The Emperor’s Reflection on Day 4

Revered gentlemen of the council,

After completing the portion of our council on the creed with outstanding success, I was disappointed to see our last session together have such a rocky start, as several of you struggled to clearly define your positions or engage with one another. I do not wish to sound redundant, but the stakes of the matters before us are too great to become complacent or disengaged with the decision-making process. It remains essential that you make the time to adequately prepare for each council session, as we can only find success when we work together.

That being said, I was quite satisfied to see that this body continues to come to agreements with either unanimous or near-unanimous consent. It is now clear to me that many of you have internalized my message of unity, and for that, I am very grateful. It is my hope that you will continue to remember that this process is a give-and-take; while no person will be totally satisfied with every outcome, we have already shown our capacity to find common ground and craft our decisions so that they broadly appeal to both those within and outside of the church.

And although by now it is self-evident that I am not expert in theological matters, please allow me to briefly comment on the specific language you chose to include in the final versions of the canons that now sit before me. The first canon contains fairly strong language on the authority of the metropolitan bishops, but I was glad to see that it passed with unanimous agreement. Here, I would like to remind those on the “losing” side of the argument that this individual result does not counter your prospects for success in the rest of these proceedings, as you now have increased political capital to use during the rest of the sessions, which I suggest you use strategically, but never, of course, in order to manipulate or cause division. I also believe that the establishment of the office of the Pope will be of great help to both Christian institutions and the future of the Roman Empire, as I (and future emperors) will now have the ability to more closely coordinate with an official representative of the centralized church. With this in mind, I must say that overall, I was pleased with the outcome of the session. For our next session, may we work to correct our past mistakes and unite for the sake of all involved.

May we continue to follow the model of Christ, and may he always protect Rome!

Emperor Constantine