Among the Christian churches one, the Church of Rome, was especially prominent as the center of unity. The bishops of Rome very soon laid formal claim to a universal authority as successors of St. Peter. The Roman homily, On the Gam blers, perhaps the work of Pope Victor (A. D. 189-199), asserts the power of the keys (Matt. xviii:18), the vicarship of the Lord, and an orig inal apostolic authority or leadership. St. Clem ent of Rome writes to the Corinthians in an un mistakable tone of authority, that the discovery of the complete text has confirmed. St. Irenxiis of Lyons (A. D. 178), attributes to the Roman Church an authoritative and efficient primacy, based on its episcopal succession from SS. Peter and Paul. He says : "But as it would be a very long task to enumerate in such a volume as this the successions of all the churches, we do put to con fusion all those who ... assemble in unauthorized meetings (we do this, I say), by indicating that tradition, derived from the Apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church, founded and constituted at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul : as also (by pointing out) the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by many of the successors of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this (the Roman) Church, on account of its pre eminent authority; that is, the faithful every where."—Against All Heresies, Bk. HI, c. 3.
St. Ignatius of Antioch (A. D. 107-117), ad dressing the Roman Church, speaks of its "presi dency of love," its ''presidency in the country of the region of the and the lately discov ered epitaph of Abercius shows that the Roman Church enjoyed the highest degree of esteem among all other churches. At the same time the
sense of local self-sufficiency, and of apostolic au thority lodged in the episcopate, personal and soli dary. was very strong. But the conduct of Origen, of Dionysius of Alexandria, the correspondence of Saint Cyprian, the attitude of inimical emperors like Deems and Aurelian, show that the essential authority of the Roman see was not resisted, even if consciousness of the common origin and com mon nature of the episcopate were vivid and sen sitive in communities accustomed to be governed in the original spirit of charity and humility en joined by the Master. T. J. S.
• VEIL (vd1), ( H eb. ,„ fiaw-ro'keth).
The veils among the Hebrews were of different kinds and names, some descending only to the waist, while others reached nearly to the ground.
The veils mentioned in Scripture were, no doubt, mostly analogous to the wrappers of dif ferent kinds in which the Eastern women envelop themselves when they leave their houses. These are very voluminous, and, among the common people, of strong and coarse texture, like that in which Ruth carried home her corn (Ruth iii: 15). A veil called T.V4, tsaw-eef, to wrap, is mentioned in Gen. xxiv :65; xxxviii:t4, tg, der circumstances which show that it was one of those ample wrappers which women wore out of doors. The etymology, referred to the Arabic. sub dtiplicavit, suggests that it was 'doubled' over the shoulders, or folded about the body in some manner which distinguished it from other veils.