Documenta / Africae Concilia

THE COUNCILS OF AFRICA.

THE TWELFTH COUNCIL OF CARTHAGE, THE FIRST

OF FIFTY BISHOPS.

When Gratus, bishop of Carthage, had taken his seat in council together with his colleagues, and those who had come together at Carthage from the various African provinces—Felix of Bajanum, Fortunatianus of Capsa, Crescentis of Baga, Vindicius of Lacubaca, Abundantius of Adrumetum, Privatus of Bejeiseli, Gaudentius of Turretamallium, Epartius of Sicca, Quietus of Utica, Romulus of Tebesta, and the rest whose names are contained [in the record]—the same bishop Gratus said: Thanks be to almighty God and to Christ Jesus, who has put an end to evil schisms and has looked upon his Church, so as to raise up within her bosom all her scattered members; who commanded the most religious emperor Constantius to fulfill the vow of unity and to send as ministers of the holy work the servants of God Paul and Macarius. Therefore, gathered together by the will of God for unity, so that we might hold councils throughout the various provinces and all the province of Africa might come to Carthage on this day for the sake of the council: hence, as you consider these matters together with my humble self, let the necessary topics be treated, concerning which we must, mindful of the divine precepts and the teaching of the holy Scriptures, and looking upon the time of unity, define regarding each matter that which neither Carthage may weaken the force of the law, nor yet may we, in the time of unity, establish anything too harsh.

I. That baptism received in the Trinity not be repeated.

Therefore, if it pleases you, let us consider first the heading of rebaptism; and I ask your holiness to bring forth the decisions of your mind: whether one who has descended into the water and been questioned in the Trinity according to the faith of the Gospel and the teaching of the apostles, and has confessed a good conscience toward God concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ, may lawfully be questioned again in the same faith and be dipped again in water? All the bishops said: Far be it; for we decree that rebaptism is unlawful, and that it is sufficiently alien to sincere faith and to catholic discipline.

II. Concerning the tombs of martyrs and honorificence.

Gratus, bishop, said: A great happiness has been granted by God the Father through Christ the Lord to our time, that it may be permitted to instill ecclesiastical discipline into religious minds, so that hearers, receiving the right rule, may both please God and receive the rewards of good merits, so that in them God may be honored in all things and for all things. There has been discussed the necessary heading of rebaptism, in which [T.

2. in which the madness of the schismatics was lying hidden, and with moderation applied, the vigor and authority of the law was preserved: this indeed I strive to impress upon your most wise minds, although your prudence is instructed and taught by God, and deserves in peace and unity to obtain generous gifts from above, nevertheless I also, one of you and one who bears equal concern with you for the ecclesiastical order, will take care to impress this: let no profane person defame the dignity of the martyrs, nor reduce to the status of the insane those bodies which have suffered, which by command are to be committed to burial only on account of ecclesiastical mercy, or those driven headlong by insanity or separated by some other reason of sin—let them not call them by the name of martyrs, except by reason or at a time befitting the celebration of martyrdoms; or if anyone, to the injury of the martyrs, joins the insane to their glory, it pleases us that they, if they are laymen, be brought to penance; but if they are clerics, after admonition and after recognition, be deprived of honor. All said: Your holiness has rightly decreed; this has also been decreed in individual councils.

III. That clerics or consecrated women are not to dwell with men or women who are outsiders.

Bishop Gratus said: And this above all, if it seems good to your love, must be guarded against, that the royal providence, as much as it ought and can, wholly fortify the care of the pastor, so that it be permitted to no outsiders who abstain from carnal affection to dwell together indiscriminately; for the occasions of sins must be cut off, and all suspicions removed, by which the subtlety of the devil, under the pretext of charity and affection, is accustomed to ensnare incautious or ignorant souls. Therefore no man and no woman devoted to holiness and virginity ought, on account of the blasphemy of the Church, if it pleases you, to dwell together at all in one house. All said: Those who do not wish to marry and choose the better part of chastity ought to avoid not only dwelling together, but even having any access to one another; this, therefore, both the law commands and your holiness commends, and this has also been decreed by us in individual councils. Bishop Gratus said: Therefore persuasion is sometimes accustomed to restrain the prudent from sins, while fear of this kind ought to constrain the imprudent, if they reject sound counsel and the saving mandate; if, therefore, they are laypeople, after admonition, if they have shown contempt, let them be separated from communion; if they are clerics, let them be deprived of honor. All said: It pleases, it pleases.

IV. That outsider persons are not to dwell with widowers or widows.

Bishop Gratus said: Although the things prescribed by law for the advancement of discipline are countless, and each of us by constant treatment and frequent admonition can make known to the people each particular kind that advances discipline, nevertheless some of these things must be suggested by us on account of blasphemy and established in council: if it seems good to you, let those also be held by an equal sentence who dwell with widows and are joined to them by no blood relationship. All said: And let the same law and sentence remain concerning widowers and widows.

V. That clerics and laymen are not to be ordained in another's church.

Privatus, bishop of Bejeiselita, said: I suggest to your holiness that you decree that a cleric belonging to another must not be received by anyone without letters from his own bishop, nor detained among one's own, nor indeed that a layman from another's people be usurped for oneself, so as to ordain him without the knowledge of the bishop from whose people he is. Bishop Gratus said: This, when observed, preserves peace, for I also recall that the most holy council of Sardica similarly decreed that no one should usurp for himself a man of another's people, but if perhaps it should be necessary for ordination that a man from a neighboring place be needed, let him ask his colleague and have his consent.

VI. That clerics are not to undertake the business or procuratorships of secular persons.

Bishop Nicasius of Culusi said: I believe my suggestion pleases your holiness, and that it displeases you that those who serve God and are attached to the clergy should take up the business and administration or procuratorship of households. Bishop Gratus said: There are also the statutes of the apostles which say: No one serving as a soldier for God entangles himself in secular affairs; therefore either let them be clerics without the business of households, or agents without the office of clerics. All said: Let us observe this.

VII. That clerics or laymen are not to communicate in another's church without letters from their own bishop.

Cassianus, bishop of Usula, said: Let your gravity decree that each cleric or layman is not to communicate in another congregation without letters from his own bishop. Bishop Gratus said: Unless this is observed, communion will become passive; for if one is received with letters, both concord among bishops is preserved and no one, craftily fleeing the communion of another, secretly approaches a different one. All said: You provide for all things and consult for both clergy and laymen.

VIII. That those entangled in the business of others are not to be ordained as clerics unless they have first rendered an account.

Bishop Magnus of Astuaga said: What seems good to your charity—should procurators and agents, and even guardians or curators of wards, be ordained? Bishop Gratus said: If, after all their affairs have been deposited and their accounts rendered, their conduct of life has been approved in all respects, they may be honored with the dignity of the clergy, and with praise, if they are requested; for if anyone is ordained without consideration before he has freed himself from business or offices, the Church is brought into disrepute. All said: Your holiness has rightly decreed all things; therefore what is your judgment is ours also.

IX. That laymen are not to appoint clerics as their agents or accountants.

The bishop of Metz, Cannensis, said: It has rightly been decreed that those bound to the business of others are not to be ordained; yet if they have been released, they ought both to give thanks and to refrain from injuring clerics; and it shall not be lawful for them, or for their masters, to choose our clerics as stewards or accountants. Bishop Gratus said: There is no doubt that all masters or procurators or whoever are in authority, when they have heard the most salutary ordinances of the council and that it is to their own advantage and not a hindrance, will restrain their own injury against our clerics; but if they think that clerics are to be disturbed in violation of the imperial constitution, both the defense of the Church shall not be lacking and public shame shall be avenged.

All said: Most wholesome provisions ought to have been established by so great a council.

X. That a bishop not usurp the peoples or territories of another bishop.

Bishop Felix of Baja said: No one ought to do injury to a colleague, for many both overstep their own bounds and usurp the peoples of others, against their will. Bishop Gratus said: There is no one who doubts that the desire of avarice is the root of all evils; therefore it must be forbidden that anyone usurp or overstep the territories of others, or that a bishop usurp the peoples of another without his request, since from this all other evils are generated. All said: It pleases, it pleases.

XI. Concerning contumacious clerics, and concerning the number of those judging a bishop, presbyter, and deacon.

Elpidephorus, bishop of Cuicul, said: Let your holiness decree that clerics who are proud or contumacious be restrained: let those who are lesser and have inflicted injuries on their betters have fear of discipline. Bishop Gratus said: It is manifest that he who condemns humility is not of God, but of the devil, who is the inventor and prince of pride; wherefore if anyone has shown himself arrogant or abusive toward a superior, or has any case, let him be heard by three neighboring bishops if it is a deacon who is accused; if it is a presbyter, by six; if it is a bishop, by twelve fellow bishops.

All the bishops said: Contumacy must be crushed, and pride broken in all things; but cases concerning persons should be heard by the established number.

XII. That the agreements entered into between bishops be kept.

Antigonus, bishop of Maginensis, said: I suffer a grave injury, and I believe that your holiness grieves at my insult and counts the injury to my lord Optantius as a common one. When he presented himself, he made an agreement with me, and we divided the peoples; our hands and the written slips are held to it. Contrary to this agreement he goes around the peoples assigned to me, and whispers to the people that they should call him Father and me stepfather. Bishop Gratus said: This deed is to be grieved over, that they entice the minds of ignorant peoples against discipline, against the evangelical tradition, against the decrees of peace; for if anyone thought he could get away with it, he would surely never have wronged a brother. Therefore either the agreements entered into should obtain their firmness, or, if he does not restrain himself, the assembly shall feel ecclesiastical discipline. All said: Let peace be preserved, let agreements be kept.

XIII. That it not be permitted for clerics to lend at interest.

Abundantius, bishop of Hadrumetum, said: In our council it has been decreed that it not be permitted for clerics to lend at interest; what also seems right to your holiness and to this council, let it be set forth in the present decree. Bishop Gratus said: The new proposal: those matters which are either obscure or lie hidden under a general category, once examined by us, shall receive their form; but concerning those things which the divine Scripture has most openly established, a judgment is not to be brought forward, but rather carried out. Accordingly, what is condemned among the laity ought much more to be condemned beforehand among clerics. All said: No one acts against the prophets, no one against the Gospels, without peril.

XIV. That laypeople who despise the canons be excommunicated, and clerics be deprived of their honor.

Bishop Gratus said: According to the statutes of the council and the judgment of my own lowliness, it pleases me to make a conclusion of all matters: let all the titles set forth and arranged keep their own judgments; indeed I believe you hold that by many councils of our fathers and by tradition the impiety of rebaptism has been condemned and is to be punished; and I believe these matters have already received their end in our council as well. But the remaining matters which, whether done or said, have been comprehended above, or are found written in other councils according to the law, we ought to guard. If anyone, however, having overstepped the statutes, corrupts them or thinks they are to be held as nothing: if he is a layperson, let him be deprived of communion; if he is a cleric, let him be deprived of his honor.

All said: It pleases, it pleases. Bishop Gratus said: It remains now that you confirm by your subscription as well the decisions of all of us which have been written for your consent. All said: The records of this council testify that we also have consented, and our consent will be declared by our subscription. And they subscribed.

XIII THE SECOND COUNCIL OF CARTHAGE

OF SIXTY-ONE BISHOPS, IN THE YEAR 428, ON THE SIXTEENTH DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF JULY.

In the consulship of the most glorious emperor Valentinian Augustus, for the fourth time, and of Neoterius, most distinguished men, at Carthage in the restored Basilica Perpetua, when Bishop Geneclius, together with Victor of Abdira and another Victor of Puppiana and the rest of his fellow bishops from various provinces, had sat.

Bishop Geneclius said: I give thanks to Almighty God, who has permitted that, in accordance with the common counsel held in the past, and according to the tenor of the petition in my letters, you should come to Carthage for the faith and the utility of the Church—even if not all of you; yet because charity persuades the whole, those who are absent in body may be seen to be joined with us in spirit. Therefore, with God's favor, since you are present, the ecclesiastical faith which is handed down through us must first be confessed with one profession in this glorious assembly; then at last the ecclesiastical order of each one, with the consent of all, must be established, to strengthen the minds of our brothers and fellow bishops recently promoted, concerning those matters which are to be proposed, which we have received from the fathers in sure disposition: that the Trinity which we hold consecrated in our minds, the unity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, which is known to have no difference, as we have learned, so we may instruct the peoples of God. All the bishops said: Clearly so we have received, so we hold, so we teach, following the apostolic faith.

II. That chastity be preserved by the Levites and priests.

Bishop Epigonius of the regions of Bulla said: When in a past council continence and chastity were discussed, those three grades which are bound by a certain constraint of chastity through consecration—I mean bishop, presbyter, and deacon—should be taught by a fuller treatment to preserve modesty. Bishop Geneclius said: As was said above, it is fitting that the sacrosanct prelates and priests of God, and also the Levites or those who minister the divine sacraments, be continent in all things, so that they may simply obtain what they ask of the Lord; and what the apostles taught and antiquity itself preserved, let us also observe. All the bishops said: It pleases all that the bishop, presbyter, and deacon, guardians of modesty, abstain even from their wives, so that in all things and by all modesty be preserved by those who serve at the altar.

III. That chrism and the blessing of maidens and the reconciliation of penitents be not done by presbyters.

Numidius, bishop of Maxula, said: If your holiness commands, I suggest, for I remember that in past councils it was established that chrism, or the reconciliation of penitents, and also the consecration of maidens, be not done by presbyters; but if anyone shall have emerged doing this, what should be decreed concerning him? Bishop Geneclius said: Your worthiness has heard the suggestion of our brother and fellow bishop Numidius; what do you say to these things? It was said by all the bishops: The confection of chrism and the consecration of maidens shall not be done by presbyters, and that it is not permitted a presbyter to reconcile anyone at a public mass—this pleases all.

IV. That a presbyter, when ordered by his bishop, reconcile a penitent.

Bishop Geneclius said: If anyone shall have been placed in danger and has sought to be reconciled to the divine altars, if the bishop shall be absent, the presbyter ought certainly to consult the bishop, and so reconcile the one in danger by his command; and this matter we ought to strengthen by wholesome counsel. It was said by all the bishops: It pleases all that your holiness has deigned to instruct us in what was necessary.

V. That a diocese which has never had a bishop should not have one.

Felix, bishop of Selemsel, said: Even so, if it pleases your holiness, I suggest that dioceses which have never had bishops should not have them, or that a diocese which once had one should have its own; and if in the course of time, as the faith grows, the people of God multiplied should desire to have their own ruler, let it have a bishop with the consent, that is, of him in whose power the diocese is established; but according to this proposal, it is for your holiness to judge what ought to be done. Geneclius the bishop said: If the suggestion of our brother and fellow bishop Felix pleases you, let it be confirmed by all. All the bishops said: It pleases, it pleases.

VI. That those entangled in crimes should not accuse clerics.

Numidius, bishop of Maxula, said: Moreover, there are very many of not good conduct who think that elders or bishops are to be assailed indiscriminately and at random in accusation: ought they to be admitted so easily against the apostolic rule, or not? Geneclius the bishop said: Does it please your charity, then, that he who is ensnared in certain crimes should not have the right to accuse a elder? All the bishops said: If he is a criminal, it pleases all that he not be admitted.

VII. That one who receives another's excommunicated person is himself excommunicated.

Felix, bishop of Selemsel, said: I suggest this further to your holiness: what do you judge concerning those who for their own disgraceful deeds are cast out of the Church, and who have dared either to proceed to the imperial court or to rush into public courts of law, or perhaps to attempt the thresholds of the catholic Church—if a bishop or a cleric of any people receives them? Epigonius, bishop of the region of Bulla, said: If any bishop, holding catholic communion, advances such a man with vain flatteries, let him know that he is himself corrupted together with those same rejected men, passing over into their lot. Geneclius the bishop said: Therefore our brothers and fellow bishops rightly suggest that those who by the merit of their crimes have been driven from the Church, if they have been received into communion by any bishop or cleric, even that man himself shall be held liable to the same crime as they. It was said by all the bishops: It pleases all.

VIII. That an excommunicated presbyter who presumes to sacrifice is to be anathematized.

Felix, bishop of Selemsel, said: Nor is that to be passed over, that if perhaps any presbyter, corrected or excommunicated by his own bishop, swollen with pride or arrogance, should think that sacrifices are to be offered to God separately, or should believe that another altar is to be set up, or that anything is to be done contrary to the faith and discipline of the Church, he shall not go unpunished. Genectius, bishop, said: The things which our brother Felix has set forth are necessary and consonant with ecclesiastical discipline and faith; therefore declare what seems to your belovedness concerning this matter. It was said by all the bishops: If any presbyter has been excommunicated or corrected by his superior, he ought indeed to complain to the neighboring bishops, so that his case may be heard by them and through them he may be reconciled to his own bishop; but if he does not do this, but, puffed up with pride—which God forbid—has deemed that he should separate himself from the communion of his bishop and, making a schism with certain others, has offered sacrifice to God separately, let him be anathema, having lost his place; nonetheless let him also be driven far away from the city in which he was, lest by serpentine deceit he deceive either the ignorant or those living simply. According to the Apostle: The Church is one, the faith is one, the baptism is one; and if he has a just complaint against the bishop, it shall be inquired into.

IX. That if a presbyter celebrates the agendam without consulting the bishop, he is to be deprived of his honor.

Numidius, bishop of Maxula, said: In certain places there are presbyters who, either ignorantly and in simplicity, or dissembling and with boldness, in the presence of the bishop and without consulting him, celebrate the agendam in very many households, which your holiness knows to be contrary to discipline. Geneclius, bishop, said: Our brothers and fellow bishops should not delay to respond to your worthy suggestion. It was said by all the bishops: Whoever, a presbyter, wishes to celebrate the agendam in any place without consulting the bishop, he himself stands contrary to his own honor.

X. How many ought to judge a priest and a levite.

Felix, bishop of Selemsel, said: To this I also add, according to the statutes of the ancient councils, that if any bishop—which we do not wish—incurs some charge, and there is for him a very great necessity that many cannot be gathered: lest he remain under the accusation, let him be heard by twelve bishops, and by six presbyters, and by three deacons, together with his own bishop. Geneclius, bishop, said: What does your holiness say to these things? It was said by all the bishops: It is fitting that the statutes of the ancients be observed by us.

XI. That no one is to encroach upon another's parish.

Victor, bishop of Abdiritus, said: Ecclesiastical discipline must be strengthened, lest any of the bishops should by his importunity assail the people or diocese of another, and attempt to exceed the boundaries established for him. What is to be done with one who attempts this? Geneclius the bishop said: Both the holy law forbids and truth itself does not permit anyone to covet what belongs to another; therefore, whatever also pleases you all, signify it with your own voice. It was said by all the bishops: It pleases us that, according to the authority of the divine law, none of us should transgress the boundaries of another.

XII. That no bishop is to be ordained without consulting the metropolitan.

Numidius, bishop of Maxula, said: Some bishops, by a certain usurpation, think that, having despised the primate of whatever province they belong to, they may ordain a bishop according to the desire of the people, neither waiting for letters from the first see nor having received authority. What does your holiness decree concerning this? Geneclius the bishop said: Since the honor that is due to each one is common, concerning this very matter, brothers, it is yours to pronounce.

It was said by all the bishops: It pleases all that no one should presume so easily, without the consent of the primate of whatever province, even with many [bishops], to ordain a bishop in any place without his command, as has been said. But if there be necessity, three bishops, wherever they may be, ought to ordain with the command of the primate.

XIII. That a bishop who comes against his own profession made in council be deposed.

Geneclius the bishop said: Therefore, does it please all that all things which have been established by this most glorious assembly be kept? It was said by all the bishops: It pleases, it pleases; let them be kept by all. Geneclius the bishop said: If, which we do not believe, they shall have been violated by anyone, what do you decree? It was said by all the bishops: Whoever comes against his own profession or subscription has himself separated himself from this assembly. Geneclius the bishop said: I rejoice, with our God granting it, that for the standing of the catholic Church we have decreed all things to be observed by wholesome counsel; and therefore the things which have been said by all we ought to strengthen with our own subscription. It was said by all the bishops: Let it be done, let it be done. And they subscribed.

THE THIRD COUNCIL OF CARTHAGE

HELD BY FORTY-SEVEN BISHOPS, IN THE YEAR 436, WITH CAESARIUS AND ATTICUS, MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MEN, AS CONSULS, ON THE FIFTH DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF SEPTEMBER.

When Aurelius the bishop, together with his fellow bishops, had taken his seat at Carthage in the secretarium of the restored basilica, with the deacons also standing by, these things which are set down below were established in the present council.

I. That the provincial bishops should seek their primate's ruling concerning Easter.

It pleased [the council], then, first of all, on account of the error which is wont often to arise, that all the bishops of the African provinces should take care to receive the observance of the day of Easter from the Church of Carthage.

II. That a council be held every single year.

Likewise it pleased [the council] that, on account of ecclesiastical causes, which often grow old to the ruin of the peoples, a council be convoked in each and every year, to which all the provinces that hold the primary sees should send from their own councils two bishops, or as many as they have chosen, as legates; so that they may be both less invidious and less costly to their hosts, and in the assembled gathering the authority may be complete; from Tripoli, however, on account of the scarcity of bishops, one bishop should come.

III. That a bishop should know the canons before he is ordained.

It was likewise decided that, for bishops or clerics who are to be ordained, the decrees of the councils should first be impressed upon their ears by those who ordain them, so that they may not afterward repent of having done anything contrary to the statutes of the council.

IV. That Levites and virgins should not be consecrated before the age of twenty-five.

It was likewise decided that before the age of twenty-five years neither deacons should be ordained nor virgins consecrated, and that readers should not greet the people.

V. That the sacrament should not be given to catechumens.

It was likewise decided that even during the most solemn days of Easter the sacrament should not be given to catechumens, except the customary salt; because if the faithful do not change the sacraments during those days, neither ought catechumens to change them.

VI. That baptism or the eucharist should not be given to the dead.

It was likewise decided that the eucharist should not be given to the bodies of the dead; for it was said by the Lord: Take and eat; but corpses can neither take nor eat. Then it must be guarded against that the weakness of the brethren should believe that the dead can even be baptized, since it has been observed that the eucharist is not to be given to them.

VII. That if a bishop is accused, where and within what time he is to be examined.

Aurelius the bishop said: Whoever of the bishops is accused, let the accuser bring the case before the primates of his province, and let not him against whom the charge is brought be suspended from communion, unless, summoned by letters of the first see to plead his cause on the appointed day, he fails to appear—that is, within the space of a month from the day on which it is established that he received the letters. But if he proves any true causes of necessity, by which it is manifest that he could not appear, he shall have full opportunity to plead his cause within a second month; yet after the second month he shall not communicate for a long time until he is cleared. If, however, he is unwilling to appear even at the universal annual council, so that his cause may be terminated there, let him be judged to have pronounced upon himself a sentence of condemnation. Indeed, during the time in which he does not communicate, let him not communicate in his own church or parish. But his accuser, if he has never been absent on the days for pleading the cause, shall not be removed from communion; if however he has at any time been absent, withdrawing himself, then when the bishop has been restored to communion, the accuser himself shall be removed from communion, yet in such a way that the opportunity of prosecuting the case is not taken from him, if he proves that he was unwilling, but unable, to appear on the day.

That, however, pleased them: that when he begins to act in the judgment of bishops, if the person of the accuser is blameworthy, he is not to be admitted to bring the accusation, unless he wishes to assert his own private causes, but not ecclesiastical ones.

VIII. Concerning presbyters and deacons, how many bishops are to hear them.

But if presbyters or deacons have been accused, let the local bishop be joined to himself from neighboring places a lawful number of colleagues, and let them, together with him, examine their case—six bishops in the name of a presbyter, three in that of a deacon—with the same form preserved as to the days and the delay and the removal from communion and the examination of persons between the accusers and those who are accused. But let even the bishop of the place alone take cognizance of and decide the cases of the remaining clergy.

IX. That clerics are not to appeal to public courts.

It likewise pleased them: that whoever of the bishops, presbyters, and deacons or clerics, when a charge has been brought against him in the Church or a civil case has been raised, if, having abandoned the ecclesiastical court, he wishes to clear himself in public courts, even if the sentence has been pronounced in his favor, let him lose his place; and this in a criminal action. In a civil one, however, let him lose what he has won, if he prefers to retain his place.

For to whom is the authority of the Church open on every side for choosing judges, he judges himself unworthy of the fellowship of the Church, who, thinking ill of the whole Church, seeks the aid of a secular court, since the Apostle instructs that even the cases of private Christians be brought to the Church and determined there.

X. If anyone has appealed from other ecclesiastical judges to others, it is not to the prejudice of the former if a different sentence is pronounced.

It also pleased them that, when appeal has been made from whatever ecclesiastical judges to other ecclesiastical judges where there is greater authority, it is not to the prejudice of those whose sentence has been annulled, if they cannot be convicted either of having judged with a hostile mind or of having been corrupted by some greed or favor. Of course, if the judges were chosen by the consent of the parties, it is not permitted to appeal even to a smaller number than has been established.

XI. That the sons of clerics are not to attend spectacles.

That the sons of priests or clerics are not to exhibit secular spectacles, nor even to watch them, since all laypeople are also forbidden from watching; for this has always been forbidden to all Christians, that they not go where there are blasphemies.

XII. That the sons of clerics are not to be joined in marriage with unbelievers.

It likewise pleased [the council] that the sons or daughters of bishops or of any clerics are not to be joined in marriage with Gentiles or heretics or schismatics.

XIII. That clerics are to confer nothing of their property upon unbelievers.

That bishops or clerics are to confer nothing of their property upon those who are not catholic Christians, even if they be blood relatives, by way of donations.

XIV. That clerics are not to allow their sons to leave their power, unless approved in age and morals.

That bishops or clerics are not to allow their sons to leave their power by emancipation, unless they have been assured concerning their morals and their age, so that their own sins can already pertain to them.

XV. That clerics are not to be contractors or traders.

It likewise pleased [the council] that bishops, presbyters, and deacons or clerics are not to be contractors or agents for private persons, nor seek their livelihood by any shameful or dishonorable business, because they ought to keep in mind that it is written: No one serving as a soldier of God entangles himself in secular affairs.

XVI. That no cleric is to be a usurer.

That no cleric is to receive more than he has lent to anyone: if money, let him receive money; if goods, goods; let him receive as much as he gave; and whatever else, only as much as he gave.

XVII. That foreign women are not to live together with clerics.

That foreign women are not to live together with any clerics at all, but only mothers, grandmothers, and maternal aunts, paternal aunts, sisters, and the daughters of brothers or sisters, and any women who, from the household's domestic necessity, were already living with them even before they were ordained, or if their sons, after their parents were already ordained, have taken wives, or if servants who have no women in the house to marry must take them from elsewhere.

XVIII. That clerics are not to be ordained unless all who are with them are faithful.

That bishops, presbyters, and deacons are not to be ordained before they have made all who are in their household catholic Christians.

XIX. That clerics, when they have come to puberty, are to profess either marriage or chastity.

It pleased [the council] that readers, when they have reached the years of puberty, are compelled either to take wives or to profess continence.

XX. That one bishop is not to usurp another's peoples.

It pleased [the council] that no bishop is to usurp another's peoples, nor is any of the bishops to overstep into the diocese of his colleague.

XXI. That no bishop is to dare to retain or ordain another's cleric.

That no one is to dare to retain or promote another's cleric in the church entrusted to him, unless his own bishop consents; moreover, the name of clerics is retained also by readers and psalmists and doorkeepers.

XXII. That no cleric is to be ordained unless he has been of approved life.

That no cleric is to be ordained unless he has been approved either by the examination of bishops or by the testimony of the people.

XXIII. Concerning prayers and orations.

That no one in prayers is to name the Father in place of the Son, or the Son in place of the Father; and when one assists at the altar, the prayer is always to be directed to the Father; and whoever copies out prayers for himself from elsewhere is not to use them unless he has first conferred concerning them with the brethren who are instructors.

XXIV. That in the sacrifice of the bread and the cup an offering is to be made.

That in the sacraments of the body and blood of the Lord nothing more is to be offered than what the Lord himself handed down, that is, bread and wine mixed with water; nor in the first-fruits is anything more to be offered than from grapes and grain.

XXV. That clerics or the continent are not to have access to virgins or widows alone.

That clerics or the continent are not to approach widows or virgins except by the command or permission of bishops or presbyters, and they are not to do this alone, but with fellow clerics or with those whom the bishop or presbyter has ordered; nor are the bishops or presbyters themselves to have access to women of this kind alone, but where either clerics are present or some serious-minded Christians.

XXVI. That the bishop of the first see is not to be called prince of priests.

That the bishop of the first see is not to be called prince of priests or high priest or anything of this kind, but only bishop of the first see.

XXVII. That clerics are not to enter taverns.

That clerics are not to enter taverns for the sake of eating or drinking, except by the necessity of pilgrimage.

XXVIII. That a bishop is not to travel farther without the letter of the metropolitan.

That bishops are not to travel across the sea unless the bishop of the first see of each of their provinces has been consulted, so that from him especially they may obtain a letter of authorization or commendation.

XXIX. That the mass is to be celebrated by those who are fasting.

That the sacraments of the altar are not to be celebrated except by fasting men; for if at some afternoon time the commendation of the dead, whether bishops or others, is to be made, let it be done with prayers alone, if those who perform it are found to have already dined.

XXX. That no one is to feast in the church.

That no bishops or clerics are to feast in the church, unless perhaps travelers, compelled by the need of lodging, refresh themselves there; and the people also are to be prohibited from banquets of this kind as far as possible.

XXXI. That the measure of penance be given to the penitent according to their sin.

That the bishops, by their judgment, are to determine the times of penance for the penitent according to the difference of their sins.

XXXII. That a presbyter, without the command or in the absence of the bishop, is not to reconcile a penitent.

That a presbyter is not to reconcile a penitent without consulting the bishop, unless compelled by the necessity of the bishop's absence; but whoever's penitent has a public and most widely known crime, one that has disturbed the whole Church, is to have hands laid upon him before the apse.

XXXIII. Concerning the custody of sacred virgins.

That sacred virgins, if they have been deprived of the parents by whom they were being kept, are to be entrusted by the providence of the bishop, or of the presbyter where the bishop is absent, to a monastery of virgins or to more serious-minded women, so that dwelling together they may keep watch over one another, lest by wandering about everywhere they harm the Church's reputation.

XXXIV. Concerning the baptizing of the sick who can no longer speak.

That the sick, if they cannot answer for themselves, are to be baptized when their own people have given testimony of their will.

XXXV. That reconciliation is not to be denied to converted apostates and stage-players.

That to stage-players and actors and other persons of this kind, or to converted apostates or those returning to God, grace or reconciliation is not to be denied.

XXXVI. That a presbyter is not to confect chrism.

That a presbyter is not to consecrate virgins without consulting the bishop; and he is never to confect chrism.

XXXVII. That clerics are not to linger in another's city without necessity.

That clerics are not to linger in another's city, unless the bishop of the place or the presbyters of the places have examined their just causes.

XXXVIII. That translations of bishops are not to be permitted.

But we suggest to you that command which was given to us, and which is seen also to have been decreed in the full synod of Capua, that rebaptisms, reordinations, or translations of bishops are not to be permitted: for Crisconius, bishop of Villaregium, having abandoned his own people, invaded the church of Tubunium, and though admonished up to this day according to what had been decreed, he has scorned to relinquish the same people whom he had invaded.

Against him, we have indeed heard that what was pronounced has been confirmed; but we ask, in accordance with what has been commanded us, that you deign to give us assurance: since, when necessity itself compels, it should be free for us to approach the governor of the province, according to the statutes of the most glorious princes, against him, so that he who was unwilling to acquiesce in the gentle admonition of your holiness and to correct what is unlawful may forthwith be excluded by judicial authority. Bishop Aurelius said: If the form of discipline is preserved, his desire will not be esteemed if, when modestly admonished by your charity, he has refused to withdraw, since he will have been admonished by his own contempt and contumacy, with judicial authority also acting. Bishops Honoratus and Urbanus said: Does this therefore please all? All the bishops said: It is just; it pleases.

XXXIX. That two bishops shall not presume to ordain a pontiff.

Bishops Honoratus and Urbanus said: This also has been commanded us, that since recently two bishops of our brothers in Numidia presumed to ordain a pontiff, you should decree that ordinations be performed by no fewer than twelve bishops. Bishop Aurelius said: The ancient form shall be preserved, so that no fewer than three who have been ordained by the metropolitan suffice for ordaining a bishop; because perhaps in Tripoli and in Arzuges [T.

2. Azure] barbarian peoples seem to lie in between; for even in Tripoli, as is asserted [AE., it is reported], there are only five bishops, and perhaps two of that number can be occupied by some necessity; for it is difficult that all of any number can be present. Ought this very thing to be an impediment to ecclesiastical utility? For even in this Church, to which your holiness has deigned to come together, we frequently and almost every Lord's day have men to be ordained: shall I then be able frequently to summon twelve or ten or not much fewer bishops? But it is easy for me to join to my smallness two neighbors: wherefore your charity sees with me that this very thing cannot be observed.

XL. That when a bishop is chosen, if he has contradictors, five priests shall assemble.

And this too must be established, that when we have assembled to choose a bishop, if any contradiction has arisen, because such things have been done among us, let not three presume to clear him who is to be ordained, but let two or three be sought in addition to the number above stated, and in the same people to whom he is to be ordained let the persons of the contradictors first be examined, and finally let those things also which are objected be treated; and when he has been cleared in the public view, then at last let him be ordained. If this agrees with the mind of your holiness, let it be confirmed by the response of your worthiness. It was said by all the bishops: It pleases us well.

XLI. That the bishops coming together each year in council be informed by their primate also concerning the paschal solemnity.

Honoratus and Urbanus, bishops, said: Since certain matters are known to have been treated by the council, we add also that we have been instructed concerning the day of Easter, that we be always informed by the Church of Carthage, as has been said, and not within a narrow span of time. Aurelius, bishop, said: If it seems good to your holiness, since we remember that we have already promised above that we should come together each and every year to treat of matters, and when we have come together in one place, then the holy day of Easter shall be made known through the legates who were present at the council. Honoratus and Urbanus, bishops, said: Now, from the present assembly, we ask that you deign to inform our province by letter concerning this day. Aurelius, bishop, said: It must be so done.

XLII. That the people which has always been subject within a diocese shall not receive another bishop.

Bishop Epigonius said: It has been decreed by many councils, by the assembly of the priesthood, that the peoples who are retained in dioceses by bishops, who have never had bishops of their own, should not receive their own rulers—that is, bishops—except with the will of the bishop by whom they are held. But because certain men, having obtained a kind of dominion, shrink from communion with their brethren, or certainly when they have been corrupted, claim dominion for themselves as if in some tyrannical citadel; and because very many priests, puffed up and foolish, raise their necks against their own bishops, either winning the people over to themselves by banquets or certainly by malignant persuasion, so that by illicit favor they wish to set these same men over themselves as rulers—and indeed we hold this as the signal vow of your mind, religious brother Aurelius, because you have often suppressed these things by not attending to such petitioners—but on account of their evil designs and wickedly contrived councils, I say this: that people which has always been subject in a diocese and has never had a bishop of its own ought not to receive a ruler. Wherefore, if it pleases the whole most holy assembly, let what I have set forth be confirmed. Bishop Aurelius said: Our brothers and fellow priests, I do not oppose the proposal, but I profess that I have done this and will do it.

XLIII. That those who, despising their own people, refuse to come to the council shall lose both their people and their honor.

But concerning those who have been in concord not only with regard to the Church of Carthage but with regard to the whole priestly fellowship—for there are many who conspire with their own peoples, whom they deceive, as has been said, tickling their ears, flattering in order to seduce them, men of vicious life, or certainly puffed up and separated from this fellowship, who think they must brood over their own people and sometimes, when summoned, refuse to come to the council, perhaps fearing that their crimes may be exposed—I say, if it pleases you, that concerning this matter not only are their dioceses not to be preserved to them, but also, with regard to their own church, which has wrongly favored them, every effort must be made that they be rejected even by public authority and removed from their very principal seats. For it is fitting that he who has adhered to all his brothers and to the whole council should possess not only his own see with its right intact, but also his dioceses. But those who think their own peoples are sufficient for them, despising brotherly love, shall lose not only their dioceses but, as I have said, shall also be deprived of their own by public authority as rebels. Bishops Honoratus and Urbanus said: The supreme provision of your holiness has adhered to the minds of each one, and I think that by the response of all, those things which you have deigned to set forth must be confirmed. All the bishops said: It pleases, it pleases.

XLIV. That no bishop may presume a foreign cleric for himself.

Bishop Epigonius said: In many councils this has been decreed, and now it must be confirmed by your prudence, most blessed brothers, that no bishop may snatch a foreign cleric for himself against the will of him whose cleric he was. I say, moreover, that Julian, who is ungrateful for the benefits of God conferred upon him through my lowliness, has shown himself so reckless and bold that the man who was baptized by me, when he was a boy commended to me by that same man, and when for many years he was nourished and grew up by me—this man, as I said, baptized in my church by the hand of my poverty, the same man had begun to be a lector in the diocese of Appaliensis, or rather had read for nearly two years—the same Julian, I know not with what contempt for my humility, seized him, whom he claims as though a proper citizen of his own place of Babtizaritani, and usurped him without consulting me; for he even ordained him a deacon. Let this be clear, most blessed brothers: this license is ours, if so imprudent a man is not restrained, lest he mingle himself in anyone's communion. Bishop Numidius said: If Julian appears to have done this without your dignity having been requested or consulted, we all judge that it was done unjustly and unworthily; wherefore, unless the same Julian corrects his error and with satisfaction restores to your people the same cleric whom he dared to ordain, acting against the statutes of the council, being separated from us on account of his contumacy, he shall receive judgment.

Bishop Epigonius said: Father Aetate, most ancient in promotion itself, a praiseworthy man, our brother and colleague Victor, wishes this general petition to be made effective for all.

XLV. That a bishop who has more clerics should grant one to him who needs one when asked for ordination.

Bishop Aurelius said: Receive my words, brothers: it sometimes happens that churches which lack overseers—whether presbyters or bishops—make requests, and yet, mindful of the statutes, I follow this course, that I approach their bishop and press upon him the fact that his cleric is being requested by some church. But perhaps today they have not refused, and lest it ever happen that they refuse when they have been asked by me in this matter—he whom you know to bear the care of many churches and of those to be ordained—it is just, therefore, that I approach any fellow bishop with two or three witnesses from our company. But if he proves unwilling, what does your charity think should be done? For I, by the favor of God, as you know, brothers, bear solicitude for all churches. Bishop Numidius said: This has always been the license of this see, that from wherever he wished, and from whatever church's name he had been approached, it should ordain a bishop according to the desire of any church.

Bishop Epigonius said: Goodness removes the possibility, for you presume less, brother, when you render yourself good and merciful; for you have this within your discretion: it is enough that he satisfy the person of each individual bishop at the first assembly only; but if, what is permitted to this see, he has judged it should be claimed for himself, you must needs support all the churches: therefore we do not give you the power, but assign it to you, that it may be permitted to your will both always to keep whomever you wish, and to appoint as overseers to the peoples or churches those who have been requested, and from wherever you wish. Bishop Postumianus said: Then he who has one, must that one presbyter himself be taken from him? Bishop Aurelius said: But there can be one bishop, through whom by divine condescension many presbyters can be appointed; but one bishop is with difficulty found to be appointed: wherefore if a bishop has need of a presbyter, and has only one, as you said, brother, he shall be obliged to give even him for promotion. Bishop Postumianus said: Therefore if another has clerics in abundance, ought another people to come to my aid? Bishop Aurelius said: Certainly, just as you have aided another church, he who has more clerics will be persuaded to bestow one on you to be ordained.

XLVI. That a bishop made in a diocese shall hold only that people in which he was ordained.

Bishops Honoratus and Urbanus said: We have heard it established that dioceses ought not to receive bishops without the consent of him under whom they were constituted; but in our province, when by chance some have been ordained bishops in a diocese with the consent of the bishop in whose power they had been constituted, they even claim the dioceses for themselves. This ought both to be corrected by the judgment of your charity and to be forbidden for the future. Bishop Epigonius said: It has been preserved for each bishop as was fitting, that from the mass of dioceses none should be seized so as to have its own bishop, unless he himself had given his consent to granting it. For it is enough that he has consented, so that that same diocese, having been permitted, may have only its own bishop, and he may not claim the other dioceses for himself, which, excepted from the bundle of many, alone deserved to receive the honor of the episcopate. Bishop Aurelius said: I do not doubt that it pleases your charity that he who, with the consent of the bishop who held the mother church, was made in a diocese, should retain only that same people in which he was ordained.

XLVII. That nothing be read in the church under the name of the divine Scriptures except the canonical Scriptures.

Now the canonical Scriptures are these, that is: 1. Genesis. 2. Exodus. 3. Leviticus. 4. Numbers. 5. Deuteronomy. 6. Joshua. 7. Judges. 8. Ruth. 9. The four books of Kings. 10. The two books of Chronicles. 11. Job. 12. The Psalter of David. 13. The five books of Solomon. 14. The twelve books of the prophets. 15. Isaiah. 16. Jeremiah. 17. Ezekiel. 18. Daniel. 19. Tobit. 20. Judith. 21. Esther. 22. The two books of Ezra. 23. The two books of Maccabees. Of the New Testament, however: 24. The four books of the Gospels. 25. The one book of the Acts of the Apostles. 26. The thirteen Epistles of the apostle Paul; and his one to the Hebrews. 27. Two of Peter; three of John; one of Jude; one of James; the one book of the Apocalypse of John. There are therefore twenty-seven books, so that for the confirming of this canon the churches beyond the sea may be consulted. Let the passions of the martyrs also be read, when their anniversary days are celebrated.

XLVIII. Concerning those baptized by the Donatists.

Concerning the Donatists it was resolved that we should consult our brothers and fellow priests Siricius and Simplicianus regarding only the infants who are baptized among them, lest what their parents did not do by their own judgment, when they have been converted to the Church of God with a wholesome purpose, should be hindered for them by their parents' error, so that they may not be advanced to the ministry of the sacred altar. When these things had been inserted, the bishops Honoratus and Urbanus, legates of the province of Mauretania Sitifensis, said: Some time ago, when we were laying before your holiness the written documents, we were delayed by the consideration that our brothers, legates from Numidia, might arrive; but since it is no small number of days during which those we expected have not come at all, it is not right for us to pass over any longer the things that were entrusted to us by our fellow bishops; and therefore, brothers, kindly receive our petition. For we have heard concerning the faith of the Nicene council, and also concerning sacrifices to be forbidden after a meal, that they be offered by those who are fasting, as has been said, and this was confirmed both then and now.

XLIX. Concerning those who are ordained while having nothing in the churches.

It was resolved that bishops, presbyters, deacons, or any clerics whatsoever who are ordained while having nothing, and who during the time of their episcopate or clerical office acquire fields or any estates in their own name, are to be held as if guilty of the crime of invading the Lord's property, unless, when admonished, they contribute those same things to the Church. If however something comes to them personally by someone's generosity or by succession of kinship, let them do with it what is fitting to their purpose; but if they deviate backward from their purpose, let them be judged unworthy of ecclesiastical honor, as reprobates.

L. That the acts of the council be confirmed by the subscriptions of the bishops.

Aurelius the bishop said: Since therefore I believe that all matters have been treated, if all things have met with your mind, confirm all things by your speech. All the bishops said: These things have pleased us all, and we will confirm them by our subscription. And they subscribed.

Aurelius, bishop of the Church of Carthage, consented to this decree, and having reread it, I signed.

Epigonius, bishop of the people of the Bullensis region, signed.

Augustine, bishop of the peoples of the Hipponensian regions, signed.

Likewise all forty-four bishops signed.

THE FIFTEENTH COUNCIL OF CARTHAGE, THE FOURTH

Held by two hundred fourteen bishops, in the era 436, with Honorius Augustus for the fourth time and Eutychianus as consuls, on the sixth day before the Ides of November.

When Aurelius the bishop had sat in the universal council at Carthage in the secretarium with all his fellow priests, it pleased him and all who were in that same holy synod to establish these things which are necessary for the ecclesiastical orders according to canonical discipline: where at the beginning it was established.

I. What sort of men ought to be ordained as bishops.

Whoever is to be ordained bishop must first be examined; therefore, if he is prudent by nature, if teachable, if temperate in his conduct, if chaste in life, if sober, if always attentive to his own affairs, if affable to people, if merciful, if literate, if instructed in the law of the Lord, if careful in the senses of the Scriptures, if exercised in the ecclesiastical doctrines, and before all things if he asserts the proofs of the faith in simple words—that is, confirming that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God, and proclaiming that the whole deity in the Trinity is coessential and consubstantial and coeternal and coomnipotent; if he believes that each single person in the Trinity is fully God and all three persons are one God; if he believes that the divine incarnation was made not in the Father nor in the Holy Spirit, but in the Son alone, so that he who was the Son in the divinity of God the Father might himself become in man the son of a human mother, true God from the Father and true man from the mother, having flesh from the mother's womb and a human rational soul together in him, so that of both natures—that is, man and God—there is one person, one Son, one Christ, one Lord, both author and lord of all creatures that exist, and creator with the Father and the Holy Spirit of all creatures; who suffered by a true passion of the flesh, died by the true death of his body, rose again by the true resurrection of his flesh and the true resumption of his soul, in which he will come to judge the living and the dead.

He must also be asked whether he believes that the New and Old Testaments, that is, the Law and the Prophets and the Apostles, have one and the same author and God; whether the devil became evil not by nature but by choice. He must also be asked whether he believes in the resurrection of this flesh that we bear and not of another flesh; whether he believes that judgment is to come and that each person will receive either punishments or rewards for what he has done in this flesh; whether he does not disapprove of marriage; whether he does not condemn second marriages; whether he does not censure the eating of meat; whether he gives communion to penitents who have been reconciled; whether in baptism all sins are forgiven, that is, both that original sin contracted and those committed voluntarily; whether no one is saved outside the Catholic Church. When, after examination in all these matters, he has been found fully instructed, then by the consent of the clergy and laity, from an assembly of the bishops of the whole province, and especially by the authority or presence of the metropolitan, let him be ordained bishop, having received the episcopate in the name of Christ, acquiescing not in his own preference nor in his own customs, but in these definitions of the Fathers; in whose ordination let the age also be required which the holy Fathers, following the example of the Savior, established for the selection of bishops.

Next it is set out how ecclesiastical offices are to be ordered.

II. How bishops are consecrated.

When a bishop is ordained, two bishops are to place and hold the Book of the Gospels over his head and neck, and while one pours the blessing over him, all the other bishops present are to touch his head with their hands.

III. How presbyters are ordained.

When a presbyter is ordained, while the bishop blesses him and holds his hand over his head, all the presbyters who are present are also to hold their hands over his head next to the bishop's hand.

IV. How deacons are constituted.

When a deacon is ordained, the bishop alone who blesses him is to place his hand over his head, because he is consecrated not to the priesthood but to ministry.

V. How subdeacons are constituted.

When a subdeacon is ordained, because he does not receive the imposition of hands, he is to receive from the bishop's hand an empty paten and an empty chalice, and from the hand of the archdeacon he is to receive a small pitcher with water, and a basin and a towel.

VI. How acolytes are made.

When an acolyte is ordained, he is to be taught by the bishop how he ought to conduct himself in his office, but he is to receive from the archdeacon a candle-bearer with candles, so that he may know that he is appointed to light the lamps of the Church; let him also receive an empty cruet for supplying wine for the eucharist of the blood of Christ.

VII. How exorcists are made.

When an exorcist is ordained, let him receive from the hand of the bishop a booklet in which the exorcisms are written, with the bishop saying to him: Receive and commit it to memory, and have the power to lay hands on the possessed, whether baptized or catechumen.

VIII. How readers are made.

When a reader is ordained, the bishop shall make a statement about him to the people, indicating his faith and life and ability; after this, while the people look on, he shall hand over to him the Codex from which he is to read, saying to him: Receive and be a relater of the word of God, to have, if you fulfill the office faithfully and usefully, a part with those who have ministered the word of God.

IX. How doorkeepers are ordained.

When a doorkeeper is ordained, after he has been instructed by the archdeacon how he ought to conduct himself in the house of God, at the archdeacon's suggestion the bishop shall hand him the keys of the church from the altar, saying: "Act in such a way as one who will render an account to God for the things that are opened and closed by these keys."

X. How psalmists are ordained.

A psalmist, that is, a cantor, can undertake the office of singing without the bishop's knowledge, by the presbyter's command alone, the presbyter saying to him: "See that what you sing with your mouth you believe in your heart, so that what you believe in your heart you may prove by your works."

XI. How a consecrated virgin is presented.

When a consecrated virgin is presented to her bishop for consecration, she is to be dressed in such garments as she will always wear, suited to her profession and sanctity.

XII. What kind of widows or consecrated women are appointed to the ministry of baptism.

Widows or consecrated women who are chosen for the ministry of baptizing women are to be instructed for the office, so that they can teach unskilled and rustic women with clear and sound speech, at the time when they are to be baptized, how they should respond to the questions of the baptizer, and how they should live after receiving baptism.

XIII. How spouses are blessed.

When a bridegroom and bride are to be blessed by the priest, they shall be presented by their parents or by their paranymphs; and when they have received the blessing, on that same night, out of reverence for the blessing itself, they shall remain in virginity.

XIV. Concerning the priest's cell.

That the bishop should have a small lodging not far from the church.

XV. Concerning the priest's food and dress.

That the bishop should have modest furnishings and a poor table and fare, and should seek the authority of his rank through faith and the merits of his life.

XVI. That the bishop should not read the books of the Gentiles.

That bishops should not read the books of the Gentiles, but those of heretics only as necessity and occasion require.

XVII. That the bishop should not personally have the care of the needy.

That the bishop should conduct the governance of widows and orphans or of strangers not by himself, but through the archpresbyter or the archdeacon.

XVIII. That the bishop should not bestow protection by testament.

That a bishop not undertake the guardianship of wills.

XIX. That a bishop not go to law over secular matters.

That a bishop, even when provoked, not litigate over transitory things.

XX. That a bishop ought to be intent only on spiritual things.

That a bishop not draw to himself any care of household affairs, but devote himself solely to reading and prayer and the preaching of the word of God.

XXI. That a bishop who is ill send a legate on his behalf to the synod.

That a bishop be prevented from going to the synod by sufficiently grave necessity, yet in such a way that he send a legate in his own person, to receive, saving the truth of the faith, whatever the synod shall decree.

XXII. That a bishop not appoint clerics without the testimony of the clergy and the people.

That a bishop not ordain clerics without the counsel of his presbyters, such that he seek the consent and testimony of the citizens.

XXIII. That a bishop hear cases with the clerics present.

That a bishop hear no one's case without the presence of his clerics; otherwise the bishop's sentence shall be void unless it is confirmed by the presence of his clerics.

XXIV. That when a bishop preaches, no one depart.

When a priest is preaching the word in church, whoever has gone out from the audience shall be excommunicated.

XXV. Concerning discordant bishops.

If the fear of God does not reconcile dissenting bishops, let a synod reconcile them.

XXVI. That a bishop compel the dissenting to agree.

A bishop must strive that he exhort dissenting brothers, whether clerics or laymen, to peace rather than to judgment.

XXVII. Concerning the transfer of a bishop or cleric to another place.

That a bishop not pass from an ignoble place to a noble one through ambition, nor any cleric of lower order; but if the utility of the Church demands that it be done, with a decree for him from the clerics and laymen presented to the bishops, let him be transferred by the sentence of a synod, with another bishop nonetheless substituted in his place in the other place; but priests of lower grade or other clerics may migrate to other churches by the concession of their bishops.

XXVIII. That the condemnation of bishops must be reviewed by a synod.

The unjust condemnation of bishops is void; therefore it must be reviewed by a synod.

XXIX. Concerning a bishop who has brought a charge against someone.

If a bishop has brought a criminal charge against a cleric or a layman, he shall be brought to proof in a synod.

XXX. That the sentence of bishops against an absent person is void.

Let the judges of the Church take care not to pronounce sentence in the absence of the one whose case is being argued, because it will be void; indeed, they will also give cause for the case to be heard in a synod as a fact.

XXXI. How the property of the Church is to be held by a bishop.

That a bishop use the property of the Church as things entrusted to him, not as his own.

XXXII. Concerning the void alienations of bishops.

The donation, sale, or exchange of ecclesiastical property by bishops shall be void without the consent and subscription of the clerics.

XXXIII. Concerning bishops and presbyters, that they be received in their own order.

Bishops or presbyters, if they come to another bishop's church for the sake of visiting the church, are to be received in their own rank, and are to be invited both to preach the word and to consecrate the offering.

XXXIV. Concerning a presbyter's private sitting with a bishop.

That a bishop, sitting wherever he may, is not to allow a presbyter to stand.

XXXV. Concerning a presbyter's sitting with a bishop in church.

That a bishop in the assembly of the church is to sit in the higher place among the presbyters; but within the house he is to know himself to be a colleague of the presbyters.

XXXVI. That parish presbyters are to receive the chrism either themselves or through their sacristans.

Presbyters who govern churches throughout the dioceses are to seek the chrism not from any bishops whatsoever, but from their own, and not through a junior cleric, but either themselves or through him who keeps the sacrarium, before the solemnity of Easter.

XXXVII. Concerning the obedience of deacons toward presbyters.

A deacon is to know that he is the servant of the presbyter as of the bishop.

XXXVIII. That a deacon is to administer the eucharist at the presbyter's command.

That a deacon, when a presbyter is present, is to distribute the eucharist of the body of Christ to the people, if necessity compels, when ordered.

XXXIX. That a deacon is to sit at the presbyter's command.

That a deacon is to sit in whatever place at the presbyter's command.

XL. That a deacon, when questioned in the presence of a presbyter, is to answer.

That a deacon, when questioned in an assembly of presbyters, is to speak.

XLI. That a deacon is to wear the white garment only during the time of the office.

That a deacon is to use the white garment only during the time of the offering and the reading.

XLII. Concerning clerics who have been tempted for the faith.

A cleric who, amid temptations, devotes himself to his office is to be advanced to higher grades.

XLIII. Concerning those who have suffered persecutions from unbelievers for the faith.

A Catholic Christian who endures tribulations for the Catholic faith is to be honored with every honor by the priests, and daily sustenance is also to be provided for him.

XLIV. On the tonsure of clerics.

A cleric is neither to grow his hair long nor to shave his beard.

XLV. On the dress of clerics.

A cleric is to prove his profession also by his dress and bearing, and therefore he is to seek elegance neither in clothing nor in footwear.

XLVI. On the continence of clerics.

A cleric is not to dwell with strange women.

XLVII. On the bearing of clerics.

A cleric is not to walk through streets and alleys unless by a certain and very great necessity of his office.

XLVIII. On clerics who go to markets without necessity.

A cleric who strolls about in markets or in the forum not for the purpose of buying something is to be degraded from his office.

XLIX. On the vigils of clerics.

A cleric who is absent from the vigils, apart from an infirmity of his poor body, is to be deprived of his stipend and excommunicated.

L. On clerics who decline from their office.

A cleric who amid temptations declines from his office or acts rather negligently is to be removed from that office.

LI. On the craft of a cleric.

A cleric, however well instructed in the word of God, is to seek his living by a craft.

LII. On the clothing and food of a cleric.

A cleric is to provide food and clothing for himself by a craft or by farming, provided only that it be without detriment to his office.

LIII. On infirm clerics.

All clerics who are unable to work are to learn small crafts and letters.

LIV. On envious clerics.

A cleric who envies the advancements of his brethren is not to be promoted so long as he remains in this vice.

LV. On clerics who are accusers.

That bishops are to excommunicate accusers of their brethren; and if they have corrected their fault, they are to receive them to communion, but not to the clergy.

LVI. On flattering and treacherous clerics.

A cleric who is found to devote himself to flatteries and betrayals is to be degraded from his office.

LVII. On cursing clerics.

A cursing cleric, and especially among priests, is to be compelled to seek pardon; if he refuses, he is to be degraded, and never recalled to office without satisfaction.

LVIII. On clerics who frequently litigate.

No one is to receive the testimony of a man who frequently litigates and is quick to accuse, except after grave examination.

LIX. On discordant clerics.

The bishop is to bring discordant clerics to concord, whether by reason or by authority; those who are disobedient the synod is to condemn through a hearing.

LX. On foul-mouthed or vagrant clerics.

A scurrilous cleric and one jesting with foul words is to be restrained from office.

LXI. On clerics who swear by creatures.

A cleric who swears by creatures is to be most sharply rebuked; if he persists in the vice, he is to be excommunicated.

LXII. On healthy clerics who pollute fasts.

A cleric who, in the time of an appointed fast, breaks the fast without unavoidable necessity is to be held of lesser rank: he is to be strictly coerced.

LXIII. On clerics who sing during banquets.

A cleric who sings during banquets is to be most sharply rebuked; if he persists in the vice, he is to be excommunicated.

LXIV. On those who deliberately fast on the Lord's day.

Whoever deliberately fasts on the Lord's day is not to be considered catholic.

LXV. On celebrating Easter at one time.

The solemnity of Easter is to be celebrated on one day and at one time.

LXVI. That a cleric should have recourse to the synod.

A cleric who thinks the bishop's strictness toward him is unjust should have recourse to the synod.

LXVII. On seditious clerics.

The seditious are never to be ordained as clerics, just as neither are usurers nor those who avenge their own injuries.

LXVIII. On ordained penitents.

From among the penitents, no one, however good, is to be ordained a cleric. If he has been made one through the bishop's ignorance, he is to be deposed from the clergy, because at the time of his ordination he did not disclose that he had been a penitent. If, however, the bishop ordained him knowingly, the bishop himself is to be deprived even of the power of ordaining that belongs to his episcopate.

LXIX. On condemned bishops.

A bishop will be subject to a similar sentence if he knowingly ordains as a cleric one who has had a widow or a divorced woman or a second wife.

LXX. On the banquets of clerics.

A cleric is equally to avoid the banquets and the associations of heretics and schismatics.

LXXI. On the conventicles of heretics.

The conventicles of heretics are to be called not churches but conciliabula.

LXXII. That one must not sing psalms with heretics.

With heretics one must neither pray nor sing psalms.

LXXIII. On those who have communicated with an excommunicated person.

Whoever has communicated or prayed with an excommunicated person, whether cleric or layman, is to be excommunicated.

LXXIV. On the law of penitents.

That the priest is to impose the laws of penance on one imploring penance without respect of persons.

LXXV. On the more negligent penitents.

That the more negligent penitents are to be received later.

LXXVI. On those who ask for penance if afterward they fall silent.

He who, placed in infirmity, asks for penance, if by chance while the priest, having been summoned, comes to him, he has been oppressed by infirmity and has fallen silent or has turned into frenzy, let those who heard him give testimony, and let him receive penance; and if he is believed to be about to die immediately, let him be reconciled through the imposition of hands and let the eucharist be poured into his mouth; if he survives, let him be admonished by the aforesaid witnesses that his petition has been satisfied, and let him be subjected to the established laws of penance, as long as the priest who gave the penance has approved.

LXXVII. On penitents.

Penitents who are in infirmity may receive the viaticum.

LXXVIII. Likewise on penitents.

Penitents who in infirmity have received the viaticum of the eucharist should not believe themselves absolved without the imposition of hands, if they have survived.

LXXIX. On penitents if they die by some chance.

Penitents who attentively fulfill the laws of penitence, if by chance they have died on a journey or at sea where help could not be given them, let their memory be commended both by prayers and by offerings.

LXXX. On the imposition of hands upon penitents.

At every time of fasting, let hands be imposed upon penitents by the priests.

LXXXI. That penitents may carry out and bury the dead.

Let penitents carry out and bury the dead of the church.

LXXXII. That penitents always bend the knee.

Let penitents bend the knee even on the days of remission.

LXXXIII. On the elders of the church to be honored.

The poor and the aged of the church are to be honored more than others.

LXXXIV. On unbelievers, that they be allowed to hear the reading in church.

That the bishop forbid no one to enter the church and hear the word of God, whether Gentile, or heretic, or Jew, up to the mass of the catechumens.

LXXXV. That those who are to be baptized give their name.

Those who are to be baptized shall give their name, and while they are frequently examined under abstinence from wine and meats and by the imposition of hands, they shall receive baptism.

LXXXVI. That the newly baptized live chastely.

The newly baptized shall for a time abstain both from more sumptuous banquets and from spectacles or conjugal relations.

LXXXVII. On Catholics who bring cases before unbelievers.

A Catholic who brings a case, whether just or unjust, to the judgment of a judge of another faith shall be excommunicated.

LXXXVIII. On those who, neglecting the church, go off to spectacles.

Whoever on a solemn day, neglecting the assembly of the church, goes to spectacles shall be excommunicated.

LXXXIX. On auguries and incantations.

One who serves auguries or incantations is to be separated from the assembly of the church; likewise one who clings to Jewish superstitions or festivals.

XC. On the possessed.

Every day the exorcists are to lay hands on the possessed.

XCI. Likewise on the possessed.

The possessed are to sweep the floors of the houses of God.

XCII. On the sustenance of the possessed.

For the possessed who sit in the house of God, daily sustenance is to be provided by the exorcists at the appropriate time.

XCIII. On the offerings of the discordant.

The offerings of brothers at variance are to be received neither in the sanctuary nor in the treasury.

XCIV. On the oppressors of the poor.

The gifts of those who oppress the poor are to be refused by the priests.

XCV. On those who defraud the churches of the offerings of the dead.

Those who either deny the churches the offerings of the dead, or render them with difficulty, are to be excommunicated as killers of the needy.

XCVI. On the accuser or the accused.

In judgment it must be inquired of what manner of life and faith is he who accuses and he who is accused.

XCVII. On religious women.

The man who is to be set over religious women is to be approved by the bishop of the place.

XCVIII. On lay teachers.

A layman, in the presence of clerics, shall not presume to teach unless they themselves approve it.

XCIX. On learned women.

A woman, however learned and holy, shall not presume to teach men in an assembly.

C. That women are not to presume to baptize.

A woman shall not presume to baptize.

CI. On young widows.

Young widows who are weak in body are to be supported at the expense of the Church of which they are widows.

CII. On clerics and widows.

It pertains to the guilt of the bishop or presbyter who presides over a parish if, for the sake of sustaining this present life, younger widows or consecrated women are subjected to familiarity with clerics.

CIII. On widows.

Widows who are supported by the stipend of the Church ought to be so assiduous in the work of God that by their merits and prayers they aid the Church.

CIV. On widows who have violated their professed continence.

Just as the reward of chastity is good, so also it must be established by greater observance and precept that if any widows, even those still in their younger years and left by a husband at an immature age, have devoted themselves to God and, casting off lay dress, have appeared under the testimony of the bishop and the Church in religious habit, but afterwards have passed over to secular marriages, according to the apostle Paul they will have damnation, because they have dared to make void the faith of chastity which they vowed to God. Such persons therefore are to be alien from the communion of Christians, who are not even to share at a banquet with Christians; for if adulterous wives are liable to their husbands by the charge of guilt, how much more will widows who have vowed religious devotion to God be marked by the crime of adultery, if they corrupt by lustful pleasure the devotion which they spontaneously offered to God and make a transition to second marriages?

even if they were seized beforehand by someone through an outbreak of violence, and afterwards, out of delight in lust, consented to remain in marriage with the ravisher or violent man, they are held liable to the condemnation comprehended above; for of such the Apostle speaks thus: For when they have grown wanton, they wish to marry, having condemnation because they have made void their first faith.

CV. On the despisers of the Church.

Indeed, it is found that from among Christians there are very often made schismatics, unreasonable men, from whom, while as catholics they build up, those as heretics insist on destroying, and while some adorn the churches of the Lord with faithful devotion and most ready compunction, others diminish them by the institution of seditions. Of these the prophet speaks rightly through the Holy Spirit: Blessed are those who build you up forever, and cursed are those who destroy your walls, or certainly who overturn your dwellings, or who have now attempted to diminish your holy things: but you, house of God, rejoice with the children of the righteous.

And by this ordinance of the Lord it pleased all the Fathers assembled throughout the province of Carthage that if any cleric or layman exalts himself against the Church of God, sowing the schisms of sedition, and does not strive to attend to the summit of her charity, but wishes to undermine her foundations, which are the stability of all Christians: if he is a cleric, let him fall from his own rank; if a layman, let him be separated from the Church of God which he despises and from the assembly of the whole Christian religion, and remain excluded from holy communion.

Aurelius, bishop of the Church of Carthage, I have subscribed.

Donatianus, bishop of the first see of Telepte, I have subscribed.

Augustine, bishop of the region of Hippo, I have subscribed.

In like manner all the bishops subscribed.

THE SIXTEENTH COUNCIL OF CARTHAGE, THE FIFTH

Held by seventy-three bishops, in the year 438, after the consulate of Flavius Stilicho, a most illustrious man, on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of July.

At Carthage, in the secretarium of the restored basilica, when Bishop Aurelius had sat together with his fellow bishops, with the deacons also standing by, there were established these things which were defined in the following council.

I. That clerics are not to be summoned to give testimony.

At the outset it must be decreed that if anyone should wish to conduct any case whatsoever in the church by the apostolic law imposed on the churches, and perhaps the decision of the clerics should displease one party, it shall not be permitted to summon to judgment to give testimony the cleric who was the examiner or was present, so that no person of any ecclesiastic whatsoever may be summoned to give testimony.

II. Concerning clerics condemned for their own crime.

And this too must be decreed, that if any cleric of whatsoever honor has been condemned by the judgment of bishops for any crime whatsoever, it shall not be permitted for him to be defended either by the churches over which he presided or by any man whatsoever, with the penalty of loss of money and honor having been interposed, from which they order that neither age nor sex is to be excused.

III. Concerning priests and levites, that they abstain from their wives.

Moreover, when report was made of the incontinence of certain clerics, even toward their own wives, it was decided that bishops, presbyters, and deacons, according to the statutes of earlier fathers, should also abstain from their wives; and if they do not do so, let them be removed from the ecclesiastical office. But the remaining clerics are not to be compelled to this, but it ought to be observed according to the custom of each one.

IV. Concerning the property of the Church, that it is not to be alienated without the counsel of the metropolitan bishop.

It was also decided that no one sell the property of the Church; but if any necessity compels it, this must be made known to the primate of the province, so that with the established number of bishops he may judge whether it should be done. But if such great necessity presses upon the Church that it cannot be consulted beforehand, at least after the fact let the seller take care to act at once, or to inform the neighboring bishops beforehand and refer these same necessities of the Church to the council; but if he does not do so, the seller shall be held liable to the council, having lost his honor.

V. That no bishop, having left his cathedra, should reside in a diocese.

It was again decided that no one should have the opportunity, having left his principal cathedra, to betake himself to any church established in a diocese, or, having settled in his own property longer than is fitting, to neglect the care or the frequenting of his own cathedra.

VI. Concerning those who are known to have been baptized on no testimony, that they be baptized.

It was likewise decided concerning infants: whenever there are not found most certain witnesses who may testify without doubt that they have been baptized, nor are they themselves by reason of age fit to answer concerning the sacraments delivered to them, they are to be baptized without any scruple, lest that hesitation cause them to be deprived of the cleansing of the sacraments; for on this account the envoys of the Moors, our brothers, consulted, because they redeem many such from the barbarians.

VII. Concerning the time of Easter or of the council.

It was likewise decided that the day of the venerable Easter be made known to all by the subscription of letters, but that the day of the council be observed on the Kalends of November, and that it be written to the primates of each and every province, that when he gathers a council among his own people, they not hinder this day.

VIII. Concerning intercessors, that they not retain the cathedra of a dying bishop for long.

It was likewise established that no intercessor be permitted to retain, by any popular factions or seditions, the cathedra to which he has been given as intercessor, but that he take care to provide a bishop for the same within a year; but if he neglect this, the year having passed, another intercessor is to be assigned.

IX. Concerning a defender of the churches to be requested from the emperor.

It seemed good to all that it be requested from the emperor, on account of the affliction of the poor, by whose troubles the Church is agitated without ceasing, that defenders be chosen for them against the powers of the rich, with the provision of the bishops.

X. That bishops hasten to the day of the council.

It likewise pleased that as often as a council is to be gathered, the bishops who are hindered neither by illness nor by any other more serious necessity shall duly assemble, and the primates of their provinces shall be notified, so that from all the bishops either two or three companies be made, and from each company in turn as many as have been chosen shall most urgently assemble on the day of the council; and those who could not assemble, let them write their excuses in the tractatory letter, or if perhaps some necessities have suddenly arisen after the arrival of the tractatory letter, unless they have rendered an account of their hindrance before their primate, they ought to be content with the communion of their own church.

XI. That hands are not to be laid on fallen priests as on laypeople.

It was thus confirmed that if at any time presbyters or deacons are convicted of some graver fault, for which it is necessary to remove them from the ministry, hands are not to be laid on them either as penitents or as faithful laypeople; nor is it ever to be permitted that the rebaptized be promoted to the grade of clergy.

XII. Concerning excommunicated clerics, how long it is permitted them to assert their case.

It was again established that, as often as clerics are convicted and confess some crime, and either for the sake of their shame or for the sake of the Church's reproach or the insolent mockery of heretics and gentiles they are spared, if perchance they wish to be present at their case and assert their innocence, they are to do this within a year of excommunication; but if within a year they have scorned to clear their case, thereafter no voice of theirs is to be heard at all.

XIII. Concerning clerics or monks ordained by another bishop.

It was likewise decided that if anyone, found in another's monastery, a bishop wishes either to promote to the clerical order or to appoint as superior of his own monastery, the bishop who does this shall be separated from the communion of the others and be content with the communion of his own people alone, and that man shall not continue either as a cleric or as a superior.

XIV. Concerning bishops who leave their property to unbelievers.

It was likewise established that if any bishop prefers unrelated heirs, or even heretical relatives or pagans, to the Church, at least after his death anathema shall be pronounced upon him, and his name shall in no way be recited among the priests of God, nor can he be excused if he dies intestate, since surely, having been made a bishop, he ought by no means to have deferred the fitting disposition of his property in accordance with his profession.

XV. Concerning basilicas that have been dedicated without the relics of martyrs.

Likewise it was decided that altars which are set up here and there throughout fields or along roads as memorials of martyrs, in which no body or relics of martyrs are proven to be buried, are to be overturned by the bishops who preside over those places, if it can be done; but if this is not permitted because of popular disturbances, the people are nevertheless to be warned not to frequent those places, so that those who are right-minded may not be bound there by any superstition. And altogether no memorial of martyrs is to be accepted as credible unless either a body or some relics are there, or the origin of some dwelling or passion is handed down by a most faithful origin; for altars which are established anywhere through dreams and, as it were, empty revelations of any persons whatsoever are to be wholly disapproved.

XVI. Concerning idols to be destroyed.

Likewise it was decided to ask the most glorious emperors that the remnants of idolatry be utterly destroyed not only in images but in whatever places, whether groves or trees.

Aurelius, bishop of the church of Carthage, subscribed to the statutes set forth above in our council.

Likewise seventy-three bishops subscribed.

THE SEVENTEENTH COUNCIL OF CARTHAGE, THE SIXTH

HELD BY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN BISHOPS, IN THE YEAR 456, IN THE CONSULATE OF THE MOST GLORIOUS EMPERORS HONORIUS XII AND THEODOSIUS VIII AUGUSTI, ON THE EIGHTH DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF JUNE.

When at Carthage, in the secretarium of the basilica of Faustus, Aurelius the bishop, together with Valentinus of the first see of the province of Numidia, and Faustinus of the church of Potentia in the province of Italy, Picenum, legate of the Roman Church, and also with the legates of the various African provinces, that is, of the two Numidias, of Byzacena, of Mauritania Sitiphensis and of Mauritania Caesariensis, and also of Tripolis, and with Vincentius of Culusi, Fortunatianus, and the other bishops of the proconsular province, two hundred and seventeen in number, and also with Philip and Asellus, presbyters and legates of the Roman Church, had taken their seats, with the deacons standing by, Aurelius the bishop said.

I. Address of Aurelius the bishop to the synod.

After the appointed day of the council, as you remember, most blessed brothers, many things have been demanded, as we awaited our brothers who have now lawfully come to the present synod, matters which must necessarily be joined to the concerns of the people; for which reason we give thanks to our Lord for the gathering of so great an assembly. It remains that both the copies of the Council of Nicaea which we now have and which were established by the fathers, and also the things confirmed here by our predecessors in support of that same synod, or which according to its form have been wholesomely ordered through all the grades of the clergy from the highest even to the lowest, be brought forward into the midst. It was said by the whole council: Let them be brought forward. Daniel the notary read: The profession of faith and the statutes of the Council of Nicaea are as follows.

II. Response of Faustinus the bishop, legate of the Roman Church, concerning those things which in the Church are confirmed partly by canon, partly by custom.

When Faustinus, bishop of the people of Potentia in the province of Picenum in Italy, legate of the Roman Church, had heard these things, he said: Some matters have been enjoined on us by the apostolic see by letter, and some also in mandates, to be treated with your blessedness, as we remember was also done in the earlier proceedings; that is, concerning the canons of Nicaea, that both their constitution and their custom be preserved, because some things are held by order and canon, and some have been confirmed by custom. Concerning these things, therefore, if it pleases your blessedness, let us treat, so that you may be able to make them known to the venerable see by your rescripts, and it may be clearly evident that we have given admonition to the venerable pope, although the chapters of the proceedings have already been inserted into the records; concerning these very things, therefore, as I said above, we ought to do what pleases your blessedness. Let the memorandum therefore be brought into the midst, so that your blessedness may know what is contained in it, so that a response may be made to each point.

III. Concerning the reading of the commonitorium of the Roman pope.

Aurelius the bishop said: Let the commonitorium be brought forward which our brothers and fellow-priests recently cited in the proceedings, and the rest of what has been done or is to be done. Daniel the notary then read the commonitorium. To brother Faustinus and to the sons Philippus and Asellus, presbyters, Zosimus the bishop. The matters entrusted to you are not hidden from you; do you carry out everything just as if our presence were there—indeed, because our presence there is in you—especially since you can also have this mandate of ours, and the words of the canons which we have inserted into this commonitorium for fuller confirmation: for thus said the most beloved brothers in the Council of Nicaea when they were deciding about the appeal of bishops.

But it has been decided that if a bishop has been accused, and the assembled bishops of his own region have judged him and deposed him from his rank, and he appears to have appealed and has fled to the most blessed bishop of the Roman Church, and he wishes to be heard and the Roman bishop considers it just that the examination be renewed, he should deign to write to those bishops who are in the neighboring and nearby province, so that they themselves may diligently investigate everything and decide according to the truth of the matter. But if anyone asks that his case be heard again, and by his entreaty moves the Roman bishop to send a presbyter from his side, it shall be in the power of the bishop to decide what he wishes and what he thinks; and if he decrees that men are to be sent who shall judge in person together with the bishops, having the authority of him by whom they were appointed, it shall be at his discretion; but if he believes that the bishops suffice to put an end to the matter, he shall do what he judges best in his most wise counsel.

IV. The response of Bishop Alypius concerning the true copies of the Council of Nicaea to be sought out.

And when it was being read out, Alypius, bishop of the church of Tagaste, legate of the province of Numidia, said: Concerning this we have already written back also in earlier letters of our council, and we profess that we will observe what was established in the Council of Nicaea; yet it still troubles us that when we inspected the Greek copies of this synod of Nicaea, we found these things there by some reason or other not at all. Wherefore we ask your reverence, holy pope Aurelius, that, since this authentic Council of Nicaea is said to be in the city of Constantinople, you deign to send some men with the writings of your holiness, and not only to our holy brother the bishop of Constantinople himself, but also to the venerable priests of Alexandria and Antioch, that they may direct this council to us with the attestation of their letters, so that all ambiguity may thereafter be removed, because we have by no means found it as brother Faustinus brought it; nevertheless we profess that we will observe these things for a little while, as I said before, until complete copies arrive. Moreover, the venerable bishop of the Roman Church, Bonifacius, must be asked by our letters that he too deign to send some men to the aforementioned churches, who can convey the same copies of the aforesaid Council of Nicaea according to his writings.

But now the copies of the aforementioned Council of Nicaea that we have, we join to these proceedings.

V. Here Bishop Faustinus says that the synod should be made known to the Roman pope for the purpose of inquiring into the truth of the Council of Nicaea.

Faustinus the bishop, legate of the Church of Rome, said: Nor does your holiness prejudice the Church of Rome, whether in this matter or in others, because our brother and fellow bishop Alypius has deigned to say that the canons are doubtful; but deign to write these very matters to our holy and most blessed pope, so that he too, inquiring into the complete canons, may be able to treat with your holiness concerning all the decrees. But let it suffice that the most blessed bishop of the city of Rome also, just as your holiness deliberates among yourselves, so may he himself inquire, lest contention seem to arise between the churches, but rather by brotherly charity you may be able to deliberate, with him writing back, what ought better to be observed. Bishop Aurelius said: Besides those things which we have brought forth into the proceedings, it is also necessary that by letters of our lowliness we fully intimate to our holy brother and fellow priest Boniface each of the matters we are treating; therefore, if our proposal pleases all, let us learn by the mouth of all. The whole council said: It pleases.

VI. Concerning the sentence of the Council of Sardica, read out at the request of Bishop Novatus.

Novatus, bishop, legate of Sitiphensis in Mauritania, said: We now recall that in this present memorandum it is also contained that there was read concerning presbyters or deacons, how they ought to be heard by their own bishops or by neighboring bishops, which we do not read at all in the Council of Nicaea; wherefore let your holiness order this very thing to be read out to us. Bishop Aurelius said: Let this also which is demanded be read out in its place. Daniel the notary read: Concerning the appeals of clerics, that is, of the lesser order, and the certain response of that same synod—as to what you ought to do in this matter, we believe it should be inserted, which was stated in this manner from the Council of Sardica (Title 17). Bishop Osius said: What still moves me I ought not to keep silent: If some bishop, being perhaps irascible—which he ought not to be—is quickly or harshly stirred up against his presbyter or deacon and wishes to expel him from the church, provision must be made lest an innocent man be condemned or lose communion; let the one ejected have the power to appeal to neighboring bishops, so that his case may be heard and more diligently examined, because audience ought not to be denied to one who asks; and that bishop who has rejected him, whether justly or unjustly, should accept patiently that the matter be discussed, so that either his sentence may be approved or corrected; and the rest.

VII. Where Augustine, bishop, together with the synod, promises to preserve the Council of Nicaea.

And when it was being read out, Augustine, bishop of the church of Hippo Regius, legate of the province of Numidia, said: We profess that we too will observe this, saving a more diligent inquiry into the Council of Nicaea. Bishop Aurelius said: If this also pleases the charity of all of you, confirm it by your response. The whole council said: All things that were established in the Council of Nicaea please all of us. Jucundus, bishop of the church of Suphetula, legate of the province of Byzacena, said: What was established in the Council of Nicaea can in no way be violated by anyone.

VIII. Where Faustinus, bishop, on account of the doubt concerning the chapter read out, finds that it must be written to the Roman pope.

Faustinus, bishop, legate of the Church of Rome, said: Even now, according to the profession of your holiness, I believe that some things are confirmed and some things weakened—which ought not to be—by as holy a man as Alipius and also our brother Jucundus, since the canons themselves have now come into doubt. Therefore, as it pleases both us and your blessedness, let your holiness deign to write to the holy and venerable bishop of the Church of Rome, so that he too may deliberate what Saint Augustine has deigned to establish, namely whether this also is to be decreed and retained, that is, concerning appeals of the lower grade.

If, therefore, it still comes into doubt concerning this chapter, it is just that the bishop of the most blessed Roman see should be informed, if indeed by the approved canons you are able to find this.

IX. Where the synod decreed that copies of the Council of Nicaea should rather be sought from the eastern bishops.

Aurelius, bishop, said: Also those things which we have lately made known to your charity, now permit the copies of the statutes of the Council of Nicaea, and also those things which have been healthfully ordained here by our predecessors according to the form of the same council, or which have now been ordained by us, to be read out and inserted into the proceedings. The whole council said: The copies of the faith and the statutes of the Nicene synod, which were brought to our council through the blessed-memory predecessor of your holiness, Cecilian, bishop, who was present, and also those which the fathers [copies of these]

R., U., copies] those present here established, or we now by common deliberation decree, shall remain inserted in these ecclesiastical acts, so that, as was said above, your blessedness may deign to write to the venerable men, the bishops of the Churches of Antioch and Alexandria and also of Constantinople, that they may send the most true copies of the Council of Nicaea under the attestation of their letters, whereby, the truth being made clear, those chapters which our present brother and fellow bishop Faustinus and also the fellow presbyters Philip and Asellus brought with them in the memorandum shall either be confirmed by us as found there, or, if they are not found, we shall treat of this in the following session with the synod gathered. Daniel, notary of the Council of Nicaea, recited the profession of faith and its statutes in the African council.

X. The profession of faith of the Council of Nicaea.

We believe in one God, the Father almighty, creator of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, only-begotten, born of the Father, that is, of the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, born, not made, of one substance with the Father, which the Greeks call homoousion, through whom all things were made, whether in heaven or on earth, who for us men and for our salvation descended, and was incarnate, was made man, suffered, and rose again on the third day, ascended into the heavens, sits at the right hand of the Father, from there he will come to judge the living and the dead; and in the Holy Spirit. But those who say: There was when he was not, and before he was born he was not, and that he was made out of nothing, or out of some other substance or nature, saying that the Son of God is mutable and changeable—these the catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.

XI. Letter sent to Boniface, bishop of the city of Rome, by Aurelius and the remaining bishops of the province of Africa through the aforementioned legates of the Roman Church on account of that same council.

To the most blessed lord and honorable brother Boniface, Aurelius, bishop of the first see of the province of Numidia, and the rest of us who were present, numbering two hundred and seventeen from the whole council of Africa.

Since it has pleased the Lord that our humility should write back concerning those matters which our holy brothers and fellow bishops Faustinus and the fellow presbyters Philippus and Asellus transacted with us—not to Zosimus, bishop of blessed memory, by whom they brought the mandates and letters to us, but to your venerable self, who by divine appointment stand in his place—we ought briefly to set forth those things which have been settled by the agreement of both parties, not those things which are contained in the lengthy volumes of the proceedings, in which we indeed lingered, charity being preserved, yet not without no small labor of disputation, deliberating in the records those matters which now pertain to the case; although he too, if he were still in the body, would receive this more gratefully, in that he would see it settled more peaceably, lord brother.

Apiarius the presbyter, from whose ordination and excommunication and appeal a scandal by no means light had arisen, not only for the Church of Sicca but also for the whole of Africa, seeking pardon for all his errors, was restored to communion. Moreover, our fellow bishop Urbanus of Sicca corrected without any doubt what seemed to need correction in him. But since provision had to be made for the peace and quiet of the Church not only for the present but also for the future, because many such things had preceded so that similar or even graver matters must thereafter be guarded against, it pleased us that Apiarius be removed from the Church of Sicca, with the honor of his rank of course retained, and that, having received a letter, he might perform the office of presbyter wherever else he wished and was able; which, when he himself requested it by his own letters, we granted him without difficulty.

To be sure, before this case was closed by that termination, among the other matters with which we were engaged in long disputes, since reason itself demanded that we inquire from our brothers the co-bishop Faustinus and the fellow presbyters Philip and Asellus, in the ecclesiastical records, so that they might bring forward whatever had been enjoined on them to be done with us, they indeed set forth certain matters in words without any writing; but when we demanded rather what they were carrying in their letters, they produced a memorandum, which, having been read to us, is also attached to the proceedings which they are bringing with them to you; in which four certain matters were entrusted to them to be done with us: one concerning appeals of bishops to the priest of the Roman Church; the second, that bishops not sail to the court importunately; the third, concerning the reopening of the cases of presbyters and deacons before neighboring bishops, if they have been wrongly excommunicated by their own; the fourth, concerning the excommunication of Bishop Urban, or even summoning him to Rome, unless he corrected the things that seemed to need correction. Concerning all of these, regarding the first and the third—that is, that it be permitted for a bishop to appeal to Rome, and that the cases of clerics be finished before the bishops of their own provinces—we already took care in the previous year, even by our letters given to the same bishop Zosimus of venerable memory, to intimate that we should be permitted to observe these for a little while without any injury to him, until the inquiry into the statutes of the Council of Nicaea.

And now we ask of your holiness that, just as the things done or established by the fathers at Nicaea were, so you cause them to be observed by us, and that there at your place you cause those things which they brought in the memorandum to be carried out. Likewise this: If a bishop has been accused, and the assembled bishops of his own region have judged him and deposed him from his rank, and he appears to have appealed and has fled to the most blessed bishop of the Roman Church, and he has wished to be heard and has judged it just that the examination be renewed, let him deign to write to those bishops who are in the neighboring and nearby province, that they themselves may diligently inquire into all matters and decide according to the truth of the faith. But if he who asks that his case be heard again has, by his entreaty, moved the Roman bishop to send presbyters from his side, it will be in the power of the bishop what he wishes and what he judges; and if he has decreed that those who are to judge together with the bishops in person are to be sent, having the authority of him by whom they have been appointed, it will be in his discretion; but if he believes that the bishops suffice to put an end to the matter, he shall do what he has judged by his most wise counsel.

Likewise concerning presbyters and deacons: If any bishop, being irascible—which he ought not to be—is quickly or harshly moved against his presbyter or deacon and wishes to expel him from the Church, provision must be made that an innocent man not be condemned or lose communion. Let the one ejected have the power to appeal to neighboring bishops, and let his case be heard and treated more diligently, because audience ought not to be denied to one who asks for it. And that bishop who rejected him, whether justly or unjustly, should accept patiently that the matter be examined, so that his sentence may either be approved or corrected. These things, certainly, were inserted into the proceedings up to the arrival of the most authentic copies of the Council of Nicaea; and if those things, just as they were established there and just as they are contained in the memorandum which the brothers sent from the apostolic see and cited among us, were observed in that order also among you in Italy, we would in no way be compelled to tolerate such things as we now no longer wish even to mention, nor would we suffer intolerable things. But we believe, with the help of the mercy of our God, that since your holiness presides over the Roman Church, we shall no longer suffer this arrogance, and those things which ought to be observed toward us—even when we do not disagree—will be preserved with brotherly charity according to the wisdom and justice which the Most High has given you; you yourself also perceive that they must be observed, unless perhaps the canons of the Council of Nicaea stand otherwise.

For although we have read very many codices, we have nowhere read in the Latin codices of the Council of Nicaea the things that were sent from there as set out in the aforementioned memorandum; because we have been unable to find them in any codex here, we rather desire that they be brought to us from the Eastern Churches, where the same decrees are said to be able to be found even in authentic form. Wherefore we also beseech your Veneration, that you yourself deign to write to the priests of those regions—that is, of the Church of Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople—and, if it pleases your Holiness, to others as well, so that from there the same canons established by the fathers at the city of Nicaea may come to us, with you above all conferring this benefit upon all the Western churches with the Lord's help. For who would doubt that those copies are most true of the council gathered in Greece at Nicaea, which, brought from such diverse places and from the noble Greek churches, are found to agree? And until those things which were cited by us in the aforementioned memorandum are done—concerning the appeals of bishops to the priest of the Roman Church and concerning the causes of clerics to be terminated before the bishops of their own provinces—we profess that we will keep them until proof is given, and we trust in God's will that your Blessedness will help us to this end.

But the remaining matters that were carried out or confirmed in our synod, since our aforementioned brothers Bishop Faustinus and the presbyters Philippus and Asellus brought them with them, if you deign, they will make them known to your Holiness. And subscribed by another hand: May our Lord keep you for us for many years, most blessed brother lord Aurelius, bishop of Carthage; Alipius, Augustinus, Possidius, Marinus, and the remaining two hundred and seventeen subscribed.

XII. The rescripts to the African council of Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, and of Atticus, bishop of Constantinople: where the authentic copies of the Council of Nicaea translated from Greek by the presbyter Innocentius were sent, which letters were also directed together with the same Council of Nicaea, through the aforementioned presbyter Innocentius and Marcellus the subdeacon of the Church of Carthage, to the holy Boniface, bishop of the Church of Rome, on the sixth day before the Kalends of December.

To the honorable lords and holy brothers and fellow bishops Aurelius and Valentinus, and also to the whole holy congregation gathered in the synod at Carthage, Cyril, greeting your charity in God.

We have received with all joy, through our son the presbyter Innocentius, the writings of your reverence, containing much complaint, in which you express the hope that we would, from the archive of our Church, extend to your belovedness the most accurate copies from the authentic synod established and confirmed by the holy Fathers at the city of Nicaea, metropolis of Bithynia, under the declaration of our faith. Therefore, honorable lords and brothers, with greeting first, I have found it necessary to send to your charity through this bearer, our son Innocentius, the most faithful copies from the authentic synod held in the city of Nicaea in Bithynia; and seeking this in the ecclesiastical history you will find it. Concerning Easter, as you write, we announce to you that we will celebrate it on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of May in the coming indiction. And in another hand: May God and our Lord keep your congregation, as we desire, dearest brothers. Amen.

Epistle of Atticus, bishop of Constantinople.

To the most blessed brothers and fellow bishops Aurelius and Valentinus and the other most dear men established in the synod held at Carthage, Atticus, bishop.

Through our son Marcellus, your subdeacon, I have received the writings of your love with all rejoicing, giving thanks to the Lord that I have been deemed worthy to enjoy the blessing of so many brothers, most blessed brothers of the lord. You write, indeed, that I should send the most true canons established by the Fathers at the city of Nicaea, metropolis of Bithynia, under the attestation of the faith: and who is there that would deny to his brothers the common faith or the statutes confirmed by the Fathers? Wherefore, through that same son of mine, Marcellus, your subdeacon, who is hastening greatly, just as they were established at the city of Nicaea by the Fathers, I have sent the canons entire, as you commanded, asking that your holy congregation be pleased to pray greatly for me. And in another hand: May our God keep your holiness, as we desire, most holy brothers.

XIII. Copies of the Council of Nicaea sent on the eighth day before the Kalends of December, in the consulship after that of the most glorious emperors Honorius (twelve times) and Theodosius (eight times) Augusti, to Boniface, bishop of the city of Rome.

We believe in one God, the Father almighty, creator of all things visible and also invisible: and in one Lord our Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born only-begotten from the Father, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, born, not created, of the same substance with the Father, through whom all things were made, heavenly and earthly, who for us men and for our salvation descended and was incarnate, and was made man, suffered, and rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and will come from there to judge the living and the dead: and in the Holy Spirit. But those who say: there was a time when he was not, and that he was made from nothing, or that he is of another substance or essence, or that the Son of God is mutable or convertible, the catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.

To this creed of faith copies of the statutes were also annexed, which were established in the great and holy synod held at the city of Nicaea, metropolis of the province of Bithynia, and were translated from Greek by Philo and Evaristus of Constantinople.

I. Concerning those who have cut themselves or castrated themselves.

If anyone has been cut by physicians on account of illness, or cut off by barbarians, let him remain in the clergy. But if anyone in good health has cut himself off, it is proper that he, being placed in the clergy, abstain, and that henceforth no such person be promoted; but just as this is manifestly said concerning those who devise this thing and dare to cut themselves off, so the canon admits to the clergy those who have been castrated by barbarians or by their masters and are found worthy.

II. Concerning those who from the pagans are applied to the clergy immediately after baptism.

Because many things are done against the ecclesiastical canon, either from necessity or otherwise, by men who are in a hurry—so that men newly coming to the faith from a Gentile life and catechized in a short time are straightway led to the spiritual bath, and as soon as they have been baptized are promoted to the episcopate or the presbyterate—it has pleased us that from henceforth nothing of the kind be done; for both time is needed by one who is being catechized and, after baptism, a fuller approval. For the apostolic Scripture is clear which says: Not a neophyte, lest perhaps being elated with pride he fall into judgment and the snare of the devil. But if as time goes on any sin of the soul be found concerning a person of this kind and he be convicted by two or three witnesses, let him cease from the clergy. But if anyone does otherwise besides these things, as one coming in against the great council, he himself shall be in peril concerning the clergy.

III. Concerning women brought in secretly.

The holy council has altogether forbidden that neither a bishop nor a presbyter nor a deacon, nor anyone at all who is in the clergy, have a woman brought in secretly with him, unless perhaps a mother or a sister or even an aunt or a maternal aunt, or only those persons who avoid all suspicion.

IV. Concerning the ordination of bishops.

A bishop ought indeed to be ordained by all the bishops who are within the province; but if this is difficult, either because of urgent necessity or because of the length of the journey, three bishops should by all means come together in one place, with the absent bishops also consenting and responding in writing, and then the imposition of hands is to be performed. But the confirmation of what is done is to be given to each one's own metropolitan bishop of the province.

V. Concerning the excommunicated.

Concerning those who are excommunicated, whether they be from the clergy or from the lay multitude, the sentence of the bishops throughout each province shall hold according to the canons, that those who are cast out by some are not to be received by others; but inquiry is to be made lest they have been excommunicated through faint-heartedness or obstinacy or some other vexation of the bishop.