Distinction L

GRATIAN. Part I. From the foregoing authorities it has been clearly demonstrated that those entangled in various crimes cannot be ordained as priests. But it is now asked concerning the same persons whether, after penance has been performed, they are able either to remain in their own orders or to ascend to higher grades. By many authorities those entangled in various crimes are cast down from their own orders and prohibited from access to higher ones. Hence Gregory says to Constantine, Bishop of Milan [Book IV, epistle 17]:

If permission to return to their order is granted to those who have fallen, the force of canonical discipline is undoubtedly broken, while someone does not fear to conceive desires for depraved action because of hope of returning. And a little later: §1. Endeavor before all things that no supplication move you in any way to recall to sacred order those who have fallen, lest punishment of this kind be believed not to have been established, but merely postponed for a time.

Likewise Pope Martin [I] to Bishop Amandus. One who has once fallen into a lapse after his ordination shall thereafter already be deposed and will be able to obtain no grade of the priesthood.

Likewise Pope Gregory to Bishop Sabinus [Book VII, epistle 25]. Let your fraternity know that the priest concerning whom it consulted us through the mission of the bearer of these presents can by no reason either remain in sacred order after his lapse or be recalled to it. Nevertheless, he is to be dealt with more mildly, because he is said to have confessed the crime committed with ready acknowledgment.

Likewise John VIII to Cennemocus, Bishop of Nantes. I marvel that your poorly instructed knowledge thinks that a priest can minister in the priesthood after committing homicide and, what is more inept, wishes to persuade us to furnish assent to such presumption. For who, so demented and of such perverse judgment, would think that such a thing should be granted even after however great a penance, since it is contrary to all canonical discipline?

Therefore, deprived of the priesthood, he ought to wash away so enormous a crime with a fountain of tears, so that, healed at least by such remedies, he may be able to find the aid of salvation.

Likewise Pope Nicholas. A cleric who has killed a pagan ought not to be advanced to a higher grade; he ought even to be deprived of the grade acquired, for he is a homicide. For since the soldiers of the world are distinct from the soldiers of the Church, it is not fitting for a soldier of the Church to serve the world as a soldier, through which it is necessary to arrive at the shedding of blood.

The same to Osbald, the Quadrantine chorepiscopus. Concerning those clerics about whom you consulted us—namely, those who killed a pagan while defending themselves—whether, afterward corrected through penance, they can return to their former grade or ascend to a higher one, know that we give them no occasion and grant no license to kill any human being in any manner whatsoever. But if it should happen that a cleric of priestly order has killed even a pagan, he takes great counsel for himself if he withdraws from priestly office; and it is more satisfactory for him to serve the Lord blamelessly in this life under a lower habit than, by improperly seeking high things, to be plunged damnably into the depths.

Likewise from the Council of Agde. If a bishop, priest, or deacon has committed a capital crime, or falsified a document, or given false testimony, let him be deposed from the honor of office, be thrust into a monastery, and there, as long as he lives, receive only lay communion.

Likewise from the Council of Pope Martin [c. 26]. If anyone has married a widow or one left by another, let him not be admitted to the clergy. But if he has slipped in, let him be cast down. Likewise, if after baptism he has been privy to homicide by deed, command, counsel, or defense and has come to clerical status through some surreption, let him be cast down and receive communion at the end of his life.

Likewise Gregory to Januarius, Bishop of Cagliari [Book III, epistle 26]. It has come to us that some who have fallen from sacred orders are recalled to the office of their ministry either after penance or before penance. This we altogether prohibit, and the most sacred canons also contradict it in this matter. Therefore, one who has fallen into a sin of the flesh after receiving sacred order shall lack sacred order and shall not approach the ministry of the altar.

The same to Venantius, Bishop of Luni [Book IV, epistle 5]. When your fraternity comes to the island of Gorgona, let it investigate what has been reported to us concerning Saturninus, a former priest. For it has come to us that, after he had fallen from sacred orders and had been cast down from his priestly order, he presumed to approach the performance of the ministry of the priesthood and to offer sacrifices to almighty God. If your fraternity finds that this was so done, let it deprive him of participation in the sacred body and blood of the Lord and reduce him to penance, so that he may remain in that excommunication until his last day and receive only viaticum at the time of his departure. But if your fraternity knows him to perform such penance that it ought justly to show him mercy by receiving him into communion among the laity even before his departure, we place this within the power of your fraternity. And below: §1. Moreover, responding to the inquiries of your fraternity, we decree that the deacon and abbot from Porto Venere whom you indicate to have fallen ought not and cannot in any manner be recalled to sacred order. It is fitting that, deprived of sacred order, he be assigned by you to penance; and if his subsequent deeds and manner of life merit it, let him obtain the first place for standing among the other monks wherever you decree. The subdeacons also whom a similar fault binds, irrevocably deposed from their office, shall receive communion among the laity. At Porto Venere, moreover, you will ordain in place of the fallen deacon another who ought to fulfill this office. But we have decreed to ensure in writing that Saturninus, the former priest, never presume to approach the ministry of sacred order; yet we have permitted him to exercise solicitude for the monasteries on the islands of Gorgona and Capraia and to remain in his present state without opposition from anyone.

The same [to Marinianus, Bishop of Ravenna, Book VI, epistle 39]. Since no reason permits anyone falling criminally to be recalled to the place from which he fell, and the statutes of the sacred canons do not permit a church to be vacant of a pontiff beyond three months, lest, when the shepherd has fallen, the ancient enemy by lying in wait tear apart the Lord’s flock—which God forbid—your fraternity ought to consent to their entreaty and ordain a bishop in the place of the fallen one.

Likewise Pope Martin [I, in the epistle to Amandus]. If anyone has fallen into a lapse after his ordination and has been found liable to the sin of transgression, he must be prohibited in every way from handling the mysteries of our salvation with muddy and polluted hands. Part II. GRATIAN. To the contrary, it is proved by examples and authority that after penance has been performed persons may lawfully administer their own grades and ascend to higher ones. For Miriam, Aaron’s sister, after she was struck with leprosy because she had murmured against Moses, was cleansed when penance had been performed and received her former grace of prophesying. After the calf had been cast, Aaron was even consecrated as high priest. After adultery and homicide David received the spirit of prophecy and remained in his own grade. After the death of Naboth, that most holy man, Ahab, humbled through penance, remained on the royal throne. And, that we may pass over many examples of the Old Testament, Peter denied Christ and nevertheless was afterward made prince of the apostles; Paul stoned Stephen and nevertheless was chosen by God as an apostle. Many also, returning from heresy to the unity of the catholic faith, were received in their orders, while others were even promoted to the episcopal grade, such as Augustine and very many others.

[PALEA.

John Chrysostom was condemned by two synods of orthodox bishops, but was again restored. Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, was deposed, but afterward received his own episcopate. Asclepius, condemned by a synod, afterward received his church. Lucius, Bishop of Adrianople, condemned by Pope Julius, received the church of his episcopate. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, was deposed and afterward was reconciled to his church.

In a similar manner Pope Sixtus condemned Polychronius, pontiff of the same church of Jerusalem, and again he himself reconciled him. Pope Innocent condemned Bishop Photinus, but afterward restored him to his proper place in his church. Pope Gelasius, the successor of Pope Felix, reconciled Misenus, a bishop condemned by Felix, and restored him to his church. Leontius, while he was a priest, was deposed, but afterward became patriarch at Antioch. Pope Gregory IV, moreover, consecrated as bishop of the holy church of Segni Theodosius, whom Eugene his predecessor had deprived of the honor of the priesthood. Bishop Ibas, indeed, was condemned, but a holy canonical synod restored his church to him. Pope Nicholas reconciled both Rothad, bishop of the holy church of Soissons, condemned by a synod at which Charles was present, and Sophronius, Bishop of Piacenza, deservedly rejected. ] Moreover, Pope Callistus [I] writes as follows concerning persons of this kind [epistle II to the Bishops of Gaul]:

Let each person weigh his words, and let him not say to another what he does not wish to be said to himself. Hence sacred Scripture well says: “What you do not wish to be done to you, do not do to another.” For we need time in order that we may do something more maturely, lest we make our counsels and works precipitous and corrupt order. §1. But if anyone has fallen in any manner, let us bear him and correct him with brotherly affection, as the blessed Apostle says: “If a man has been overtaken in any offense, you who are spiritual instruct one of this kind in a spirit of gentleness. Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.” §2. Moreover, holy David performed penance for deadly crimes and nevertheless remained in honor. §3. Blessed Peter also poured out most bitter tears when he repented of having denied the Lord, but nevertheless remained an apostle. And the Lord promises through the Prophet, saying: “On whatever day the sinner is converted and groans, I shall no longer remember all his iniquities.” Therefore those err who think that priests after a lapse, if they have performed worthy penance, cannot minister to the Lord and enjoy their honors, if thereafter they lead a good life and worthily guard their priesthood. And those who think this not only err, but also seem to despise the keys handed down to the Church, concerning which it is said: “Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.” Otherwise, this sentence either is not the Lord’s or is true. §4. But we believe without doubt that both priests of the Lord and the rest of the faithful can return to honors after worthy satisfaction, as the Lord bears witness through the Prophet: “Will not one who sleeps add that he may rise?” And the prophet David, performing penance, said: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and strengthen me with a principal spirit.” For after penance he both taught others and offered sacrifice to God, giving an example to the teachers of holy Church that, if they have fallen and have performed worthy penance to God, they can do both. For he taught when he said: “I shall teach the wicked your ways, and the impious will be converted to you.” He offered sacrifice to God for himself when he said: “A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit.” For seeing his crimes cleansed through penance, the Prophet did not hesitate, by preaching and making offering to the Lord, to care for those of others. §5. Therefore a man is changed from sin, rises from his fall by the grace of God, and remains in his former office according to the aforesaid authorities. Let him see that he does not lie down any further, but that the evangelical sentence remain in him which says: “Go, and now sin no more.” Hence the Apostle says: “Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its concupiscences.” §6. Flee, brethren, not only from holding but even from hearing a sentence that forbids mercy, because mercy is preferable to all holocausts and sacrifices.

Likewise Jerome [on c. 3 of Malachi]. “And he will purify the sons of Levi; for it is time that judgment begin from the house of God,” and elsewhere it is written: “Begin from my holy ones.” In the sons of Levi, moreover, understand every priestly dignity. But if priests are to be purified and strained so that pure gold and silver may remain, what is to be said of the rest? When they have been cleansed and strained, then they will offer just sacrifices to the Lord, and their sacrifice that they offer for Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord—that is, for those who confess the Lord and behold his peace in the mind—as in the days of the age and as in ancient years, so that, just as they pleased God in the beginning, so after sin and penance they may begin to please him when they have been purified from every filth of sins.

Likewise Gregory to Secundinus [Book VII, epistle 53]. Your Holiness asked that we write to you authority concerning rising again to priestly office after a lapse, since you say that you have read diverse sentences of diverse canons concerning this, some allowing one to rise again and others not at all. Therefore, beginning generally from the Nicene Synod, we venerate it together with the other four, because in all their sentences they agree unanimously. But we follow the preceding Fathers because, with God as author, we do not disagree with their sacred teaching. Therefore, beginning from the head down to the fourth ministry of the altar, we have learned that this form is to be observed: just as the greater precedes the lesser in honor, so also in crime; and he whom a greater fault follows is bound by a greater punishment, and afterward penance is believed to be fruitful. §1. For what does it profit to sow wheat and not gather its fruit, or to construct a house and not dwell there? Therefore, after worthy satisfaction, we believe that one can return to honor. §2. Running back to the fountain of mercy, let us produce the evangelical sentence: “I rejoice,” he says, “over one sinner performing penance more than over ninety-nine just persons who have no need of penance.” And the Lord himself bears witness that the lost sheep, the ninety-nine who had not gone astray being left behind, was to be carried back to the sheepfold on the shoulders of the pious shepherd. If the lost, wandering sheep after being found is carried on his shoulder to the sheepfold, the aforesaid ninety-nine who had not gone astray being left in the desert, why should one who has fallen not be recalled after penance to the ministry of the Church? As is said in the Apocalypse concerning a minister of the Church: “Remember whence you have fallen, and perform penance, and do your first works.” For what is more grave: to commit a carnal offense, without which few are found, or to deny the Son of God by an oath? We know that the blessed Peter himself, prince of the apostles, at whose sacred body we unworthy ones sit, fell by this word. But penance followed after the denial, and mercy was given after penance, because he who foretold that Peter would deny him did not remove him from the apostolate.

The same [on Ezekiel, homily IX, on c. 2]. What is this, that it is said to the Prophet lying down: “Stand upon your feet, and I shall speak with you”? He who spoke to him while lying down, why does he promise that he will speak when he is standing? But it must be known that there are some things that we ought to hear while lying down and others while standing. For it is said to one lying down that he should rise; but one standing is commanded that he ought to set out to preach. For authority to preach ought not to be furnished to us while we are still lying in the confusion of weakness. But when we now rise in good work, when we now begin to stand upright, it is fitting that we ought to be sent to preach for the gaining of others. Therefore, standing, the Prophet saw a spiritual vision and fell; falling, however, he received words of admonition that he should rise; and rising he heard the command that he should preach. For we who still stand at the summit of pride, when we have now begun to perceive something concerning fear of eternity, ought fittingly to fall to penance. And while, subtly recognizing our weakness, we lie humbly, let us rise through the consolation of the divine word to stronger works.

The same [Book XVIII of the Moralia, c. 16, on c. 28 of Job]. Iron is taken from the earth when a strong defender of the Church is separated from the earthly activity that he previously maintained. Therefore he ought not to be despised for what he was, because he now begins to be what he was not.

Likewise Augustine. When I shall have heard them, I shall give them the strength of my spirit, and I shall fill them with my judgment and strength. Observe that in the present passage someone can teach after sin, if nevertheless he has washed away his former vices by worthy penance. Hence David, after adultery and homicide, speaks in the Psalm: “You will sprinkle me, Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; you will wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.” Nor is he content only with his own purity, but adds: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and strengthen me with a principal spirit,” and when you have done this, “I shall teach,” he says, “the wicked your ways, and the impious will be converted to you.”

Likewise Jerome [Book II Against Jovinian]. Jesus son of Josedech, the high priest, although as a type he preceded the coming of the Savior, who bore our sins and joined to himself a foreign Church from the gentiles, nevertheless according to the letter is introduced as defiled after the priesthood, and the devil stands at his right hand, and afterward white garments are restored to him.

Likewise from the Council of Agde [c. 2]. Contumacious clerics shall be corrected by the bishops as the order of dignity permits; and if any, elated by pride in their former grade, should perhaps have despised communion, or neglected to frequent the church or fulfill their office, foreign communion shall be allotted to them, so that when penance has corrected them, being written again in the register, they may receive their grade and dignity.

Likewise from the Council of Pope Martin [c. 17]. If any priest or deacon is found to have sold anything from the ministries of the Church, because he has committed sacrilege it has been resolved that he not be retained in ecclesiastical order. Nevertheless, he is to be left to the judgment of the bishop as to whether he ought to be received in his grade, because many times this very matter concerning what has been contaminated from the sacrosanct altar has been left within the bishop’s power.

[PALEA.

A priest is well able to be restored to his honor after penance has been performed, although on this matter diverse persons think diverse things, saying that he cannot be restored to honor. But this was said because of the feigned penances of certain persons and because of dignities of honors deliberately sought. ]

[PALEA.

Indeed, if a priest falls, he is able and has a place of restoration to his honor after worthy penance has been performed, as the Prophet bears witness, who says: “Will not one who falls add that he may rise?” And blessed Gregory says this to Secundinus the recluse, his friend: We have an argument for this even from the Prophet himself, who, although after committing adultery he perpetrated homicide, nevertheless afterward, when worthy penance had been performed, was restored by God’s grace to his former office. ] Part III. GRATIAN. Let us therefore consider briefly how the dissonance of authorities of this kind may be recalled to concord. There are some whom not hatred of the crime, but fear of lowliness, loss of their own grade, and ambition for a higher one compel to penance. The sacred canons cast these persons down irrecoverably, because one who seeks pardon by a simulation of penance or desire for honor does not obtain it from God, nor does he merit restoration from the Church. Hence Augustine writes to Boniface [epistle L]:

That it should be established in the Church that no one, after penance for some crime, should receive clerical status, return to clerical status, or remain in clerical status, was done not from despair of indulgence but from the rigor of discipline. Otherwise one will argue against the keys given to the Church, concerning which it was said: “Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.” But lest perhaps a spirit swollen with hope of ecclesiastical honor should perform penance proudly even for other crimes, it was most severely resolved that, after penance performed for a damnable crime, no one should be a cleric, so that through despair of temporal elevation the medicine of humility might be greater and truer. For holy David performed penance for deadly crimes and nevertheless persisted in his honor; and blessed Peter, when he poured out most bitter tears, certainly repented of having denied the Lord, and nevertheless remained an apostle. But the diligence of those who came later is not therefore to be thought superfluous: where nothing was subtracted from salvation, they added something to humility, by which salvation might be more safely fortified, having experienced, I believe, the feigned penances of certain persons through their deliberate pursuit of the powers of honors. For experiences of many diseases compel the discovery of many medicines. Yet in causes of this kind, where through grave ruptures of dissensions there lies not the danger of this or that man, but the slaughter of peoples, something must be subtracted from severity, so that sincere charity may come to the aid of curing greater evils.

Likewise from the epistle of the Roman Clergy sent to Pope Cyprian. Far be it from the Roman Church to abandon its vigor with so profane a facility and dissolve the sinews of severity after the majesty of the faith has been overturned, so that, while the ruins of the overthrown brethren still not only lie but even fall, remedies of communion, assuredly destined to be of no profit, should be furnished with excessive haste. For where will the medicine of penance be able to proceed, if even the physician himself, by cutting short the penance, indulges the dangers? This is not to heal but, if we wish to speak the truth, to kill.

Likewise Cyprian, On the Lapsed. If anyone with rash and disorderly haste thinks that he can give remission of sins to all, or dares to annul the precepts of the Lord, he not only profits the lapsed nothing but harms them. It is to have provoked wrath, not to have kept the sentence; not to entreat the mercy of the most pious Lord, but, with the Lord despised, to presume upon one’s own facility. And below: §1. The martyrs command that certain things be done; if they are just, if lawful, if not contrary to the Lord himself and to God’s priest, they are to be done; if the confession of the one obeying is ready and prompt, if the moderation of the penitent is religious. The martyrs command that certain things be done; but if what they command is not written in the law of the Lord, it comes first that we know that they have obtained from God the things they ask, and then that we do what they command. For what was promised by a human promise cannot immediately be seen to have been granted by the divine majesty. For Moses also petitioned for the sins of the people, and nevertheless, when he petitioned, he did not obtain pardon for the sinners.

Likewise Isidore to Bishop Massanus. Isidore the Bishop to the lord holy and blessed in merits, brother Massanus the bishop. Concerning what your venerable fraternity made known in its letters—namely, that in canon XIX of Ancyra it is read that after a bodily lapse the grade of honor is to be restored after penance, but elsewhere it is read that after an offense of this kind the merit of the ancient order is by no means to be restored—this diversity is resolved in this manner. For the canons command those to return to their former grades whom the satisfaction of penance or a worthy confession of sins has preceded. By contrast, those who are neither corrected from the vice of corruption and who strive with a certain superstitious rashness to vindicate that very carnal offense which they commit receive neither the grade of honor nor the grace of communion. Therefore the sentence is to be determined in such a way that it is necessary for those to be restored to the place of honor who through penance merit the reconciliation of divine piety. Those who through the correction of penance are known to have received the remedy of life not undeservedly obtain the state of the dignity they had acquired. But lest this perhaps be more ambiguous, the sentence is confirmed by divine authority. The prophet Ezekiel, under the figure of transgressing Jerusalem, shows that after the satisfaction of penance the former honor is restored: “Be confounded,” he says, “O Judah, and bear your ignominy.” And a little later: “And you,” he says, “and your daughters, return to your antiquity.” §1. When he said “be confounded,” he showed that after the work of sin each person ought to blush and, after confession for the crimes admitted, sink a shamefaced brow prostrate to the ground, because he perpetrated a work worthy of confusion. Then he commanded that after ignominy—that is, the casting down of his name or dignity—he return to his antiquity. Therefore, while each person after the work of his confusion is confounded and, bearing ignominy, mourns his deposition with humility, he will be able, according to the Prophet, to be recalled to his prior state. Likewise John the Evangelist, among certain other things, writes similar words to the Angel of the church of Ephesus: “Remember whence you have fallen, and perform penance, and do your first works; otherwise I shall come to you and move your lampstand from its place.” §2. Behold, insofar as I was able, I have explained through sacred testimonies the plainly ancient sentence of the Council of Ancyra, full of authority, showing that one can be restored in his own order who knows how to bewail his own offenses through the satisfaction of penance. But know that one who neither mourns the things he has done but commits things to be mourned without any shame of religion or fear of divine judgment can in no manner be restored to his former grade. §3. At the end of this epistle, moreover, I thought this should be added: whenever a discordant sentence is found in the acts of councils, the sentence of that council whose authority stands as more ancient and more powerful should rather be held. GRATIAN. Therefore, whoever has worthily offered penance to God for his crimes can, by the authority of Gregory, Jerome, Augustine, and Isidore, receive the grade of his former dignity. But those who offer false penances to God not from hatred of the crime but from fear of lowliness or ambition for honor will in no way be able to be restored to the grade of former honor. But that statement of Pope Hormisdas is objected, who writes to all the Bishops throughout the provinces:

If any deacon or priest, after receiving the Levitical blessing, is found incontinent with his wife, let him be cast from his office. §1. Behold, it is manifestly established that, according to the rubrics of the ancient Fathers composed at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and according to the sentences of the 318 bishops—which the Gallican canons also seem to contain—clerics found in adultery, whether themselves confessed or convicted by others, cannot return to honor. Because perhaps there are some to whom, from excessive piety, the severity of the holy Fathers written above is not pleasing, let them know that they reprove or condemn the sentences of the 318 bishops who also established the other canons. But perhaps there is greater piety in them than in the aforesaid 318 bishops? Is there greater mercy in them than in holy Pope John? Greater charity than in the other holy priests who, by their determinations, considered remedies for the churches according to this example? And therefore let them either consent with ready will to their precepts or know that they are contrary and hostile to them all. What is this goodness hostile to justice—to caress criminals and keep their wounds unhealed until the day of judgment? §2. But if we saw them perform the most rigorous penance through many years, then we could both take counsel for their salvation and ought to temper the statutes of the canons. But when in some there appears neither compunction of humility nor persistence in prayer, nor do they imitate blessed David, who says: “I shall wash my bed each night; with my tears I shall water my couch”; and that: “I ate ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping”; nor do we see them devote themselves to fasts or readings, we can recognize with how great a negligence, with how great a torpor and security hostile to their own soul they would remain if they returned to their former grades or honors, believing that God has forgiven them without worthy penance having been performed, just as the priests seem to have indulged them. Truly I say that those very persons whom we seem to indulge with dangerous and false mercy, when they come before the tribunal of Christ to be condemned for such great sins, will plead their case against us, saying that, while we either feared the harshness of their tongue or willingly accepted their false blandishments and dangerous flatteries, we unprofitably permitted them to remain in the same sins or allowed them to increase the sins themselves, not remembering what is written in the Old Testament: that when one person sinned, God’s wrath raged against all.

Likewise Jerome. Whoever does not guard the dignity of the divine grade, let him be content to save his soul. For it is difficult to return to the former grade.

Likewise Basil. One who has fallen while holding a grade, after penance, let him be content to baptize, give communion to the sick, and minister only at the altar.

Likewise from the Council of Ancyra [c. 1 and following]. Concerning priests who sacrificed and afterward entered the contest again, if they struggled from faith and did not do this by arrangement, for show, so that they might be presented, it was resolved that they should indeed retain the honor of their proper seat, but that it is not permitted to them to offer, to deliver a discourse to the people, or to perform any priestly offices. §1. Likewise deacons who sacrificed but afterward again resisted ought indeed otherwise to have honor, but they ought to cease from every sacred ministry, so that they neither offer bread nor the cup nor make proclamation, unless perhaps some of the bishops, conscious of their labor, humility, and gentleness, should wish to grant or apply something more to them. The power concerning these matters, therefore, will rest with them. §2. But those who, while fleeing, were seized or betrayed by members of their households, or who, after their property was taken away, sustained torments, or who, having been thrust into custody, proclaimed themselves to be Christians, and who were bound to such a point that, seizing their hands, men violently dragged them and applied them to deadly sacrifices, so that they were compelled by necessity to consume some of the polluted food, while they confessed in all abasement, garb, and humility of life—these, as persons situated outside an offense, we decree are not to be prohibited from the grace of communion. §3. But if they have been prohibited by some persons because of greater caution or because of the ignorance of certain persons, let them be received immediately. §4. It is fitting that this likewise be observed concerning clerics and the other laypersons. §5. That question also was investigated, whether laypersons who fell into these straits of necessity can also be promoted to the order of clerical status. It was therefore resolved that these also, as persons who sinned in nothing, should be advanced to this office if their preceding life has approved them. §6. But concerning those who denied without necessity, without loss of property, without danger, or anything of this kind—which happened under the tyranny of Licinius—it was resolved by the synod that, although they are proved unworthy of humane treatment, benevolence should nevertheless be extended to them. GRATIAN. But that statement of Pope Hormisdas prohibits the idle and negligent, not those truly penitent, from being restored. §1. Jerome’s statement, moreover, confesses that this is difficult, not impossible. §2. Basil, however, shows that the rigor of justice is to be observed toward delinquents, which others affirm is mercifully to be relaxed toward penitents. §3. The foregoing authorities can also be distinguished in another way. Those whose crimes are manifest before or after ordination are to be cast down from sacred orders; but those whose sins are hidden and have been purged by secret satisfaction according to the decree of a priest can remain in their own orders. Hence Pope Nicholas to Archbishop Charles and his suffragans:

If priests have fallen into the snare of fornication and the act of the crime was manifest or demonstrated, they cannot possess the honor of the priesthood according to the authority of canonical institution. Likewise Archbishop Rabanus writes to Heribald:

Concerning those, moreover, who hold sacred orders and profess themselves to have been contaminated by capital crimes before or after ordination, it has seemed to us that this should be written. Among them, as it seems to me, this distinction ought to exist: those who have been publicly detected or caught in perjury, theft, fornication, and other crimes of this kind shall fall from their own grade according to the institutes of the sacred canons, because it is a scandal to the people of God to have such persons set over them as are established to be vicious beyond measure. Indeed, from this people disparage the sacrifice of God (just as they are read once to have done when the sons of Eli were sinning, and, becoming rebellious and contrary from this, they daily become worse through their depraved examples. But those who, through hidden confession before the angels of God, with the priest also present who is to enjoin penance upon them, confess the aforesaid sins secretly committed by themselves and lament that they have gravely offended—if they strive to purify themselves through fasts, alms, vigils, and sacred prayers, hope of pardon from God’s mercy is to be promised to these even with their grade preserved. Part IV. GRATIAN. Concerning those who have fallen into heresy also, this is to be observed: before the sentence of a council no one is to communicate with them. Hence Pope Cyprian to Antonianus, among other things [Book IV, epistle 2]:

Concerning what should be established about the cause of the lapsed, however, I deferred, so that when quiet and tranquility had been given and divine indulgence permitted the bishops to come together as one, then, after counsel had been shared and weighed through the deliberation of all, I might establish what ought to be done. But if anyone before our counsel and before a sentence established by the counsel of all should rashly wish to communicate with the lapsed, let him abstain from communion. Part V. GRATIAN. But what is read above as established concerning homicides is to be understood when the opportunity of escaping is given and they are not enclosed by the necessity of a siege. Otherwise, when constrained by necessity they cannot escape, if they then commit homicide, after being purified through penance they will be restored both to office and to communion.

Hence in the Council of Lérida [c. 1] it is read:

Concerning those clerics who have been placed under siege through necessity, this has been established: those who minister at the altar and deliver the body and blood of Christ, or handle vessels appointed to sacred office, are to abstain from all human blood, even that of an enemy. But if they have fallen into this, let them be deprived of both office and communion of the Lord’s body for two years, so that for two years they may expiate themselves by vigils, fasts, prayers, and alms according to the strength that the Lord has given; and only then shall they be restored to office or communion, yet with the provision that they not thereafter be promoted to more powerful offices. But if during the defined time they have been more negligent concerning their salvation, let the power to prolong the time of that penance remain with the priest. GRATIAN. If a cleric has committed homicide by accident, moreover, by dispensation he is permitted to remain in his own grade. Hence Urban II writes to Warner, Bishop of Merseburg:

A boy is said to have been killed when a cleric threw a stone. For love of you we permit him to remain in his order, provided that he always remain in penance and fear.

Likewise Stephen V to Sichibert, Bishop of Corsica. Because you judge yourself, as it were, liable in that, having been captured by the Saracens, you seem to have killed men, you do well. But since you are known not to have done it of your own accord, you are by no means judged canonically on that account. GRATIAN. But if, moved by anger, a priest has killed someone, even if he did not have the intention of killing, he will nevertheless be perpetually deposed. Hence Pope Nicholas writes to Osbald, the Quadrantine chorepiscopus:

Let your Holiness endeavor to persuade your bishop to associate with himself the canonical number of colleagues—that is, six brothers and fellow bishops from neighboring provinces. When they are joined with you and deciding, take care diligently to investigate and scrutinize with every exertion, so that you may be able to discover whether that deacon, as is reported, died from the blow of the priest already named or from the breaking of his neck. And if indeed he was not struck to death by the aforesaid priest, but died after falling from a horse and breaking his neck, according to your judgment enjoin suitable penance upon the priest for having acted incautiously by striking him, and let him be suspended for some time from the solemnities of Mass, thereafter to return again to priestly office. But if that deacon truly died from any blow whatsoever by the priest, we decree that he minister in no way according to the custom of a priest, because, even if he did not have the will to kill, nevertheless the fury and indignation from which that deadly movement issued are in every person, and especially in God’s ministers, prohibited and condemned in many ways. But if perhaps the priest should manifestly prove liable through your inquiry, we command that such a benefice from his church be granted to him that both he and his household may be able to have sufficient aid for their sustenance.

[PALEA.

Likewise from the Council of Mâcon, c. 6. One who, with premeditated hatred or because of cupidity, has killed a Jew or a pagan, because he destroys the image of God and the hope of future conversion, shall do penance for forty days on bread and water. ]

[PALEA.

If anyone has committed homicide, if he is a bishop, let him do penance for fifteen years and be deposed; let him also finish all the days of his life in pilgrimage. Let a priest do penance for twelve years, three of them on bread and water, and be deposed by sentence of his superior. Let a deacon do penance for ten years, three of them on bread and water. Let a cleric or layman do penance for seven years, three of them on bread and water, and let him not presume to approach any grade of the priesthood. ]

Likewise from the Council of Neocaesarea. As for those who committed homicide not by will but by accident, the former rule indeed joined them to communion only after seven years’ penance according to the established grades; but this humane determination allots a period of five years.

Likewise from the Council of Elvira [c. 4]. If a woman, inflamed by the fury of jealousy, has beaten her maidservant with whips so that within the third day she emits her soul with torment, because it is uncertain whether she killed her by will or accident, it was resolved that, after lawful penance has been performed, she be admitted to communion after seven years if by will, and after a period of five years if by accident. But if she becomes ill within the established periods, let her receive communion.

Likewise from the Council of Pope Martin. If anyone has committed homicide voluntarily, let him always lie at the door of the catholic church and receive communion at the departure of his life. But if he committed any homicide not by will but by accident, the earlier canon ordered him to perform penance for seven years; the second canon commanded five.

One who stole a sack containing money is liable for theft also in the name of the sack, although he did not have the intention of stealing the sack. Conversely, that intention, not the deed, is punished is gathered in Book IX of the Code, title On the Cornelian Law Concerning Assassins [law 5], by the example of sacred letters of Diocletian and Maximian:

The one who asserts that he committed homicide not by will but by a fortuitous accident, since an occasion of death appears to have been furnished by the blow of a heel—if this is so and there can be no doubt concerning it—we wish, according to what is contained in our annotation, to be freed from every fear and suspicion that he sustains from the peril of the deed committed.

[PALEA.

Your brother will do more rightly if he presents himself to the governor of the province, who, if he proves that the man was struck by him without the intention of killing, will pronounce sentence according to military discipline after the penalty for homicide has been remitted. For a crime is contracted if a will to harm also intervenes. But things that happen from an unforeseen accident rather than fraud are generally imputed to fate, not to guilt. ]

Hence Pope Pelagius also:

Insofar as this Placidus says, last year it was said concerning his wife that she was suddenly found among the horses and, while the horses were being driven, she was struck and suffered a miscarriage. If this is so, perhaps if he took another’s horses, he is culpable on that account. For concerning the woman who was crushed by accident among the horses, where his will is not known to have been pernicious, he cannot and ought not to be condemned according to the laws.

Likewise Pope Nicholas. Those who appear to be cutting down a tree, if it should happen that the falling tree kills a person, are blameless and innocent, because the homicide was perpetrated neither by their will nor their desire. But if the death of the person who died is known to have occurred through some fault or neglect of theirs, they are to be cast from their grade and by no means received into sacred order.

Likewise from the Council of Worms. It often happens that, while someone intent upon necessary work cuts down a tree, someone coming beneath it is crushed. And therefore, if it was done by the will or negligence of the one cutting the tree, he ought altogether to be subjected to the penance of a homicide. But if it happened not by his will, not by his lack of care, and finally not with his knowledge, but while he perhaps applied himself to necessary work, the other unexpectedly came beneath the tree and was crushed under it, the cutter of the tree is not held as a homicide.

Likewise from the Council of Tribur [c. 36, but there more fully]. If two brothers have felled trees in a forest and, as one tree was about to fall, brother said to brother, “Beware,” and he, fleeing, ran into the pressure of the tree and died, let the surviving brother be judged innocent of his brother’s blood. GRATIAN. By the foregoing authorities it is permitted to those who have fallen that after penance they may be restored in their own orders; but that they should ascend to a higher order after a lapse is permitted to them by no authority—indeed, it is altogether prohibited. Hence in the Council of Lérida [c. 5] it is read:

Those who serve the holy altar, if they suddenly fall through the lamentable frailty of the flesh and, with the Lord 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 pontiff’s power either not to suspend for long those who are truly afflicted, or to separate the idle from the body of the Church for a more extended time; yet in such a way that they receive again the places of their offices, but cannot thereafter be promoted to higher offices. [PALEA. §1. But if a second time, like dogs, they return to their vomit and, like swine, lie in wallows of mud, let them not only lack the dignity of office, but also not receive holy communion except at their departure. ] GRATIAN. But by the example of blessed Peter—who, after he washed away the stains of his threefold denial by a confession of love, not only remained in the grade of his apostolate but even merited to be instituted by Christ as pastor of the whole Church—it is proved that after worthy penance those who have fallen not only retain their own offices but can also ascend to higher ones. That blessed Peter was instituted by the Lord as pastor of the Church after the denial is proved by the authority of blessed Gregory, who writes in a homily on the Lord’s resurrection concerning that same prince of the apostles, saying:

We must consider why almighty God permitted the one whom he had resolved to set over the whole Church to fear the voice of a maidservant and deny him. We know that this was assuredly done by a dispensation of great piety, so that one who was to be pastor of the Church might learn in his own fault how he ought to have mercy on others. Therefore he first showed him to himself, and then set him over the others, so that from his own weakness he might know how mercifully he should tolerate the weaknesses of others.

Likewise Ambrose in homily L. Peter was made more faithful after he wept that he had lost his faith; and therefore he found greater grace than he lost. For, as a good shepherd, he received the flock to be guarded, so that he who previously had been weak for himself might become a support for all, and he who had wavered under the temptation of questioning might establish others by stability of faith. Finally, because of the solidity of his devotion he is called the rock of the churches, just as the Lord says: “You are Peter,” and the rest. For he is called rock because he first laid the foundations of faith among the nations and, like an immovable rock, holds together the structure and mass of the whole Christian work. Part VI. GRATIAN. It is likewise objected that penitents ought not to be promoted to sacred orders; therefore, after penance, those who have fallen cannot attain higher ones.

Hence in the Fourth Council of Carthage [cc. 68 and 69] it is read:

One from among penitents, although he is good, shall nevertheless not be ordained a cleric. If it has been done through the ignorance of the bishop, let him be deposed from the clergy, because at the time of ordination he did not disclose that he had been a penitent. But if the bishop knowingly ordained such a person, let him too be deprived only of the power of ordaining in his episcopate. A bishop shall be subject to a similar sentence if he knowingly ordained a cleric who had a widow, or a wife repudiated by another, or a second wife.

Likewise Pope Siricius to Bishop Himerius [epistle I, c. 15]. Whoever, being a penitent, a bigamist, or the husband of a widow, has improperly and incompetently slipped into sacred service, let him understand that pardon has been relaxed to him by us on this condition: that he ought to count it as a great benefit if, with every hope of promotion taken from him, he remains with perpetual stability in the order in which he is found.

Likewise from the Council of Girona [c. 9]. One who, oppressed by the weakness of sickness, received through communion the blessing of penance that we call viaticum and, recovering afterward, did not publicly submit his head to penance in the church, shall be admitted to the clergy if he is not held liable to prohibited vices.

Likewise Pope Hormisdas to all the Bishops throughout the provinces. If one who voluntarily seeks penance, although he performs it perfectly, cannot be ordained bishop or priest, so that even if he was ordained through ignorance and afterward is convicted of having received penance, he is cast down, by what conscience is one who is sent unwillingly into a monastery to perform penance—who surely is to be called nothing other than a penitent—permitted to attain the priesthood? Let no one set before me any other enactments whatsoever against the authority of the Apostolic See, of the 318 bishops, or of the remaining canons, because I do not doubt that it is not only rash but also dangerous to receive whatever has been said against their determination, in which we believe the Holy Spirit spoke.

Likewise Gelasius, Bishop of the City of Rome, to all the Bishops [throughout Lucania, etc., c. 5]. Let no pontiff trust that it is lawful to assign to divine ministries, as destined to serve in them, bigamists, those taking spouses left by others, any persons after penance, persons without letters, persons impaired in body, persons of dependent condition, persons entangled in the bonds of the curia and public affairs, or persons examined indiscriminately with no observance of a fitting interval of time.

Likewise Innocent [to Agapitus and the others, epistle VI]. The canons established at Nicaea exclude penitents even from the lowest offices of clerics. GRATIAN. This is understood not concerning any penitents whatsoever, but only those who after penance receive the belt of secular military service. Concerning them Bishop Innocent writes to Victorius, Bishop of Rouen [epistle II, c. 2]:

If anyone after the remission of sins held the belt of secular military service, he ought altogether not to be admitted to clerical status. GRATIAN. It can also be understood in another way. There is a certain penance called solemn, which is granted only once in the Church, concerning which Ambrose says: “Just as there is one baptism, so there is one penance.” Likewise: “There is no second place of penance.” Likewise: “Very many are found who think that penance is to be performed repeatedly, who luxuriate in Christ. For if they truly performed penance, they would never afterward think it was to be repeated.”

Likewise Augustine to Macedonius [epistle LIV]. Although it was cautiously and salubriously provided that the place of most humble penance be granted only once in the Church, lest a medicine exceedingly useful be held less valuable, nevertheless pardon through penance is never denied to those who sin daily.

GRATIAN. How this penance is to be imposed, moreover, is read in the Council of Agde, in which it was established as follows [c. 15]:

At the time when penitents seek penance, let them receive from the priest the imposition of hands and haircloth upon their heads, just as has been established everywhere. But if they have not cut off their hair or changed their clothing, let them be cast out and, unless they worthily repent, not received. Penance is also not easily to be assigned to young persons because of the frailty of their age. Nevertheless, viaticum is not to be denied to anyone placed at the point of death.

Likewise from the same. At the beginning of Lent, all penitents who undertake or have undertaken public penance shall present themselves before the doors of the church to the bishop of the city, clothed in sackcloth, barefoot, with faces cast down to the ground, professing by their very bearing and countenance that they are guilty. The deans—that is, the archpriests of the parishes—and the priests of the penitents, who ought diligently to inspect their conduct and enjoin penance according to the measure of the fault through the aforesaid grades, ought to be present there. After this, let him lead them into the church and, prostrate on the ground with the whole clergy, chant with tears the seven penitential psalms for their absolution. Then, rising from prayer, according as the canons command, let him impose hands upon them, sprinkle blessed water over them, first cast ashes, and then cover their heads with haircloth; and with groaning and frequent sighs let him announce to them that, just as Adam was cast out of paradise, so they too are cast out of the Church for their sins. Afterward let him command the ministers to expel them outside the door of the church, while the clergy follow them with the responsory, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread,” etc., so that, seeing holy Church terrified and moved because of their crimes, they may not make little of penance. On the sacred Supper of the Lord, however, let them again be presented at the thresholds of the church by their deans and their priests. GRATIAN. No cleric is ever permitted to perform this penance, and therefore penitents of this kind are prohibited from being admitted to the clergy.

Hence in the Fifth Council of Carthage [c. 11] it is read to have been established:

It is to be confirmed that, if priests or deacons are at any time convicted of some graver fault for which it is necessary that they be removed from ministry, hands shall not be imposed upon them as upon penitents or as upon faithful laypersons; nor is it ever to be permitted that those rebaptized be promoted to the grade of clerical status. Likewise Pope Siricius [to Himerius, epistle I, c. 14]:

It was also right for us to provide that, just as no cleric is ever permitted to perform penance, so after penance and reconciliation no layperson is permitted to obtain the honor of clerical status, because although they have been cleansed from the contagion of all sins, those who formerly were vessels of vices ought nevertheless to receive no instruments for carrying out the sacraments.

Likewise Pope Leo [to Rusticus of Narbonne, epistle XC, c. 2]. It is alien to ecclesiastical custom that those who have been consecrated in the honor of the priesthood or the grade of the diaconate should receive, for some crime of their own, the remedy of performing penance through the imposition of hands. This descends without doubt from apostolic tradition, according to what is written: “If a priest sins, who will pray for him?” Hence those who have fallen in this manner, in order to merit the mercy of God, must seek private seclusion, where, if their satisfaction has been worthy, it may also be fruitful for them. GRATIAN. By the authority of the Council of Toledo also it is proved that penitents of this kind are not to be admitted to the clergy, in which [c. 2] it was established thus:

It was resolved that penitents not be admitted to the clergy, except only if necessity or use should require it; then let them be assigned among the doorkeepers or among the readers, yet so that they do not read the Apostle or the Gospel. §1. But if any have been ordained as deacons, let them be held among the subdeacons, so that they neither impose a hand nor touch sacred things. §2. When, however, we say “penitent,” we mean one who after baptism, whether for homicide or for diverse crimes and most grave sins, performed public penance and, under haircloth, was reconciled to the divine altar. Part VII. GRATIAN. Apostates also ought not to be admitted to the office of clerical status. Hence in the Second Council of Arles [c. 25]:

Those who apostatize after the holy profession of religion and return to the world, and afterward do not seek the remedies of penance, shall receive no communion at all without penance. We also command that they not be admitted to the office of clerical status. And whoever he may be, after penance let him not presume to take the secular habit. But if he has presumed to do so, let him be held as alien from the Church.