The Roman Catholic Church and Forgery

The resources of mediaeval learning were too slender to preserve an authentic record of the growth and settlement of Catholic doctrine. Many writings of the Fathers were interpolated; others were unknown, and spurious matter was accepted in their place. Books bearing venerable names--Clement, Dionysius, Isidore--were forged for the purpose of supplying authorities for opinions that lacked the sanction of antiquity.

Dalberg-Acton, John Emerich Edward, The History of Freedom and Other Essays, London: MacMillan and Co., 1907, p. 513.