Question — Decretum of Gratian
Question II
GRATIAN. But Bishop Leo testifies that no one is to receive another bishop’s cleric against that bishop’s will, writing to Rusticus, Bishop of Narbonne:
GRATIANUS. Inuito uero episcopo clericum eius a nullo esse suscipiendum, Leo Episcopus testatur, scribens Rustico Narbonensi Episcopo:
Friedberg, col. 839/840
C. I. Let no one receive another’s cleric against his bishop’s will.
Let no one receive another’s cleric against his bishop’s will. GRATIAN. But it is to be understood: unless he wishes to pass to the purpose of a better life. For then he is free to enter a monastery even when the bishop contradicts him. Hence Pope Urban II in the chapter of Saint-Ruf:
C. I. Inuito episcopo eius clericum nemo suscipiat.
Alienum clericum inuito episcopo ipsius nemo suscipiat. Gratian. Sed subaudiendum est, nisi ad propositum melioris uitae transire uoluerit. Tunc enim liberum est illi, etiam episcopo contradicente, monasterium ingredi. Unde Urbanus Papa [II.] in capitulo sancti Rufi:
Friedberg, col. 839/840
C. II. One who seeks the purpose of monks is to be received even against the bishop’s will.
There are, he says, two laws: one public and the other private. The public law is that which has been confirmed in writings by the holy Fathers, as is the law of the canons, which indeed was handed down because of transgressions. For example: it was decreed in the canons that a cleric ought not to pass from his own bishopric to another without commendatory letters from his bishop. This was established because of criminals, so that infamous persons might not be received by any bishop. For they were accustomed to celebrate their offices in another bishopric when they could not do so in their own, which has rightly been condemned by precepts and writings. § 1. But the private law is that which is written in the heart by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says concerning certain persons: “Who have the law of God written in their hearts,” and elsewhere: “When the gentiles do not have the law, if they naturally do the things that are of the law, they are a law to themselves.” If any one of these retains a people in his church under a bishop and lives in a secular manner, but, breathed upon by the Holy Spirit, wishes to save himself in some monastery or regular canonry, because he is led by the private law no reason requires that he be constrained by the public law. For the private law is worthier than the public. Indeed, the Spirit of God is law, and those who are acted upon by the Spirit of God are led by the law of God; and who is there who can worthily resist the Holy Spirit? Therefore, whoever is led by this Spirit, even if his bishop contradicts him, may go free by our authority. For the law is not imposed upon the just, but where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty, and if you are led by the Spirit of God, you are not under the law.
C. II. Qui monachorum propositum appetit, etiam inuito episcopo recipiendus est.
Duae sunt, inquit, leges: una publica, altera priuata. Publica lex est, que a sanctis Patribus scriptis est confirmata, ut lex est canonum, que quidem propter transgressiones est tradita. Verbi gratia: Decretum est in canonibus, clericum non debere de suo episcopatu ad alium transire sine conmendatitiis litteris sui episcopi, quod propter criminosos constitutum est, ne uidelicet infames ab aliquo episcopo suscipiantur personae. Solebant enim offitia sua, cum non in suo episcopatu poterant, in alio celebrare, quod iure preceptis et scriptis detestatum est. §. 1. Lex uero priuata est, que instinctu S. Spiritus in corde scribitur, sicut de quibusdam dicit Apostolus: "Qui habent legem Dei scriptam in cordibus suis," et alibi: "Cum gentes legem non habeant, si naturaliter ea, que legis sunt, faciunt, ipsi sibi sunt lex." Si quis horum in ecclesia sua sub episcopo populum retinet, et seculariter uiuit, si afflatus Spiritu sancto in aliquo monasterio uel regulari canonica saluare se uoluerit, quia lege priuata ducitur, nulla ratio exigit, ut a publica lege constringatur. Dignior est enim lex priuata quam publica. Spiritus quidem Dei lex est, et qui Spiritu Dei aguntur lege Dei ducuntur; et quis est, qui possit sancto Spiritui digne resistere? Quisquis igitur hoc Spiritu ducitur, etiam episcopo suo contradicente, eat liber nostra auctoritate. Iusto enim lex non est posita, sed ubi Spiritus Dei, ibi libertas, et si Spiritu Dei ducimini, non estis sub lege.
Friedberg, col. 839/840