The Creed of 381 says the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father." The Latin Church says "from the Father and the Son." Is that a contradiction, a change of faith, or two ways of saying the same thing?
Short answer: Catholics believe the Father is the first origin of the Spirit, and that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son "as from one principle." The Eastern Fathers often said "from the Father through the Son." The Catholic Church calls these a "legitimate complementarity," while admitting that adding the word to the Creed remains a point of disagreement with the Orthodox. The doctrine itself rests on Holy Scripture, is taught by Greek and Latin Fathers alike, and was defined at the Councils of Lyons II (1274) and Florence (1439).
Key verses on the procession of the Holy Spirit
- "the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father" (John 15:26)
- "Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine" (John 16:15)
- "God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts" (Galatians 4:6)
- "Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." (Romans 8:9)
- "he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the holy Spirit.'" (John 20:22)
- "the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1)
Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
What Catholics Actually Teach
The Church confesses the Creed of 381: "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father." By this, "the Church recognizes the Father as 'the source and origin of the whole divinity'" (CCC 245).
The Latin tradition adds that the Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque)." The Council of Florence explained: "He proceeds eternally from both as from one principle and through one spiration" (CCC 246). Florence, with Greek bishops signing, also defined that the explanation "and from the Son" was "licitly and reasonably added to the creed" (Florence, Session 6). Long before the schism, "Pope St. Leo I, following an ancient Latin and Alexandrian tradition, had already confessed it dogmatically in 447" (CCC 247). The Second Council of Lyons (1274) had already said: "not as from two principles, but as from one principle," and it condemned "all who presume to deny that the holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son" (Lyons II, "On the supreme Trinity and the catholic faith"). So the Church holds the filioque as defined doctrine, not as a Latin opinion.
The Catechism then puts East and West side by side. The East "affirms that he comes from the Father through the Son." The West stresses "the consubstantial communion between Father and Son." Both hold that the Father is "the principle without principle." And: "This legitimate complementarity, provided it does not become rigid, does not affect the identity of faith in the reality of the same mystery confessed" (CCC 248).
The Church admits: "The affirmation of the filioque does not appear in the Creed confessed in 381 at Constantinople," and its use in the Creed "constitutes moreover, even today, a point of disagreement with the Orthodox Churches" (CCC 247).
What Catholics do not teach:
- That there are two sources of the Spirit. Lyons II rejected "two principles."
- That the Father is not the first origin. Rome's 1995 clarification affirms that "the Father is the sole Trinitarian Cause (Aitia) or principle (principium) of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
- That the Greek Creed must be changed. The same document says "The Catholic Church acknowledges the conciliar, ecumenical, normative and irrevocable value" of the Creed "professed in Greek at Constantinople in 381," and Rome does not add "and the Son" to the Greek text (The Greek and Latin Traditions regarding the Procession of the Holy Spirit, 1995).
The Biblical Case
1. The Spirit proceeds from the Father
Jesus speaks of "the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father" (John 15:26). Catholics affirm this fully. The question is whether the Son has any role.
2. He is the Spirit of the Son
Scripture calls Him "the spirit of his Son" (Galatians 4:6), "the Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9; 1 Peter 1:11), and "the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:19). These titles tell us the Spirit is related to the Son, not only to the Father. St. Cyril of Alexandria drew the same line in the letter the Council of Ephesus received: the Spirit "is called the Spirit of truth and Christ is the Truth, and he is sent by him" (Third Letter to Nestorius).
3. The Son sends the Spirit
In the same verse that says the Spirit "proceeds from the Father," Jesus calls Him the Advocate "whom I will send you from the Father" (John 15:26). He also says, "if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7). Jesus "breathed on them" and said, "Receive the holy Spirit" (John 20:22). Exalted, He "received the promise of the holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth" (Acts 2:33). The Catechism reasons: "The eternal origin of the Holy Spirit is revealed in his mission in time" (CCC 244).
The last book of the Bible shows the same order in heaven. Jesus promised "Rivers of living water," and St. John explains, "He said this in reference to the Spirit" (John 7:38–39). In the new Jerusalem that river flows "from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1). Scripture does not say the procession is from the Father alone; it says, in image after image, that the Spirit comes from the Father and is given by, flows from, and belongs to the Son.
4. All that the Father has belongs to the Son
The Spirit "will take from what is mine," because "Everything that the Father has is mine" (John 16:14–15). "All things have been handed over to me by my Father" (Matthew 11:27). Florence drew the conclusion: the Father gave the Son "everything that belongs to the Father, except being Father," including that the Spirit proceeds from Him (CCC 246).
Objections Answered
(a) "John 15:26 says 'from the Father.' Adding the Son contradicts Jesus."
At its strongest: Jesus names only the Father as the one from whom the Spirit proceeds. St. Photius of Constantinople, venerated as a saint by the Orthodox, taught that the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. Even St. John of Damascus wrote: "we do not speak of the Spirit as from the Son: but yet we call Him the Spirit of the Son" (Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 1.8).
Answer: John 15:26 does not say "alone," and the same verse has the Son sending the Spirit: "whom I will send you from the Father." Jesus then adds that the Spirit "will take from what is mine," because "Everything that the Father has is mine" (John 16:14–15). The word "alone" is the addition here, not the filioque. St. John Damascene himself says the Spirit proceeds "through Him from the Father. For the Father alone is cause" (1.12). Catholics agree the Father alone is the uncaused cause. Rome's 1995 clarification explains that the Greek word for "proceeds" (ekporeusis) is reserved for origin from the Father as first source, while the Latin processio is "a more common term." The filioque does not claim the Son is a second first source. St. Maximus the Confessor, venerated East and West, defended the Roman confession in exactly these terms: the Romans "do not make the Son Cause (Aitia) of the Spirit," but "the latter comes (proienai) through the Son" (Letter to Marinus, as quoted in the 1995 clarification). Florence called that agreement what it is: "All were aiming at the same meaning in different words."
(b) "The West broke the rule of the Council of Ephesus."
At its strongest: Ephesus (431) decreed "that it is unlawful for any man to bring forward, or to write, or to compose a different (ἑτέραν) Faith as a rival to that established by the holy Fathers assembled with the Holy Ghost in Nicæa" (Canon 7). Pope St. Leo III himself, around 810, refused to add the filioque and had the Creed displayed in Rome without it. Rome did not sing it at Mass until 1014.
Answer: These facts are true. But canon 7 forbids a "different" or rival faith, not a clarification of the same faith. The Creed of 381 itself adds clauses to the Creed of Nicaea (325), including "who proceeds from the Father," and the Orthodox rightly accept it; adding words that explain the same faith is not what Ephesus condemned. Scripture sets the standard: St. Paul warns against "a different gospel," not against a fuller statement of the one Gospel (Galatians 1:6–8). St. Leo III held the doctrine while keeping the word out of the Creed, which shows doctrine and wording are separate questions. At Florence (1439), after study of the Greek and Latin Fathers, the council said: "All were aiming at the same meaning in different words" (Florence, Session 6).
(c) "Two sources destroy the monarchy of the Father."
At its strongest: If the Son also causes the Spirit, the Father is no longer the single source.
Answer: Catholic teaching rejects two principles outright (Lyons II). St. Augustine, the Western Father most tied to the filioque, said the Father is the one "from whom the Holy Spirit principally proceeds," adding the word because "the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son also" (On the Trinity 15.17.29). Whatever the Son has, He has from the Father. The Greek Fathers say the same in their own idiom. St. Basil the Great: "Through the Son (dia tou Uiou), who is one, he is joined to the Father, who is one" (On the Holy Spirit 18.45, as quoted in the 1995 clarification). The Father remains the one source; the Son is never left out.
The Early Church Agrees
- Tertullian (Against Praxeas 4, c. AD 213): "because I believe the Spirit to proceed from no other source than from the Father through the Son."
- St. Hilary of Poitiers (On the Trinity 12.57, c. AD 360), in his closing prayer, as quoted by Pope Benedict XVI: "That I may deserve your Holy Spirit, who proceeds from you through your Only Begotten Son" (General Audience, October 10, 2007).
- St. Gregory of Nyssa (On "Not Three Gods", late fourth century): "For one is directly from the first Cause, and another by that which is directly from the first Cause".
- St. Ambrose of Milan (On the Holy Spirit 1.11.120, AD 381): "The Holy Spirit also, when He proceeds from the Father and the Son, is not separated from the Father nor separated from the Son."
- St. Cyril of Alexandria (Thesaurus 34, early fifth century), as quoted in the 1995 clarification: "the Holy Spirit flows from the Father in the Son (en tw Uiw)".
- St. Maximus the Confessor (Letter to Marinus, seventh century), as summarized in the same document: "the Father and the Son are consubstantial source of the procession (to proienai) of this same Spirit."
Conclusion
Catholics and Orthodox both confess one God, the Father as source, and the Spirit who is truly the Spirit of the Son. The Catholic Church holds the filioque as true, and accepts "through the Son" as a legitimate way to say it.
If you are Orthodox, we honor your fidelity to the Creed of 381, which we profess too. We invite you to read Tertullian, St. Hilary, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Cyril, St. Maximus and St. John Damascene side by side, and to see how close the two traditions really are. Closeness is not sameness, though: what Florence defined, the Church still holds. For more on what still divides us, see What Is the Difference Between Catholic and Orthodox?
Come home. The Greek and Latin Fathers confessed one faith about the Spirit who comes from the Father through the Son, and that one faith is still held whole in the Catholic Church. You already possess true sacraments and much of the apostolic faith, in "a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church" (CCC 838). Those gifts draw their power "from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church" and "are in themselves calls to 'Catholic unity'" (CCC 819). The Eucharist is the sacrament of the Church's unity, yet your true Eucharist is celebrated apart from the successor of St. Peter, on whom Christ built His Church (Matthew 16:18). We invite you into full communion with St. Peter's successor, the bishop of Rome, in the Catholic Church.
Your next step: Come to Mass or Divine Liturgy at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. When you're ready, call the parish office and ask to speak with the priest about entering full communion with the Catholic Church. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.
FAQ
What does "filioque" mean? It is Latin for "and the Son."
When was it added to the Creed? The Catechism says it was "gradually admitted into the Latin liturgy (between the eighth and eleventh centuries)" (CCC 247). Rome sang it at Mass from 1014.
Must the Orthodox say the filioque? Rome does not add it to the Greek Creed, and accepts "through the Son" as the same faith (CCC 248). Eastern Catholics, in full communion with Rome, generally pray the Creed without it. What every Catholic must believe is the doctrine: that the Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son as from one principle.
Sources
Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): Matthew 11:27; Matthew 16:18; John 15:26; John 7:38–39; John 16:7; John 16:14–15; John 20:22; Acts 2:33; Romans 8:9; Galatians 1:6–8; Galatians 4:6; Philippians 1:19; 1 Peter 1:11; Revelation 22:1.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 819, 838.
Church documents and councils: Second Council of Lyons (1274), "On the supreme Trinity and the catholic faith" (papalencyclicals.net); Council of Florence (1439), Session 6 (EWTN Library); Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience on St. Hilary of Poitiers (October 10, 2007); Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, The Greek and Latin Traditions regarding the Procession of the Holy Spirit (L'Osservatore Romano, English ed., September 20, 1995; text via EWTN).
Church Fathers and councils (newadvent.org): Tertullian, Against Praxeas; Gregory of Nyssa, On "Not Three Gods"; Ambrose, On the Holy Spirit 1.11 (sacred-texts.com, NPNF); Augustine, On the Trinity 15.17 (ccel.org); John of Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 1; Council of Ephesus (431), Cyril of Alexandria, Third Letter to Nestorius; Council of Ephesus, Canon 7 (sacred-texts.com, NPNF). Basil, Cyril (Thesaurus) and Maximus (Letter to Marinus) as quoted in the 1995 clarification above; Hilary as quoted by Pope Benedict XVI above.
History: Wikipedia, "Filioque".