Question — Decretum of Gratian
Question V
GRATIAN. But that compurgation is to be furnished to one who denies the charge Stephen writes to Leo, Bishop of Tiana:
GRATIANUS. Purgationem uero neganti prestandam, Stephanus scribit Leoni, Thianensi Episcopo:
Friedberg, col. 753/754
C. I. If a deacon cannot be convicted of a crime, let him clear himself secretly before the bishop.
Your deacon most truly declared that he was innocent of the crime charged against him. Nevertheless, if suspicion is entertained and suitable accusers and witnesses of the kind ordained by the sacred canons are found, when a fixed number of bishops has been summoned with you, let the accusers come; let the deacon Aldericus himself also be called; and if he denies it, let the case be ventilated canonically, and if he has either confessed spontaneously or been proved guilty by lawful witnesses, let him be struck by a canonical sentence. But if he neither confesses spontaneously nor lawful accusers and witnesses are found, and an evil reputation grows prevalent, let him clear himself by an oath secretly, not in a public examination, before you and several most reverend priests and deacons of your church. And thereafter proclaim him to be of good testimony, and restrain and admonish the sons of your church not to presume further to defame a priest of God, fearing that Ham, who mocked the shameful parts of his father, was accursed.
C. I. Diaconus, si de crimine conuinci non poterit, apud episcopum se ipsum secreto purificet.
De crimine sibi illato diaconus tuus uerissime fatebatur se inmunem. Verumtamen si suspicio habetur, et accusatores ydonei reperiuntur, et testes, quales sacri canones sanciunt, accito tecum certo episcoporum numero ueniant accusatores, uocetur et ipse Aldericus diaconus, et, si negauerit, uentiletur causa canonice, et, si uel sponte confessus, uel legitimis testibus fuerit approbatus, canonica feriatur sententia. Quod si nec sponte confitetur, nec accusatores et testes legitimi reperti fuerint, et mala fama crebrescit, non publico examine, sed coram te, et aliquantis reuerentissimis presbiteris et diaconibus tuae ecclesiae secreto iuramento se purificet. Et deinceps boni testimonii eum annuncia, et conpesce et conmone ecclesiae tuae filios, ne sacerdotem Dei ulterius infamare presumant, timentes, quod Cam maledictus est, qui uerenda patris derisit.
Friedberg, col. 753/754
C. II. A priest or deacon is not to be despoiled unless he has confessed spontaneously or has been lawfully convicted.
Likewise Nicholas to Solomon, Bishop of Constance. A priest or deacon whom you assert to be unwilling to confess crimes publicly but to wish to defend himself with an oath—even if it is nevertheless known to the bishop that his crime was perpetrated—cannot through any penance possess the priestly or diaconal office. But it is to be wondered, if he himself has not confessed, how the crime perpetrated by him can be known to the bishop, unless perhaps a suitable accuser proves it through suitable witnesses. Hence, if, when the bishop examines the case of a priest or deacon, the priest or deacon has not perhaps been convicted by the proof of witnesses, the crime is not lawfully manifest to the bishop unless he confesses it of his own accord. Unless he does this, in the meantime we do not see that the priest or deacon ought to be deprived of his office. Therefore voluntary confession alone, and the canonical number or quality of witnesses—with the bishops deciding and the accuser proving what he alleged—deprives a cleric of his own rank.
C. II. Non est spoliandus presbiter uel diaconus, nisi sponte confessus aut legitime conuictus fuerit.
Item Nicolaus Salomoni Constantiensi Episcopo. Presbiter aut diaconus, quem asseris crimina nolle publice confiteri, sed uelle cum sacramento defendere se, et si tamen notum sit episcopo esse scelus ipsius perpetratum, non potest per aliquam penitenciam sacerdotali uel diaconali offitio potiri. Sed mirandum, si ipse confessus non fuerit, quomodo notum possit esse episcopo scelus ab ipso perpetratum, nisi accusatore forte ydoneo per testes ydoneos approbante. Unde si examinante episcopo causam presbiteri uel diaconi non fuerit per testium approbationem presbiter uel diaconus forte conuictus, non est scelus episcopo legitime manifestum, nisi sua sponte ipsum confiteatur. Quod nisi fecerit, interim non uidemus suo debere presbiterum uel diaconum offitio priuari. Sola ergo spontanea confessio, et canonicus numerus, uel qualitas testium (decernentibus episcopis, et accusatore quod obiecerat conprobante) clericum priuat proprio gradu.
Friedberg, col. 753/754