Question II

GRATIAN. Part I. Concerning periods of delay to be furnished after restoration, and for what space of time they are to be granted, Pope John writes, [letter I to Archbishop Zacharias], saying:

For as much time as they appeared to have been despoiled or expelled, the same space of time shall be granted them as a period of delay before they are summoned to a synod.

Likewise Pope Pelagius II, [to the Bishops of Italy]. When the churches, possessions, or property of some bishop are detained by his rivals or by any others not of his own will, nothing ought or can be alleged against him by anyone before the restoration of all his property. Rather, all things are first to be restored to him under the laws, and afterwards the appointed business is to be argued at the time defined by the Fathers.

Likewise Stephen V to Gerard of Lodi. You ought first to cause yourselves to be reinvested with the invaded cities, monasteries, and manors, as well as all the other property generally, because we ought neither to contend naked nor to oppose ourselves unarmed to enemies.

Likewise Pope Evaristus, [letter II]. We have heard that certain bishops defamed and torn to pieces by you have been driven from their own cities—for bishops cannot be constituted elsewhere except in cities that are not very small—and that others have been constituted while they are living. Therefore we write these things to you so that you may know that this is not lawful; rather, their proper bishops ought to be recalled and restored most completely. But those who with adulterous foulness hold their brides—whom, according to the foregoing tenor, we understand to be their wives—we command to be cast out, to be made adulterers and infamous, and to be barred from ecclesiastical honors. But if you have any complaint against them, after these things have been completed it will have to be investigated and terminated by authority of this holy See.

Likewise Gaius, [letter I to Felix]. After complete restoration, an annual period of delay or one of six months is to be granted to persons cast out or despoiled.

Likewise Pope Eusebius, [letter II]. Therefore it is first necessary that all things be restored under the laws to the despoiled, and that the churches taken from them be restored to them with every privilege; and afterwards a space shall be granted them not under a narrow time but for as long as they appeared to have been despoiled or expelled before they are summoned to a synod.

Likewise Pope Felix II, [in the rescript to the Bishops of Egypt, c. 8]. Let him reside peacefully and with power in his own see, arranging all acts, for as long as he appeared, while expelled or despoiled, to have lacked his property.

The same, [Pope Felix I, letter II to the Bishops of Gaul]. If a bishop has been despoiled of his own property or that of the church committed to him, or—which God forbid and ought to be alien to all the faithful—has been cast out from his own see, or has been separated from his sheep in some detention, then canonically let him first be restored to his former status with every privilege of his honor, and let all his things which had been taken from him through the ambushes of his enemies be restored under the laws. For he will not be able to be summoned or prejudged unless, for his own necessity—though by no means to be judged—he has voluntarily chosen to come. Therefore, let him by no means be compelled by anyone before all things which he had lost through the suggestions of his enemies are most completely restored to his power by an honorable council in lawful order. § 1. But let the prelate be returned to his former status with every honor; and, after he has freely and securely arranged and ordered his affairs for a long time, then, when regularly summoned, let him come to the case at the appointed time in a lawful and canonical council within four, five, six, or seven months, according as his capacity permits, and not before; and, if it thus appears just, let him answer the allegations of the accusers.

GRATIAN. Part II. But if a bishop, by living badly, has dissipated the resources of the church, he is to be removed from its patrimony until cognizance is taken concerning the dissipation of ecclesiastical property, after the example of tutors and curators who, when they are suspect, are removed from a tutorship or curatorship until cognizance is taken concerning the suspicion. Hence Pope Pelagius to Peter the priest:

Because those things which have reached our ears concerning the frauds of Maximilian through the lamentable report of petitioners could not readily be known according to the truth unless the resources of the church—which he dissipated by badly converting them to his own uses—were set apart from his power until the case is heard, we therefore wish you in the meantime to remove him from the patrimony of the aforesaid church and to have the periods for its examination kept within your governance.