ereign Pontiff, as stated in the Decretals [*Dist. xvii, Can.
4, 5]. Therefore it belongs to the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff
to draw up a symbol.

_I answer that,_ As stated above (Obj. 1), a new edition of the
symbol becomes necessary in order to set aside the errors that may
arise. Consequently to publish a new edition of the symbol belongs to
that authority which is empowered to decide matters of faith finally,
so that they may be held by all with unshaken faith. Now this belongs
to the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff, "to whom the more
important and more difficult questions that arise in the Church are
referred," as stated in the Decretals [*Dist. xvii, Can. 5]. Hence
our Lord said to Peter whom he made Sovereign Pontiff (Luke 22:32):
"I have prayed for thee," Peter, "that thy faith fail not, and thou,
being once converted, confirm thy brethren." The reason of this is
that there should be but one faith of the whole Church, according to
1 Cor. 1:10: "That you all speak the same thing, and that there be no
schisms among you": and this could not be secured unless any question
of faith that may arise be decided by him who presides over the whole
Church, so that the whole Church may hold firmly to his decision.
Consequently it belongs to the sole authority of the Sovereign
Pontiff to publish a new edition of the symbol, as do all other
matters which concern the whole Church, such as to convoke a general
council and so forth.

Reply Obj. 1: The truth of faith is sufficiently explicit in the
teaching of Christ and the apostles. But since, according to 2 Pet.
3:16, some men are so evil-minded as to pervert the apostolic
teaching and other doctrines and Scriptures to their own destruction,
it was necessary as time went on to express the faith more explicitly
against the errors which arose.

Reply Obj. 2: This prohibition and sentence of the council was
intended for private individuals, who have no business to decide
matters of faith: for this decision of the general council did not
take away from a subsequent council the power of drawing up a new
edition of the symbol, containing not indeed a new faith, but the
same faith with greater explicitness. For every council has taken
into account that a subsequent council would expound matters more
fully than the preceding council, if this became necessary through
some heresy arising. Consequently this belongs to the Sovereign
Pontiff, by whose authority the council is