Faith & Doctrine | History | The Seven Sacraments | Traditional Catholic Issues

Bro. Peter Dimond

In the year 418 Pope St. Zosimus sent a very important document to the bishops.  It’s called his Tractoria and it condemned Pelagianism.  The full text of the document has been lost to history, but a very important portion of it (containing a powerful declaration about the necessity of baptism for justification) was providentially preserved in St. Augustine’s Letter 190 (paragraph 23) to Optatus.  Marius Mercator, a friend of St. Augustine who was born about the year 390, noted that Pope St. Zosimus’ document was sent to the East and throughout the world and subscribed to by Eastern bishops.

Marius Mercator, Commonitorium Super Nomine Coelestii, Cap. 1, 5^th century: “Of these writings [i.e. Zosimus’ Tractoria] we note that similar copies were sent to bishops, to the Churches of the East, to the province of Egypt, to Constantinople and Thessalonica and Jerusalem.” [1]  

Marius Mercator, Commonitorium Super Nomine Coelestii, Cap. 2, 5^th century: “All the above-quoted chapters are contained, as was said, in that letter of the late Bishop Zosimus which is called ‘Tractoria’, by which Celestius and Pelagius were condemned.  This letter was sent to Constantinople and throughout the world, and was strengthened by the subscriptions of the holy fathers.”[2] 

St. Robert Bellarmine also acknowledged that Zosimus’ document was an epistle “to the bishops of the whole world” (ad episcopos totius orbis).[3]  It’s one of the most important acts of the Apostolic See from the ancient Church.  In the epistle Pope St. Zosimus authoritatively taught that absolutely no one is liberated from the state of original sin until he is baptized.

Pope St. Zosimus, Tractoria ad Orientales ecclesias, Aegypti diocesim, Constantinopolim, Thessalonicam, Hierosolymam, sent after March, 418:

Fidelis Dominus in verbis tuis, eiusque Baptismus re ac verbis, id est, opere, confessione, et remissione vera peccatorum, in omni sexu, aetate, conditione generis humani, eandem plenitudinem tenet.  Nullus enim nisi qui peccati servus est, liber efficitur, nec redemptus dici potest, nisi qui vere per peccatum fuerit ante captivus, sicut scriptum est; Si vos filius liberaverit, vere liberi eritis.  Per ipsum enim renascimur spiritualiter, per ipsum crucifigimur mundo: ipsius morte mortis ab Adam omnibus introductae, atque transmissae universae animae illud propagatione contractum chyrographum rumpitur, in quo nullus omnino natorum, antequam per Baptismum liberetur, non tenetur obnoxius.

“The Lord is faithful in his words [Ps 145: 13), and his Baptism holds the same fullness of power in its reality and in its words – that is, in the action, confession, and true forgiveness of sins – in every sex, age, and condition of the human race.  For no one can be ‘set free’ unless he is [first] the slave of sin, nor may he be said to be ‘redeemed’ unless in fact he was previously a captive through sin, as it is written: If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  For through him we are reborn spiritually, through him we are crucified to the world. By his death there is broken that sentence [lit. chirograph], contracted by propagation, of the death that was introduced to all men by Adam and transmitted to every soul, [that sentence] whereby absolutely none of men born, prior to being liberated through Baptism, is not considered liable to punishment.”[4]

Concerning this document of Zosimus, St. Augustine stated: “After these words so ancient and well-founded of the Apostolic See, the Catholic faith is so certain and clear, that it is sinful for a Christian to be in any doubt about it.”[5]  So what is the faith of the Catholic Church on the necessity of baptism?  Pope St. Zosimus teaches us: absolutely no one is liberated from the state of original sin until he is baptized.  That’s our position, and it’s the true position of the Catholic Church taught throughout history.

Some might ask if Zosimus’ statement contradicts the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.  The answer is no because Pope St. Zosimus’ decree is about liberation from the state of original sin.  In context he directly refers to those held captive by sin.  Since Our Lady was preserved from original sin by a singular grace of God and the merits of Jesus Christ, she was not liberated from the state of original sin.  She was preserved from ever contracting it.  Hence, the decree doesn’t apply to her but to all who contract original sin and to all who are liberated from that state.  The Pope declares that absolutely no one is liberated from original sin before receiving baptism.  Notice the completely exclusive language.  There aren’t other ways to be saved. 

That not only means that no one is saved without baptism, but that no one can be justified without it.  Once again, we see that the official teaching of the popes to the universal Church – the teaching of the Chair of St. Peter – is that baptism is absolutely required for justification and salvation.  That’s because that’s what Jesus taught in John 3:5, and it’s the teaching of the Apostolic See going back to the beginning.  We also don’t think it’s just a coincidence that even though this document of Zosimus has almost completely been lost, a portion of it that has been preserved contains another affirmation of the Chair of St. Peter that no one can be justified without baptism.  The providential preservation of this statement about baptism is similar to how the oldest completely-preserved papal decree from Pope St. Siricius in the year 385 directly contradicts the idea of baptism of desire.  Siricius declares that unbaptized catechumens in danger or in any necessity (in qualibet necessitate), including those who desire baptism, cannot be saved without the Sacrament of Baptism.  See our video and article on that matter.   

So, the next time some John 3:5 mocker, a salvation heretic or a “larper” pretending to be a Catholic priest condemns you for holding that absolutely no one is justified without the Sacrament of Baptism, inform that person that he’s not only wrong but that he’s condemning the official teaching of the popes, the Apostolic See and the Catholic Church.

Copyright © 2025 Most Holy Family Monastery

[1] Marius Mercator, Commonitorium Super Nomine Coelestii, Cap. 1; J.P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, 48, pp. 78-83; Dom John Chapman, Studies On The Early Papacy, Ex Fontibus, 2012, p. 171.

[2] Marius Mercator, Commonitorium Super Nomine Coelestii, Cap. 2; J.P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, 48, pp. 90-93; Dom John Chapman, Studies On The Early Papacy, pp. 171, 175.

[3] St. Robert Bellarmine, De Amissione Gratiae et Statu Peccati, Book 4, Chap. 6.

[4] Denzinger 109a.

[5] “Post haec verba apostolicae sedis tam antiqua, atque fundata, certa et clara est catholica fides, ut nefas sit de illa dubitare Christiano.” Denzinger 109a; St. Augustine, Epistle 190 (#23) to Optatus.