Distinction LXVI

GRATIAN. Part I. Archbishops, however, ought to be ordained by all the bishops of their province. Hence Pope Anicius says, [in the epistle to the Bishops of Gaul]:

Let an archbishop be ordained by all the bishops of his province. § 1. What has been commanded concerning the consecration of an archbishop—that all the suffragans ordain him—may in no way be changed, because the one who presides over all the bishops over whom he presides ought to be constituted by them all. But if it has been presumed otherwise, there is no doubt that it lacks force, because the ordination transacted otherwise will be void. Part II. GRATIAN. Concerning bishops not to be ordained by fewer than three bishops, Anacletus writes, [epistle II to the Bishops of Italy], saying:

Moreover, Blessed James, the first archbishop of Jerusalem, who was called the Just and was named the Lord’s brother according to the flesh, was ordained by the apostles Peter, James, and John; they plainly gave a form to their successors that in no way is a bishop to be ordained by fewer than three bishops, with all the others furnishing assent, and that the ordination is to be celebrated by a common vote.