Febronianism

noun

Fe·​bro·​ni·​an·​ism

-ēəˌnizem

plural -s

: the principle applied in 1763 to the Roman Catholic Church by Johann N. von Hontheim, suffragan bishop of Treves, that final ecclesiastical authority belongs to the whole church and not merely to the papacy, that papal power is inferior to that of the whole body of the episcopate, and that papal power is limited in matters of doctrine by general church councils and in matters of discipline by national churches

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