Epistola V Ad Episcopos Africae

LETTER V. Blessed Pope Siricius to the Bishops of Africa. Siricius, with a synod, wherein he set forth how great a care bishops ought to have for the purity of the Church, striving to restore ancient precepts already neglected by some, decreed how bishops are to be ordained, that a cleric should not marry a widow, nor be admitted to the clergy who has married a widow, or who after the remission of sins has worn the belt of secular military service; that no one should ordain a cleric from another church. Likewise, concerning those rejected, that they are not to be received. Concerning the reception of Novatians and Montenses who return to the Church. Concerning the continence of priests and levites. That the judgment of mercy should not be lacking. To the most beloved brothers and fellow bishops throughout Africa, Siricius. When many brothers had gathered together at the relics of the holy apostle Peter, through whom both the apostolate and the episcopate began their beginning in Christ, and it was decided, on account of many emerging causes, which in some were not causes but crimes, that henceforth each one should have the care of such a kind in the Church, as the apostle Paul preaches (Eph. 5:27), that such a Church should be presented to God, having no spot or wrinkle, lest through the breath of some diseased sheep our conscience should appear contaminated. Concerning this matter, by better counsel it was settled.

Especially for the sake of those who, at present, by reason of bodily infirmity or of weary age, have been least able to be present, so that a perpetual form of this kind might be preserved, it has pleased us to give such letters—not that they impose any new precepts, but that we may desire those things to be observed which, through the sloth and idleness of some, have been neglected, yet which have been established by apostolic and patristic constitution, as it is written: "Stand, and hold our traditions, whether by word or by epistle" (2 Thess. 2:14). That thought, dearest brothers, ought to shake your mind more vehemently, so that, immune from every stain of this age, we may come secure to the sight of God. For we shall not be immune because we preside over peoples, since it is written: "To whom much has been entrusted, from him more will be required" (Luke 12:43). Therefore, since we are compelled to render account not only for ourselves but for the people entrusted to us, we ought to instruct the people, humble with divine discipline. For there have been some who, not holding the statutes of the elders, have violated the chastity of the Church by their own presumption, following the will of the people and not fearing the judgment of God.

Therefore, lest we seem to connive in silence and to lend consent to such persons in like manner, and thereby incur the penalties of Gehenna, as the Lord says, "You saw the thief, and you ran with him, and you placed your portion with the adulterers" (Ps. 49:18): these are the things which, in view of divine judgment, it behooves all Catholic bishops henceforth to observe. I. First, that no one presume to ordain without the knowledge of the apostolic see, that is, of the primate. For a judgment is sound when it is confirmed by the opinion of many. II. That one bishop not presume to ordain a bishop, on account of arrogance, lest the benefit conferred seem surreptitious. For this was established and defined in the Synod of Nicaea (Canon 4). III. Likewise, if anyone, after the remission of sins, has worn the belt of secular military service, he ought not to be admitted to the clergy. IV. That a cleric not marry a woman, that is, a widow.

V. That a layman who has married a widow shall not be admitted to the clergy. VI. That no one shall usurp the ordination of a cleric from another church (Council of Nicaea, canon 7; Council of Antioch, canon 22; Council of Sardica, canons and 19). VII. That another church shall not admit a deposed cleric (Council of Nicaea, canon 5; Council of Antioch, canon 6; Council of Sardica, canon 16). VIII. That those coming from the Novatians or the Montenses shall be received through the imposition of hands, except for those whom they rebaptize. Furthermore, we urge what is worthy, chaste, and honorable: that priests and levites shall not cohabit with their wives (Aeneas of Paris, book against the Greeks, chapter 102); because they are occupied in the ministry and the daily necessities of the ministry. For Paul writes to the Corinthians, saying: "Abstain, that you may have leisure for prayer" (1 Corinthians 7:5). If, therefore, abstinence is enjoined upon the laity so that they may be heard when praying, how much more must a priest always be ready at every moment, secure in the purity of his cleanliness, lest he be compelled either to offer the sacrifice or to baptize? If he has been defiled by carnal lust, what will he do? Will he excuse himself? With what shame, with what mind will he usurp? With what conscience, with what merit does he believe himself to be heard, when it has been said: "All things are pure to the pure, but to the defiled and the unfaithful nothing is pure" (Titus 1:15)? Concerning this, I exhort, I admonish, I beg: let this reproach be removed, which even paganism can rightly accuse. Perhaps this is believed because it is written: "husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2).

He did not say that one who does not persist in the desire to beget children, but rather on account of future continence. For he did not exclude the chaste, who said: "I would, however, that all men were as I am" (1 Cor. 7:7). And he declares more plainly, saying: "But those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are no longer in the flesh, but in the spirit" (Rom. 8:8). Therefore, brothers, if these things are observed by all with full vigilance, ambition will cease, dissension will subside, heresies and schisms will not arise, the devil will have no place for raging, unanimity will remain, iniquity will be trampled underfoot, charity will blaze with spiritual fervor, the peace proclaimed by our lips will accord with our will: the peace, indeed, of our God, which the Savior Himself, already near to His passion, commanded to be preserved (John 14:27), and left to us by hereditary right, saying: "I give you my peace, I leave you my peace" (Phil. 2:3); and the saying of the Apostle (1 Thess. 2:4), that we, being of one mind, thinking one thing, may remain in Christ, claiming nothing for ourselves through contention, nor through vainglory, and pleasing not men, but our God and Savior. If we are willing to obey all these precepts faithfully (Phil. 4:7), the Lord will guard our bodies and our souls until the day when He will render to each according to his works (Rom. 2:5).

If anyone, puffed up in the pride of his own flesh, should wish to wander away from this rule of the canon, let him know that he is cut off from our communion and will suffer the penalties of Gehenna. Moreover, mercy must be accompanied by judgment. For we ought to reach out a hand to those who are slipping, but in such a way that we do not drag one who is already running into ruin. Given at Rome in a council of bishops on the Ides of January, after the consulship of the Augustus Arcadius and the vir clarissimus Bauto. WARNING ON THE FOLLOWING LETTER. I. To whom it was primarily written.—Not only the collection of Isidore, but also another more ancient codex, which we call the Spanish, exhibits this letter. What we read, "Even those to be ordained from afar should come, so that they may be approved by the judgment both of the people and of us," is an indication that it was written to those bishops to whom it was not permitted to ordain "without the knowledge of the apostolic see," that is, to those to whom the preceding letter was primarily written. Yet the inscription which now obtains is not for that reason false, even if it is not the primary one. For it could be inscribed to "orthodox bishops throughout various provinces" by the same right as the next letter could be inscribed to "brothers and fellow bishops throughout Africa." For Siricius, holding for certain that the care of all churches pertained to him, imitated his predecessors and especially Liberius, by whom "general decrees were sent to the provinces," as he himself says in letter 1, n.

2, he recalls, wherever the case of some church had prompted responses which he judged could be of use to others, he took care that these be conveyed to their notice. A witness to this is his own letter 1, in which what he wrote back to Himerius he orders "to be brought to the notice of all his fellow bishops." Therefore, it ought to offend no one that the inscription bears the name "pope." For this is believed to have been inserted not by Siricius himself, but by the one who noted that his letter had been transmitted to various provinces. II. The agreement of this letter with the preceding one. It can be seen as the very one which was recited at Thusdri and Telepte. —It would be desirable if we had it transcribed from the original, which was inscribed to the bishops of Italy, and not from the copy which was subsequently delivered to the bishops of other provinces. Yet, even if there remain passages which seem to need a more accurate exemplar from which they could be corrected, there is nevertheless no reason why it should be considered a doubtful offspring of Siricius. For its agreement with the preceding letter is complete. The scope of both is the same, namely that what was established by apostolic and patristic constitution, especially concerning ordinations, be observed. In both, not only the same opinions, but also the same expressions occur, for example, "qua de re" for "quare," "ecclesiastici canonis dispositio," "cingulus militiae saecularis.

Just as at the beginning of each, the fear of divine judgment and the zeal for preserving traditions are inculcated, so at the end of each, the commendation of Christian charity and concord is urged with the same reasoning. Perhaps also the letter which is said to have circulated long before with the consent of many brethren is none other than the earlier epistle, which is known to have been written as a broad document from a synod, the vindicator of the Nicene canons. If this is so, there seems to be almost no doubt that the epistle we are discussing is the very one which we heard, from the preface of the Teleptene council itself, was first read at the council of Thusdritum and then at that of Telepte. III. At what time it was written.—As regards the time, that statement of Siricius about certain ambitious men, "who," he says, "frequently press upon my ears that they may be bishops," and on whose account "there has been contention several times," indicates that he himself at that time was not a novice in bearing episcopal burdens. But if the letter which Siricius at the beginning of number 3 recalls "had circulated before" is to be understood as the earlier one, since he says it simply circulated before and does not add "long ago" or any other particle denoting a longer interval, this one can be considered not much more recent than the earlier. Hence it could easily have happened that those two letters, as pertaining to the same matters and issued at nearby councils, were sent together to Africa, and were read there first at Thusdrum, then at Telepte.

Nor does the different heading of those letters contradict this conjecture, since the earlier one alone came to us from the acts of the African council, while this one reached us from another source.