papacy” by Abbee Guette. The author was a devout Catholic and a historian. As a result of his historical research about the papacy, he eventually joined the Orthodox Church.

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/decretals.htm

“The Great Schism of 1054”. This is a sermon given at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist,in Washington, D.C.

http://www.stjohndc.org/Homilies/9606a.htm

(8) Webster, pages 62-63. De Rosa, page 60.

(9) Webster, page 63. De Rosa, page 60.

(10) William Webster, “Forgeries and the papacy: The Historical Influence and Use of Forgeries in Promotion of the Doctrine of the Papacy”. This gives detailed accounts of Aquinas’ use of forged documents which he wrongly believed to be genuine.

http://www.christiantruth.com/forgeries.html

(11) Pius X, “Pieni l’animo” (“On the Clergy in Italy”), July 28, 1906. (See paragraph 6.)

http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/P10CLR.HTM

Copyright 2002 by Mary Ann Collins.

E-MAIL: MaryAnnCollins@juno.com

http://www.CatholicConcerns.com

Hi Bahmer,

I originally came across those documents, or the fact that they were forgeries, anyway, on the Library of Congress website ten or more years ago, researching a different topic for my Christian Bible-Based Cult-Awareness website, which I had put online in 1996... It's been awhile since I've thought about them.

There is so much about Roman Catholicism that lines up with the occult teachings of Secret Societies, it's hard to keep track of all of them, and even harder to believe millions of people are being literally conned into losing their eternal souls to an ancient religion that is not a religion at all, but one of Satan's imitations.