KEYS, POWER OF THE (Lat. clarion pot estas). A theological term which denotes the supreme authority of the Church. It is prominently repre sented by two golden keys in the insignia of the Pope, considered as the successor of Saint Peter, to whom Christ said: "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. xvi. 19). A similar metaphor occurs in Isaiah xxii. 22, in Rev. i. 18 and iii. 7, in each of which passages the power of inclusion or of exclusion is implied by its use. Writers on canon law generally distinguish between the potcstas ordinis and the potcstas jurisdictionis. The former relates to the priestly powers inherent in the clergy by virtue of their ordination, and in particular to the power to offer the sacrifice of the mass. The latter relates to church government. whether it be the pastoral care and discipline of the parish priest or the universal sway of the sovereign pontiff. Ilere of course wide differences exist. In its fullness (the plenitudo potestatis) the power of jurisdiction, including executive, legis lative, and judicial functions, resides only in the Pope. but in a more or less limited way it may be exercised by patriarchs, primates, arch bishops, bishops, and priests. Constant evidence
of the authority of the hierarchy is held up before the people in the administration of dis cipline thraugh the sacrament of penance.
Protestants hold a different view of the pas sage in the Gospel of Matthew, and understand that whatever power the keys there symbolize was conferred upon the Church as a whole, and is to be exercised by the ministry and laity to gether. It is held to include both doctrine and discipline, but not any such thing as the sacra ment of penance. A few modern critics think some corruption has crept into the text in Matt. xvi. 19, so that the original meaning is lost, but there is no evidence of this in the text itself.
See PENANCE; DISCIPLINE, ECCLESIASTICAL.
The position of the Papacy on the question of jurisdiction is stated in Pius IX's constitution Pastor ..Eternus, published at the Vatican Coun cil of 1870. The text, with translation, is found in Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, vol. ii. (New York, 1877). In general consult: Hinschius, .Kirchenrecht der Katholiken and Protestanten (6 vols., Berlin, 1869-97) ; Baart, The Roman Court (New York, 1899).