Question — Decretum of Gratian
Question VIII
GRATIAN. But concerning the last question it was established thus in the Council of Neocaesarea, [cc. 9 and 10]:
GRATIANUS. De ultima uero questione sic statutum est in Concilio Neocesariensi: [c. 9. et 10.]
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C. I. Let a priest who confesses that he fell bodily before ordination not offer thereafter.
One who committed a bodily sin and afterward was ordained a priest, if he has confessed that he sinned before his ordination, indeed let him not offer, but let him remain in the other offices because of the utility of his zeal. But concerning the other sins, many have judged that he is to be deprived even of ordination. But if he has not confessed concerning these things, nor can he be manifestly convicted by any persons, the power concerning himself is to be entrusted to him. Similarly, if a deacon has been entangled in the same kind of guilt, he shall restrain himself from ministry.
C. I. Presbiter, qui confitetur, se ante ordinationem corporaliter lapsum, postea non offerat.
Qui admiserit corporale peccatum, et hic postea presbiter ordinatus est, si confessus fuerit quod ante ordinationem suam peccauerit, non quidem offerat, maneat autem in aliis offitiis propter eius studii utilitatem. Cetera uero, peccata censuerunt plurimi etiam ordinatione priuari. Quod si de his non fuerit confessus, nec aliquibus potest manifeste conuinci, huic ipsi potestas de se est conmittenda. Similiter et diaconus, si in eodem culpae genere fuerit inuolutus, sese a ministerio cohibebit.
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C. II. If those serving the altar transgress through the frailty of the flesh, they shall be subject to the judgment of the bishop.
Likewise from the Council of Lleida, [c. 5]. If those who serve the altar of God suddenly fall into the lamentable frailty of the flesh and, with God regarding them, worthily repent, so that with the body mortified they offer to God the sacrifice of a contrite heart, let it remain within the power of the pontiff either not to suspend for long those who are truly afflicted, or to segregate the slothful from the body of the church for a more prolonged time; nevertheless, in such a way that they resume the places of their offices so that they cannot afterward be advanced to higher offices. But if a second time, like dogs returning to vomit, they have turned back, let them not only lack the dignity of office but also not receive holy communion except at their departure.
C. II. Deseruientes altario si carnis fragilitate deliquerint, episcopi arbitrio subiacebunt.
Item ex Concilio Ylerdensi. [c. 5.] Hii, qui altario Dei deseruiunt, si subito in flenda fragilitate carnis corruerint, et Deo respiciente digne penituerint, ita ut mortificato corpore cordis contriti Deo sacrificium offerant, maneat in potestate pontificis uel ueraciter afflictos non diu suspendere, uel desidiosos prolixiore tempore ab ecclesiae corpore segregare; ita tamen, ut sic offitiorum suorum loca recipiant, ne possint ad altiora offitia ulterius promoueri. Quod si iterato uelut canes ad uomitum reuersi fuerint, non solum dignitate offitii careant, sed etiam sanctam communionem, nisi in exitu, non percipiant.
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C. III. Let those begotten from ministers of the church be consigned to its servitude.
Likewise from the Ninth Council of Toledo, [c. 10]. Although many judgments of the Fathers concerning the innocence of the order of clerics have hitherto issued and correction of their morals could in no way be effected, the offenses of their faults have drawn out the sentence of those judging to such an extent that vengeance should be brought not only upon the perpetrators of crimes but also upon the progeny of the condemned. And therefore, if from this point forward anyone from a bishop down to a subdeacon, while established in honor, begets children in a detestable union either from a female slave or from a freeborn woman, those from whom they are proved to have been begotten shall indeed be condemned by canonical censure; but the offspring born from another’s pollution shall not only never receive an inheritance, but shall also remain by perpetual right in the servitude of that church from the disgrace of whose priest or minister they were born.
C. III. Ex ministris ecclesiae geniti in seruitutem eiusdem deuocentur.
Item ex Concilio Tolletano IX. [c. 10.] Cum multae super innocentiam ordinis clericorum hactenus emanauerint sententiae Patrum, et nullatenus ipsorum formari quiuerit correctio morum, usque adeo sententiam iudicantium protraxere conmissa culparum, ut non tantum ferretur ultio in actores scelerum, uerum etiam in progeniem dampnatorum. Ideoque quilibet ab episcopo usque ad subdiaconum deinceps uel ex ancillae uel ex ingenuae detestando conubio in honore constituti filios procreauerint, illi quidem, ex quibus geniti probabuntur, canonica censura dampnentur; proles autem, aliena pollutione nata, non solum hereditatem numquam accipiet, sed etiam in seruitute eius ecclesiae, de cuius sacerdotis uel ministri ignominia nati sunt, iure perhenni manebunt.
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C. IV. One who confesses that he sinned before ordination shall not sacrifice; but one convicted shall be deposed.
Likewise from the Council of Pope Martin, [c. 35]. If any priest sinned before ordination, let him not offer, but let him bear the name of priest only for the sake of religion. But if he himself did not confess but was publicly convicted by another, let him not have even this, that he bear the name of priest. The same is to be observed concerning deacons, so that if they themselves have confessed, they shall receive the order of subdeacon.
C. IV. Qui confitetur se ante ordinationem peccasse non sacrificet; conuictus autem deponatur.
Item ex Concilio Martini Papae. [c. 35.] Si quis presbiter ante ordinationem peccauerit non offerat, sed tantum pro religione nomen presbiteri portet. Si autem non ipse confessus fuerit, sed ab alio publice conuictus, nec hoc ipsum habeat ut nomen presbiteri portet. Similiter et de diaconibus obseruandum est, ut, si ipsi confessi fuerint, ordinem subdiaconi accipiant.
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C. V. Sacraments are lawfully received from the hand of a priest who is tolerated by the church.
Likewise Nicholas in the responses to the Bulgarians, [c. 71]. When you ask whether you ought to receive communion from a priest who has been caught in adultery or merely besprinkled by rumor concerning it, we respond: No one, however polluted he may be, can pollute the divine sacraments, which exist as purgatives of all contagions. For whatever sort the priest may be, the holy things cannot be defiled. Therefore communion is to be received from him until he is rejected by the judgment of the bishops, because evil men, by ministering good things, harm only themselves; and a burning waxen torch indeed causes loss to itself, but ministers light to others in darkness, and from that from which it furnishes benefit to others it provides loss to itself. § 1. Therefore receive the mysteries of Christ fearlessly from every priest, because all things are purified in the faith of Christ. For it is faith which conquers this world; and because faith belongs not to the giver but to the receiver, as blessed Jerome says: “For believing, baptism is perfect for every soul, and in every priest the body is perfect.” He again, agreeing with sacred Scripture, says: “Before you hear, do not judge anyone”; and before proof of the accusation brought, suspend no one from your communion, because not everyone who is accused is immediately guilty, but he who is convicted is criminal.
C. V. De manu sacerdotis, qui ab ecclesia tolleratur, licite sacramenta sumuntur.
Item Nicolaus ad consulta Bulgarorum. [c. 71.] Sciscitantibus uobis, si a sacerdote, qui fuerit conprehensus in adulterio, siue de hoc sola fama respersus est, debeatis communionem suscipere, necne? respondemus: Non potest aliquis, quantumcumque pollutus sit, sacramenta diuina polluere, que purgatoria cunctarum contagionum existunt. Qualiscumque enim sacerdos sit, que sancta sunt coinquinari non possunt. Idcirco ab eo, usquequo episcoporum iudicio reprobetur, communio percipienda est, quoniam mali bona ministrando se tantummodo ledunt, et cerea fax accensa sibi quidem detrimentum prestat, aliis uero lumen in tenebris administrat, et unde aliis commodum exhibet inde sibi dispendium prebet. §. 1. Sumite ergo ab omni sacerdote intrepide Christi misteria, quoniam omnia in fide Christi purgantur. Fides enim est, que uincit hunc mundum, et quia non dantis, sed accipientis sit, dicente B. Ieronimo: "Ad credendum omni animae baptismum perfectum esse et in omni sacerdote corpus est perfectum." Qui rursus sacrae scripturae concordans ait: "Prius, quam audias, ne iudicaueris quemquam," atque ante probationem accusationis illatae neminem a communione tua suspendas, quia non statim qui accusatur reus est, sed qui conuincitur criminosus.
Friedberg, col. 759/760