Concilium Romanum II (AD 0495)

Second Roman Council I. In which Misenus is absolved by Gelasius and the bishops in the year of the Lord on the third day before the Ides of May.

Second Roman Council II. The venerable man Pope Gelasius was sitting in synod together with Boniface, Maximinus, Epiphanius, Basil, Vitalis, Clarus, Irenaeus, Decius, Asellus, Euplus, Valentinus, Martinianus, Bassus, Benignus, Primitivus, Palladius, Vindemius, Constantius, Martyrius, Candidus, Laurentius, Deodatus, Mercurius, Stephen, Dulcitius, Fortunatus, Paschasius, Sanctulus, Innocentius, Chrysogonus, Colonicus, Molensis, Maximianus, Valentinus, Constantius, Gandentius, Felix, Vitalianus, Peter, Serenus, Aucupius, Timothy, Stephen, Laurentius, and Probus, bishops; also sitting were Castinus, Laurentius, Canusius, Eugenius, Januarius, Martianus, Gordianus, Peter, Urbicus, Paulinus, Valens, Peter, Asterius, Smaragdus, Boniface, Maxentius, Epiphanius, Justinus, Felix, Redemptus, Projectitius, Callistus, John, Valentinus, Sebastian, Martin, Epiphanius, Andrew, Servusdei, Apellion, Peter, Servandus, Agapitus, Abundantius, Marcellinus, Litorius, Laurentius, Agatho, Sebastian, Valentinus, Anastasius, Genesius, Dionysius, Epiphanius, Acontius, Paulinus, Agapitus, Adeodatus, Benedict, Dominic, Redemptus, Severus, Julian, Stephen, Crescentianus, Septimina, Cyprian, and Epiphanius, presbyters, together with Amandianus, a vir illustris, and Diogenianus, a vir spectabilis; also standing by were deacons. Gelasius, bishop of the catholic church of the city of Rome, said: Your love remembers that in the previous assembly a libellus was offered to us by Misenus and was recited in your presence. This same libellus, if

It pleases your love that it be reviewed anew, so that our acts may contain it. And because he declares that he also has another petition in hand, we may be able to know what is contained in this as well. And he added: Let the libellus of Misenus be recited again. Anastasius the deacon recited: Given by your servant Misenus on the eighth day before the Ides of March, under the consulship of Viator, vir clarissimus. As far as concerns the precipice of my misfortune, I determine that my error, contracted by whatever reason, is not to be spared: since for this very reason I ought not to lack punishment, because I deserved to be brought to a penal cause, whatever it might be. As far as concerns remedial assistance, there are two things which compel me to come imploringly to this: lest I, by despair, be deemed worthy to be consigned to perpetual torments, after the example of the prevaricator Judas; and because that ineffable mercy is so great, which by apostolic power can absolve every crime. Therefore, venerable pope, in my case I, a wretched man, pour forth this one cry: Spare the prostrate, reach out your hand to the fallen. I rely on no excuses of ignorance, I put forward no snares of circumvention, nor do I seek to transfer the peril of my calamity to anyone; because I ought not to accuse others, I who seek to be mercifully absolved; for although I bring nothing in my own defense, I do not doubt that all these things are to be handled by your judgment.

Only I ask that, obedient to the supreme Divinity, which pronounces through the prophet: "I do not wish the death of the dying man, until he returns and lives" (Ezekiel 33), you rather, weighing with kindly consideration all that has been done in my person, grant the viaticum to an old man consumed by illness and continuous wasting, so that I may not be snatched away without ecclesiastical communion, not neglecting, from another's case, the test of my own fear: he who, even with you willing to confer aid, could not obtain it. And show me, entangled in this disaster through inexperience, that I have been able, by your grace, to reach the reception of the Church while still alive. When this was read, Bishop Gelasius said: The petitions will be retained in the acts. And he added: Now let Misenus himself come, and the petition which he offered shall be read in his presence. When Misenus had entered, prostrate on the ground, he offered another petition and asked that it be received. When it had been received, Bishop Gelasius said: Let both petitions which he has produced be read, also in his presence. Deacon Anastasius read again. Given by your servant Misenus, on the 8th day before the Ides of March, under the consulship of Flavius Viator, vir clarissimus.

As far as pertains to the precipice of my unhappiness [or: the offering of my unhappiness], I determine that my error, contracted by whatever reasoning, is not to be spared: since for this very reason I ought not to be without punishment, because I have deserved to be brought to a penal cause by whatever lot. But as far as regards remedial assistance, there are two things that compel me to come to implore this suppliantly: that I not, by despair, be the more worthy to be consigned to perpetual torments, after the example of the traitor Judas; and the other things that are contained above. Likewise, he recites another petition. Given by your servant Misenus on the third [or: fourth] day before the Ides of March, in the consulship of Flavius Viator, vir clarissimus.

Having first presented my petition, I humbly begged for nothing else than that the mercy of the apostolic see should not be denied me forever. Since I now feel that hope of this shines forth for me, on account of the immense mercy of God by which it is governed, I declare more and more that I consent that my association with the contagions of the faithless, into which I had unhappily rather than deliberately fallen, having been ensnared, is now free and purified. With my whole heart and voice I protest, under the gaze of divine contemplation, that I reject with a willing mind all heresies and whatever is hostile to the catholic and apostolic faith and to sincere communion, and especially the Eutychian heresy with its author Eutyches and his follower Dioscorus, or his successors and communicants Timothy, Iuro, Peter of Alexandria, Acacius of Constantinople, Peter of Antioch, and all their accomplices and communicants; I reject, condemn, and perpetually anathematize them, and I horribly execrate all these and those like them, and I profess that I will never have any association with such persons in any way whatsoever, but will be entirely separate from all of them. Although I never received their depravity by will, yet because I seem to have fallen into it, less cautious by reason of calamity, under the sight of God and of the blessed apostle Peter and his vicar, and of the whole Church, by my profession (as I have said) [I declare].

confession] and voice I condemn, detest, and abhor, affirming that I will always remain in the sole faith and communion of the Catholic and Apostolic Church. To this petition of mine I subscribed with my own hand on the third day before the Ides of March, in the consulship of Viator, a man of clarissimus rank. These things I have entrusted to be offered by my hands to your blessedness in the assembly of the venerable [bishops]. And in another hand: I, Misenus, have subscribed to this petition of mine, offered by me, on the day and consulship written above. Bishop Gelasius said: Let what has been read be transcribed. And he added: What seems to your fraternity to be determined, we desire to learn also with the participation of your counsel. All the bishops and priests rose up, begging and saying: Hear, O Christ: Life to Gelasius!—said twenty times. What God has given you in power, grant—said twelve times. Do what the Lord Peter does—said ten times. That you may grant indulgence, we beg—said nine times.

When they had come in again, Bishop Gelasius said: The Apostolic See, which by the delegation of Christ the Lord holds the primacy of the whole Church, for the general dispensation and care which it always exercises with necessary circumspection, both for the Catholic faith and for the paternal canons and rules of the elders, had long since sent Misenus and Vitalis, supported by the legation of its authority, to the East under my predecessor of holy memory, against the followers of the Eutychian pestilence, or against those who had polluted themselves with the communion of such persons; but because they, in any way declining the apostolic commands, had fallen back into the associations of those against whom they had been sent, the matter having been revealed by the discussion of the synodal acts, it removed them from both communion and honor, deservedly and by right. Yet the memory of the supreme piety, in its moderation, reserved for them a place of mercy; and while it imposed a condition of punishment, it did not wish to cut off the hope of propitiation; and it tempered its sentence in such a way that the pardon of these men might rather come with the salvation of those by whose participation they had been deceived; and that they might rather offer to those whom they had confirmed in their depravity by their consent both a salutary fear of correction and a fellowship of imitable amendment. Finally, the very words of the penalty were so balanced that those men would perceive themselves to be stricken along with these, and yet from their condition would not despair of being able to be saved.

In this, of course, the way of returning is not entirely closed to them; and for those, if they should prefer, correction has been offered through these, and effort has been extended by which they might compensate for past lapses with better endeavor, if they would turn the favor which they readily granted to the transgressors, into the reformation of Catholic priests. For it was said that these would be suspended until, with God as author and with the support of Catholic princes or the Christian people, the Church of Alexandria had received a Catholic priest. We would, of course, be thought to rejoice that the Greeks could in no way deny what they saw had been condemned by the Apostolic See, and that they could easily be moved by the punishment of these, so that they might know what to avoid and what consequently to strive for, and might think it desirable, by repenting, to side more with the righteous than to err perpetually with the faithless. And it was long awaited that, spurred by these arguments, they would lay aside the abominable contagions, consenting together with the Apostolic See, as had been hoped from their will; and that, striving, they would rather lend the effort of recalling Catholic priests: so that they themselves might return to orthodox unity, and these who had been participants in their error might provide the effect of the promised reception.

Nor was there any cessation on the occasion when it could have been done, so that, duly admonished and sufficiently instructed, they might equally recognize the dangers to be avoided, and understand that the door of apostolic communion lay open to them, if they had sought it with sincere minds. But because matters have reached such a point that, even with medicinal exhortations, while they had nothing contrary to bring forward, they have nevertheless so far delayed giving their consent; we owe to their difficulties a certain paternal affection of pious grief, beseeching the omnipotence of our God, which alone, however wayward, can convert wills into the path of truth, that He may deign to pour into them, by the wondrous operation of His mercy, the spirit of repentance and the efficacy of correction. Until these things come about (as we trust in His power) through divine appeasement, let us not allow this suppliant, who earnestly seeks, to perish in the meantime: so that those whom the Orientals have not terrified into abandoning error by their downfall may at least be provoked to return to health by healing; especially since the tenor of the pronouncements themselves accompanies the clemency of the apostolic see’s disposition, and the constitution set forth is not judged to be at variance with itself.

It is certainly determined (as has already been stated above) that those of whom we treat ought to be suspended until, with God’s help and the assistance of the aforementioned persons, the Alexandrian Church receives a Catholic priest: it was not set forth abruptly and without exception, but was brought forth on that reasoning whereby, without their assistance or without their non-assistance, the sentence would seem indifferently fixed: and therefore under the tenor by which the condition was balanced, when that tenor does not exist, it absolves the necessity of their profession. For what was pronounced to be done with the assistance of the aforementioned persons, it is manifest that, when this same assistance does not follow, it cannot be done. But when it is also recorded that it is to be done with their assistance, it is sufficiently clearly shown that without this it could not be fulfilled. Therefore, although those whose assistance is proven to be lacking are to be pitied for their obstinacy, yet because it is lacking, just as without it what was presumed could be accomplished with it cannot be brought about, so, with the causes ceasing through which this article would come to its term, it does not hold the obligated party insolubly bound.

Therefore, since the sentence has been passed, and there exist no means by which it can maintain its appointed measure until its end, it is necessary to provide for these persons and to grant freedom to those who were held in constraint. And indeed the Apostolic See (as must often be repeated), judging that the Easterners could in no way reject what the Apostolic See had refuted, and that they could prefer no person to their own salvation and to apostolic communion, had thought better of their intentions. But—what must not be passed over in silence—the lamentable ruin does not so much accuse the Apostolic See of an improvident opinion, well disposed toward the Easterners, as it ought to attribute to their own obstinacy the fact that they did not follow the path of their own restoration offered to them. Nor, however, should their obstinacy impede the medicinal opportunity for others who desire it. For those things were said confidently about the agreement of the Greeks because they seemed to prefer the fellowship of blessed Peter to any persons whatsoever, and because those who had previously been Catholics were thought likely to agree readily with the truth; and therefore, could any man’s affection be preferred to the desires for apostolic communion?

which have not yet received the wills through which this order would proceed, that which was presumed could be done through them is seen to be nullified; since when those who would complete it are lacking, no effect can come about; indeed, when those very ones through whom it was judged to be done oppose its being done: if they are to remain in this obstinacy (which God forbid), the condition of that matter, which was confidently thought to be fulfilled through their efforts, is dissolved. If, however (as we rather hope), they have been converted to better things, lest in the meantime the one who seeks mercy be cut off, whether by age or by disease, which often impedes, while consultation is being held about these matters, so that when he is dead no remedy can be substituted; especially since it has been said that, whether with their support or even perhaps against their will, but with their greater effort, what had been promulgated could stand: just as, therefore, with their support the established peace does not endure at all: so also by this reasoning the blessed Apostle Paul is not to be believed to have deceived (which God forbid) or to have been inconsistent with himself; since when he had promised to go to the Spains, being occupied by greater matters through divine arrangement, he could not fulfill what he promised. For as far as his own will was concerned, he declared what he truly wished to accomplish: as far as the secrets of divine counsel, which as a man he could not fully know, though filled with the Spirit, he omitted it, prevented by a higher disposition.

Nor because the blessed apostle Peter, out of affection for divine reverence, replied to the Lord Himself: "You will not wash my feet forever" (John 13), did he err (which God forbid) or in any way fail to stand by his own statement, since he soon yielded to the same divine will; and what he said he would not do, constrained by the causes of human salvation, he sought to do with willing devotion. Therefore, since that path by which their reconciliation had been established does not approach, another may be undertaken, by which help may be given to those whom it has been decreed must be helped: especially since for Misenus, from any excess or any penalty of transgression, the penalty already dealt with up to that point suffices, so that it may be relaxed only by the supreme consideration of human consideration, and the punishment which has no further room to grow is to be remitted. For since Almighty and merciful God, through ecclesiastical piety, has not wished to deny a remedy to a soul seeking it, there is no doubt that it proceeds from God Himself as author and from divine compunction, that then consideration be given to his reception, when the necessity, which must not be delayed, compels it to be granted: moreover, our Savior, delegating to the blessed apostle Peter above the others: "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16): just as by these words nothing is held to be excepted, so through the office of apostolic dispensation, everything can be generally bound, and everything consequently absolved.

Especially because from this it is all the more necessary that the example of apostolic mercy be offered to all, so that by the absolution of the condemned, if all repent and withdraw from error and return to the sincere unity [or: purity] of apostolic communion, they may not imagine themselves to be freed from the bonds of that condemnation which the transgressors have universally and deservedly incurred. For we who strive to heal those far off to the integrity of faith ought not to reject those who return as suppliants in the present; where it must be carefully guarded lest, by denying the detriment of conscience, we fall (which God forbid) into the material of sin [or: of petition] to the very end, and the censure of truth, persisting without end even toward suppliants, pass into guilt. Therefore, as much as, with the Lord warning beforehand, we offer remedies to the desire of human possibility, * leaving entirely to divine judgment what is above the measure of our ability, they will not be able to impute to us why we remit the offense of transgression to the living, which the Church, with God granting, is able to do: they who also demand that we grant pardon to the dead, which it is manifest we are not able to do: because since it has been said, "What you bind on earth," those whom it is now established are no longer on earth, He has reserved not for human but for His own judgment; nor does the Church dare to claim for itself what it sees was not granted even to the blessed apostles themselves; because the case of the living is one thing, that of the dead another.

Vitalis has borne the lot of divine judgment, to whom, even though we greatly wished, we could not bring aid: let it at least benefit him, while the opportunity of the living permits, that in obtaining remedies the experience of another suddenly removed may serve. And since we know it is written: "One will be taken, and one will be left" (Luke 17), the danger of the one intercepted urges us not to delay healing remedies for the survivor, who is himself shown to be divinely receivable by this very fact, that he outlives the one who did not merit to reach these things: and a certain examination of heavenly judgment shines forth from both; and it is shown to us more clearly in two, in which one there was a cause without pardon, and in which one there is that which ought not to lack indulgence; and therefore, just as Acacius himself, if he had survived, could have obtained what he competently sought (indeed, concerning whom it is so established that he would be unabsolvable, as it was said: "Even if he should perhaps correct himself"), much more is it apostolic mercy not to deny to this man, who is infected by his communion, when he implores tearfully.

Misenus therefore, having made profession, declared that he detests all these heresies, especially the Eutychian with Eutyches, Dioscorus, Timothy Aelurus, Peter of Alexandria, Acacius of Constantinople, and Peter of Antioch, and all their successors, followers, and communicants, and that he strikes them with perpetual anathema; he will receive the grace of apostolic communion and priestly dignity, which he has received by catholic tradition. All the bishops and presbyters, rising in the synod, acclaimed: "Hear us, O Christ! Life to Gelasius!"—said fifteen times. "Lord Peter, preserve him!"—said twelve times. "His see and his years!"—said seven times. "We see you as the vicar of Christ!"—said six times. "His see and his years!"—said thirty-seven times. I, Sixtus, notary of the holy Roman Church, by order of my most blessed lord Pope Gelasius, have published this from the archive on the third day before the Ides of May, under the consulship of Flavius Viator, vir clarissimus (in the year of Christ 495).