I wish this article had been available to me a few years ago when I was still discerning between Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Anglicanism! It's the article on ecclesiology I didn't know I needed. Now, after a spell in the Anglican communion, I am pleased to report that my fiancee and I are becoming Roman Catholic. As a side note / observation: I'm wondering if the very truth of Catholicism is the reason it garners so much hostility (when it isn't garnering love and devotion)? My non-religious friends have always expressed far more suspicion towards Rome than they have towards Constantinople or Canterbury.
I just finished reading this entire article — which took a while, given its length and depth! This is one of the best (relatively) concise arguments for the Papacy I've seen, and I appreciate you writing it. In general, you are correct that Orthodox universal ecclesiology is not present in the first millennium, which leaves us with the conclusion that either there is no universal "church," or that the universal church is the communion headed by Rome.
Excellent piece, showing command of a nice variety of sources.
Two subjects in need of this kind of elucidation are: Rome's primacy during the Acacian schism, and the true origins of the "Arabic Canons of Nicea" as well as their reception in parts of the east.
Catholics turning East should check out the Eastern Catholic Churches. I’ve been attending a Byzantine Ruthenian Church for the past 27 years and love it! I have a friend at our Church that came here from Orthodoxy. :-)
Incredibly comprehensive, which I credit you immensely for, except one thing: why other apostles? why multiple bishops? Obviously there cannot be only one priest else how could "their voices go into all the world" but its not clear to me that, following your logic, Christ would have any need of multiple bishops which would seem to primarily be a vehicle of confusion. For if there was only one bishop, as there was only one high priest who you say Peter usurps there really could be no schisms at all since there would be no bishops to carry out para-churches. Curious if you have any thoughts on that or address it elsewhere.
I don't really view this as an objection in need of addressing. To my mind, the answer is rather obvious. Peter and his successors are neither omnipotent nor omniscient, and so they cannot personally minister to the billions of "fish" who enter the "net" of the Church. Grace doesn't destroy nature, etc.
One could also create a parody of your argument and say, rather than just having one bishop or apostle, why wouldn't Christ just have only one Christian to ensure that there aren't multiple people who could cause divisions? It's silly. The Church is a mirror image of the Trinity: unity in diversity. Hierarchy exists as the created image of the eternal processions of the divine persons, and that requires a "many" to exist that becomes "one." "That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you" (Jn 17:21).
As a final note, if you read my words carefully, I don't suggest that Peter alone acts as the one, singular high priest of the new covenant. Rather, he acts as high priest among the high priests. Ultimately, this is just the teaching of Scripture.
Could you please provide a response to the argument presented in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ2ToKfIBxM? I'm feeling a bit confused about the political dynamics surrounding the Council of Nicaea and how they influenced the formation of the Nicene Creed. Additionally, I would appreciate your insights on the objections raised against ecclesialism. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated!
Maybe in a different post, since this video doesn't have much bearing on the content of my article. However, what I would point out to the author is that St. Francis de Sales' point about the Protestants not having an authority to settle disputes wasn't so much an epistemological argument, as a biblical one. As I note in this article, Jesus gives us no other means by which to settle disputes than the Church (Matt 18:17-18). So when the Reformers had a dispute with their bishops, they should have followed our Lord's instruction to take it to the Church and obey her ruling. Yet they didn't, and Protestants continue in their error to this day. Indeed, to this day Protestants do not have a single "church" they can bring their disputes to in order to have them settled (however "settled" ends up being understood).
I'm late to the party, but here is what I would love to see happen to fix these issues of Ecclesiology:
Here is not what the Orthodox Church says, per se. Perhaps “Applied Orthodoxy” might tend in the direction suggested below . . .
Here is not what the Anglican Churches say, for the most part. (They might get closer to these thoughts than the other communions) . . .
Here is not what the Roman Catholic Church says. The Roman Communion is still a tad on the stubborn side, IMO . . .
Nevertheless . . .
IMO The Great AND TERRIBLE Schism wounded the Infallible Church. It was truly a catastrophe.
Yet the Church remained and remains Infallible at the local levels and sometimes at the universal level WHEN at the universal level the Church maintains correct belief and practice.
Currently the Roman Catholic Church has a VACANT Papal See due to the wickedness and heterodoxy of the current occupant of the Chair of Peter IMO.
Currently the Eastern Orthodox Church has some vacant Sees as well due to the same problem IMO.
Current prime examples: Constantinople and GOARCH, for starters. Some disobedience in the more traditional Orthodox jurisdictions is ongoing as well.
The “Official” Church of England has a vacant SEE of Canterbury, again for the same reasons, and due to the recent forced resignation and “failure to report abuse” violations.
And don’t even get me started with the Episcopal Church!
At least the Anglican G3 and the Anglican Church of North America, as well as GAFCON have good degrees of faithfulness at the current time, not without some problems of their own, of course.
The Holy Synod of Antioch is still plugging along, as is the Orthodox Church in America, The Serbian Orthodox Church, The Albanian Orthodox Church, The Romanian Orthodox Church, and to some extent The Russian Orthodox Church.
The Faithful Greek Orthodox are still super, but that jurisdiction has some real problems right now, and especially in the U.S. I wouldn’t trust GOARCH over all as far as I can throw them.
As Catholic Orthodox Christians, we still have Holy Mount Athos and countless Benedictine Monasteries, both Roman Catholic, Anglican, and with a few Eastern Orthodox houses as well.
There are countless additional Roman Catholic and Anglican monastic houses. And there are many venerable Seminaries, such as Saint Vladimir’s, Nashotah House, and Trinity Seminary, to name three. I plead ignorance about current RC Seminaries. Maybe the John Paul Two Center in Colorado? Who knows.
I would love the contemporary Great Church to be "Reset to Factory Settings" to the beliefs and practice of the Church Undivided Post Chalcedon and Pre-Great Schism, again IMO.
Please reset The Church to the beliefs from the Year 1053. (I realize that the Great and Terrible Schism probably occurred over a period of 100 years, and not just at 1054, but the events of 1054 certainly didn’t help matters.
If The Great Church can be “Reset to Factory Settings,” then the true VALID Office of the Papacy can be resumed, once again in its fullness but with Guardrails to maintain Orthodoxy.
It will have more power and clout than the Eastern Orthodox might like, but less power and clout than the current Roman Catholic Church unwisely gives to it.
Personally speaking, joining the Roman Catholic Church at present puts a convert in no better a position than someone who left the Episcopal Church after the Vicky Gene Robinson ordination fiasco in the early 1990’s.
If a person believes he must join the "official" Roman Catholic Church, align with The Ordinariate, The Eastern-Rite Catholics, or the Society of Saint Pius the Tenth.
Or find a locally faithful diocese. Avoid the Progressive dioceses and parishes AT ALL COSTS.
When the Great and Terrible Schism occurred, the Papacy was damaged and The Church Catholic was damaged as if undergoing a terrible divorce.
There are no Branches of The Church. There is one Body, damaged by our sins.
All divided and injured parts of the Holy Catholic Church need to repent. All of them.
Nevertheless in spite of this unfortunate and ongoing situation, people are still saved IN THE CHURCH, perhaps through what the Roman Catholics call “The Baptism of Desire” if you personally blunder and “choose the wrong jurisdiction.”
Without The Church, there is No Salvation. This still applies.
In the VERY LEAST, if you don't regularly attend a local Christian Church and participate in its life, you are in serious ongoing danger.
Better to attend a faithfully orthodox and conservative and SACRAMENTAL local congregation if at all possible for you and your family and friends. This means a parish with the Threefold order of Bishops, Priests and Deacons.
IMO God has not abandoned any part of The Church, but He does abandon disobedient parts of the Church from time to time unless those parts REPENT.
ICHABOD. The Glory Departs. Repent, and it may return. But don’t push it.
The United States of America has undergone four years of a Vacant Presidency for the same kinds of reasons the Churches have experienced vacant Sees.
We have had Anti-Popes, Anti-Patriarchs (Heresiarchs), and Anti-Primates and Anti-Presiding Bishops. A brood of vipers, all!
And in the Secular Realm, the United States has had an ANTI-President.
A possible remedy / solution can begin at the level of an Obedient and Praying Laity and Episcopate and through Monasticism, whether it be Eastern or Western.
In the midst of this flawed situation, Communion is by Necessity Portable.
A person CANNOT be in official communion with all the catholic and apostolic jurisdictions as they currently exist. But a person can strive to be in SPIRITUAL COMMUNION with all, and pray for all. This is PENTITENTIAL ACTIVISM.
Pray Lectio Divina. Pray in your Icon Corners. Pray the Rosary. Pray The Jesus Prayer. Practice Hesychasm. Be a Faithful Catholic Orthodox Christian!
The Great Church can't be healed by an isolated top down edict from a current Pope. A faithful Pope might help, but we don’t have one right now. Lord, Have Mercy!
Healing must be the work of the Holy Spirit with deep Repentance and Obedience on the part of as many members as possible, reaching a kind of “critical mass,” so to speak.
Episcopal Priest Ephraim Radner referred to this posture as “Penitential Activism” in his book The End of The Church.
When a contemporary Pope is faithful, he can join in. Examples are Pope John Paul the Second and Pope Benedict.
When this is not the case, the Chair of Peter becomes vacant, once again. And the current Papal Chair is never totally in the clear with the Heterodox additions since the Great Schism, from an Eastern Orthodox perspective.
Reset The Church to Factory Settings!
I pray that a New Pope will soon be selected.
Cardinal Sarah gets my vote, for what it’s worth. All I can do is pray.
I pray that all Heresiarchs everywhere will quickly be deposed and replaced.
The Chair of Peter will only ever have PARTIAL GRACE until the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Orthodox Church repent and are reconciled. And then the faithful Anglican remnant and the Coptic Orthodox can join in as well.
Then the Protestants can follow, say, starting with the Lutherans and the Presbyterians, followed by the Baptists.
Partial Grace for the current Chair of Peter will be strongest when the most devout Popes are ordained. When disobedient heretical Anti-Popes are ordained, Grace Departs, for the most part. Then things inevitably default to the remaining FAITHFUL Bishops, Priests and Deacons worldwide.
Nevertheless, God is Good and the Lover of Mankind, so there is always Hope and Life in the Church and in the Holy Christian Faith.
Always. To Ages of Ages. AMEN.
The entire Church Catholic must pray for ALL THE JURISDICTIONS OF THE CHURCH.
If the Church can convene a GREAT AND HOLY COUNCIL / VATICAN III and Reset the Church to the Factory Settings of 1053 A.D. and Grandfather out private devotional practices and opinions until a whole new generation of Holy Churchmen can come about, then both Papacy, and Church and Ecumenical Councils can resume as of old.
And it wouldn't hurt to find a secular Holy Emperor / Restored Monarch as well, paired with checks and balances of a faithful legislature and court system in a Restored Christendom somewhere.
Perhaps begin such a process with overtly Christian Nations such as El Salvador, Greece, Georgia, Romania, and perhaps even Holy Russia. Overtly Catholic and Orthodox nations, for starters.
Pray for the Restoration of Church and Christendom!
The Muslims insist on their Umma. We should insist on Christendom. Christianity needs Christendom.
These suggestions might offer a possible path back to a healthier Church on Earth.
Without a Vision, the People Perish.
The Glory of God is a Man Fully Alive, and the Glory of Man is The Vision of God!
In the meantime, be faithful where you are, and all Protestant Christians need to return to catholic order, SOMEWHERE.
For such Protestants, The Anglican Church in North America and GAFCON is not a bad place to start. Or become Eastern Orthodox, Anglican G3, or Traditionalist Roman Catholic, or even Coptic Orthodox. There are MANY HOLY Coptic / Oriental Orthodox believers worldwide.
Be faithful where you are, pray for The Whole Church, and bloom where you are planted, if possible. Practice the Stability of Saint Benedict.
This is simply not the ecclesiology taught in Scripture or Tradition. What you’ve expressed exists only in your mind, not in reality, and this article explains why. In the future, please refrain from comments that don’t directly engage with any points made in my article. My blog is not a platform for heretics, and so any further comments you post that aren’t relevant will be deleted.
I wish this article had been available to me a few years ago when I was still discerning between Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Anglicanism! It's the article on ecclesiology I didn't know I needed. Now, after a spell in the Anglican communion, I am pleased to report that my fiancee and I are becoming Roman Catholic. As a side note / observation: I'm wondering if the very truth of Catholicism is the reason it garners so much hostility (when it isn't garnering love and devotion)? My non-religious friends have always expressed far more suspicion towards Rome than they have towards Constantinople or Canterbury.
I just finished reading this entire article — which took a while, given its length and depth! This is one of the best (relatively) concise arguments for the Papacy I've seen, and I appreciate you writing it. In general, you are correct that Orthodox universal ecclesiology is not present in the first millennium, which leaves us with the conclusion that either there is no universal "church," or that the universal church is the communion headed by Rome.
Wow.....this is so comprehensive and deep. I think it will be a "two pipe" read for me ;)....LOl....
Thanks Ben, you and Kyle sure do "keep us all thinking" about our faith and family etc. :) A Blessed Nativity Season to you and your family. Ellis
Masterfully written. Top notch work, Benjamin.
Excellent piece, showing command of a nice variety of sources.
Two subjects in need of this kind of elucidation are: Rome's primacy during the Acacian schism, and the true origins of the "Arabic Canons of Nicea" as well as their reception in parts of the east.
Quote mine galore and papal forgeries and Alexandria and Cheiti documents
Catholics turning East should check out the Eastern Catholic Churches. I’ve been attending a Byzantine Ruthenian Church for the past 27 years and love it! I have a friend at our Church that came here from Orthodoxy. :-)
Incredibly comprehensive, which I credit you immensely for, except one thing: why other apostles? why multiple bishops? Obviously there cannot be only one priest else how could "their voices go into all the world" but its not clear to me that, following your logic, Christ would have any need of multiple bishops which would seem to primarily be a vehicle of confusion. For if there was only one bishop, as there was only one high priest who you say Peter usurps there really could be no schisms at all since there would be no bishops to carry out para-churches. Curious if you have any thoughts on that or address it elsewhere.
I don't really view this as an objection in need of addressing. To my mind, the answer is rather obvious. Peter and his successors are neither omnipotent nor omniscient, and so they cannot personally minister to the billions of "fish" who enter the "net" of the Church. Grace doesn't destroy nature, etc.
One could also create a parody of your argument and say, rather than just having one bishop or apostle, why wouldn't Christ just have only one Christian to ensure that there aren't multiple people who could cause divisions? It's silly. The Church is a mirror image of the Trinity: unity in diversity. Hierarchy exists as the created image of the eternal processions of the divine persons, and that requires a "many" to exist that becomes "one." "That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you" (Jn 17:21).
As a final note, if you read my words carefully, I don't suggest that Peter alone acts as the one, singular high priest of the new covenant. Rather, he acts as high priest among the high priests. Ultimately, this is just the teaching of Scripture.
1. Who cares what some kid named kyle thinks?
2. Catholicism and Eastern Heterodoxy are both in schism anyways 👍
Hi Ben,
I hope you're doing well.
Could you please provide a response to the argument presented in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ2ToKfIBxM? I'm feeling a bit confused about the political dynamics surrounding the Council of Nicaea and how they influenced the formation of the Nicene Creed. Additionally, I would appreciate your insights on the objections raised against ecclesialism. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Maybe in a different post, since this video doesn't have much bearing on the content of my article. However, what I would point out to the author is that St. Francis de Sales' point about the Protestants not having an authority to settle disputes wasn't so much an epistemological argument, as a biblical one. As I note in this article, Jesus gives us no other means by which to settle disputes than the Church (Matt 18:17-18). So when the Reformers had a dispute with their bishops, they should have followed our Lord's instruction to take it to the Church and obey her ruling. Yet they didn't, and Protestants continue in their error to this day. Indeed, to this day Protestants do not have a single "church" they can bring their disputes to in order to have them settled (however "settled" ends up being understood).
Thanks for the reply, Ben.
I'm late to the party, but here is what I would love to see happen to fix these issues of Ecclesiology:
Here is not what the Orthodox Church says, per se. Perhaps “Applied Orthodoxy” might tend in the direction suggested below . . .
Here is not what the Anglican Churches say, for the most part. (They might get closer to these thoughts than the other communions) . . .
Here is not what the Roman Catholic Church says. The Roman Communion is still a tad on the stubborn side, IMO . . .
Nevertheless . . .
IMO The Great AND TERRIBLE Schism wounded the Infallible Church. It was truly a catastrophe.
Yet the Church remained and remains Infallible at the local levels and sometimes at the universal level WHEN at the universal level the Church maintains correct belief and practice.
Currently the Roman Catholic Church has a VACANT Papal See due to the wickedness and heterodoxy of the current occupant of the Chair of Peter IMO.
Currently the Eastern Orthodox Church has some vacant Sees as well due to the same problem IMO.
Current prime examples: Constantinople and GOARCH, for starters. Some disobedience in the more traditional Orthodox jurisdictions is ongoing as well.
The “Official” Church of England has a vacant SEE of Canterbury, again for the same reasons, and due to the recent forced resignation and “failure to report abuse” violations.
And don’t even get me started with the Episcopal Church!
At least the Anglican G3 and the Anglican Church of North America, as well as GAFCON have good degrees of faithfulness at the current time, not without some problems of their own, of course.
The Holy Synod of Antioch is still plugging along, as is the Orthodox Church in America, The Serbian Orthodox Church, The Albanian Orthodox Church, The Romanian Orthodox Church, and to some extent The Russian Orthodox Church.
The Faithful Greek Orthodox are still super, but that jurisdiction has some real problems right now, and especially in the U.S. I wouldn’t trust GOARCH over all as far as I can throw them.
As Catholic Orthodox Christians, we still have Holy Mount Athos and countless Benedictine Monasteries, both Roman Catholic, Anglican, and with a few Eastern Orthodox houses as well.
There are countless additional Roman Catholic and Anglican monastic houses. And there are many venerable Seminaries, such as Saint Vladimir’s, Nashotah House, and Trinity Seminary, to name three. I plead ignorance about current RC Seminaries. Maybe the John Paul Two Center in Colorado? Who knows.
I would love the contemporary Great Church to be "Reset to Factory Settings" to the beliefs and practice of the Church Undivided Post Chalcedon and Pre-Great Schism, again IMO.
Please reset The Church to the beliefs from the Year 1053. (I realize that the Great and Terrible Schism probably occurred over a period of 100 years, and not just at 1054, but the events of 1054 certainly didn’t help matters.
If The Great Church can be “Reset to Factory Settings,” then the true VALID Office of the Papacy can be resumed, once again in its fullness but with Guardrails to maintain Orthodoxy.
It will have more power and clout than the Eastern Orthodox might like, but less power and clout than the current Roman Catholic Church unwisely gives to it.
Personally speaking, joining the Roman Catholic Church at present puts a convert in no better a position than someone who left the Episcopal Church after the Vicky Gene Robinson ordination fiasco in the early 1990’s.
If a person believes he must join the "official" Roman Catholic Church, align with The Ordinariate, The Eastern-Rite Catholics, or the Society of Saint Pius the Tenth.
Or find a locally faithful diocese. Avoid the Progressive dioceses and parishes AT ALL COSTS.
When the Great and Terrible Schism occurred, the Papacy was damaged and The Church Catholic was damaged as if undergoing a terrible divorce.
There are no Branches of The Church. There is one Body, damaged by our sins.
All divided and injured parts of the Holy Catholic Church need to repent. All of them.
Nevertheless in spite of this unfortunate and ongoing situation, people are still saved IN THE CHURCH, perhaps through what the Roman Catholics call “The Baptism of Desire” if you personally blunder and “choose the wrong jurisdiction.”
Without The Church, there is No Salvation. This still applies.
In the VERY LEAST, if you don't regularly attend a local Christian Church and participate in its life, you are in serious ongoing danger.
Better to attend a faithfully orthodox and conservative and SACRAMENTAL local congregation if at all possible for you and your family and friends. This means a parish with the Threefold order of Bishops, Priests and Deacons.
IMO God has not abandoned any part of The Church, but He does abandon disobedient parts of the Church from time to time unless those parts REPENT.
ICHABOD. The Glory Departs. Repent, and it may return. But don’t push it.
The United States of America has undergone four years of a Vacant Presidency for the same kinds of reasons the Churches have experienced vacant Sees.
We have had Anti-Popes, Anti-Patriarchs (Heresiarchs), and Anti-Primates and Anti-Presiding Bishops. A brood of vipers, all!
And in the Secular Realm, the United States has had an ANTI-President.
A possible remedy / solution can begin at the level of an Obedient and Praying Laity and Episcopate and through Monasticism, whether it be Eastern or Western.
In the midst of this flawed situation, Communion is by Necessity Portable.
A person CANNOT be in official communion with all the catholic and apostolic jurisdictions as they currently exist. But a person can strive to be in SPIRITUAL COMMUNION with all, and pray for all. This is PENTITENTIAL ACTIVISM.
Pray Lectio Divina. Pray in your Icon Corners. Pray the Rosary. Pray The Jesus Prayer. Practice Hesychasm. Be a Faithful Catholic Orthodox Christian!
The Great Church can't be healed by an isolated top down edict from a current Pope. A faithful Pope might help, but we don’t have one right now. Lord, Have Mercy!
Healing must be the work of the Holy Spirit with deep Repentance and Obedience on the part of as many members as possible, reaching a kind of “critical mass,” so to speak.
Episcopal Priest Ephraim Radner referred to this posture as “Penitential Activism” in his book The End of The Church.
When a contemporary Pope is faithful, he can join in. Examples are Pope John Paul the Second and Pope Benedict.
When this is not the case, the Chair of Peter becomes vacant, once again. And the current Papal Chair is never totally in the clear with the Heterodox additions since the Great Schism, from an Eastern Orthodox perspective.
Reset The Church to Factory Settings!
I pray that a New Pope will soon be selected.
Cardinal Sarah gets my vote, for what it’s worth. All I can do is pray.
I pray that all Heresiarchs everywhere will quickly be deposed and replaced.
The Chair of Peter will only ever have PARTIAL GRACE until the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Orthodox Church repent and are reconciled. And then the faithful Anglican remnant and the Coptic Orthodox can join in as well.
Then the Protestants can follow, say, starting with the Lutherans and the Presbyterians, followed by the Baptists.
Partial Grace for the current Chair of Peter will be strongest when the most devout Popes are ordained. When disobedient heretical Anti-Popes are ordained, Grace Departs, for the most part. Then things inevitably default to the remaining FAITHFUL Bishops, Priests and Deacons worldwide.
Nevertheless, God is Good and the Lover of Mankind, so there is always Hope and Life in the Church and in the Holy Christian Faith.
Always. To Ages of Ages. AMEN.
The entire Church Catholic must pray for ALL THE JURISDICTIONS OF THE CHURCH.
If the Church can convene a GREAT AND HOLY COUNCIL / VATICAN III and Reset the Church to the Factory Settings of 1053 A.D. and Grandfather out private devotional practices and opinions until a whole new generation of Holy Churchmen can come about, then both Papacy, and Church and Ecumenical Councils can resume as of old.
And it wouldn't hurt to find a secular Holy Emperor / Restored Monarch as well, paired with checks and balances of a faithful legislature and court system in a Restored Christendom somewhere.
Perhaps begin such a process with overtly Christian Nations such as El Salvador, Greece, Georgia, Romania, and perhaps even Holy Russia. Overtly Catholic and Orthodox nations, for starters.
Pray for the Restoration of Church and Christendom!
The Muslims insist on their Umma. We should insist on Christendom. Christianity needs Christendom.
These suggestions might offer a possible path back to a healthier Church on Earth.
Without a Vision, the People Perish.
The Glory of God is a Man Fully Alive, and the Glory of Man is The Vision of God!
In the meantime, be faithful where you are, and all Protestant Christians need to return to catholic order, SOMEWHERE.
For such Protestants, The Anglican Church in North America and GAFCON is not a bad place to start. Or become Eastern Orthodox, Anglican G3, or Traditionalist Roman Catholic, or even Coptic Orthodox. There are MANY HOLY Coptic / Oriental Orthodox believers worldwide.
Be faithful where you are, pray for The Whole Church, and bloom where you are planted, if possible. Practice the Stability of Saint Benedict.
Holy Saint Benedict, Pray for Us!
This is simply not the ecclesiology taught in Scripture or Tradition. What you’ve expressed exists only in your mind, not in reality, and this article explains why. In the future, please refrain from comments that don’t directly engage with any points made in my article. My blog is not a platform for heretics, and so any further comments you post that aren’t relevant will be deleted.