Editing Pope Leo III (section)

=== Theological policy ===
Pope Leo III unambiguously supported the current theological position in the West in his time: that [[Filioque|Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son]]; he stated on this position: "it is forbidden not to believe such a great [[Sacred mysteries|mystery]] of the faith". However, he refused to change the [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed|creed]] which he said was the product of the "divine illumination" of the [[Ecumenical council|council]] fathers, and considered not everything needed for [[Salvation in Christianity|salvation]] was in the creed. Leo III "placed two silver shields in Rome with the uninterpolated creed in both Greek and Latin."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Siecienski|first=A. Edward|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/344061951|title=The filioque : history of a doctrinal controversy|date=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-537204-5|location=New York|pages=96–100|oclc=344061951}}</ref> The ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'' states Leo III put those shields at the top of [[St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter]]'s entrance "in his love for and as a safeguard for the [[Orthodoxy|orthodox and catholic apostolic]] faith"<!--This anecdote of the LP is very famous within Christianity, and is sometimes wrongly turned into a direct quote. Siecienski (2010: 99) quotes this passage as a description and not a direct quote. Therefore, this anecdote must be kept.-->.<ref>{{Cite book |url= |title=The lives of the eighth-century popes (Liber pontificalis): the ancient biographies of nine popes from AD 715 to AD 817 |date=2007 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |others=Raymond Davis |isbn=978-1-84631-154-3 |edition=2nd rev. |location=Liverpool |pages=216 |chapter=Leo III |oclc=222145811}}</ref>

[[Anastasius Bibliothecarius]], chief archivist at Rome under several later Popes, stated that the Latins understood the Filioque to be in reference to the temporal mission (missio), and not an eternal procession.