Distinction LXVIII

GRATIAN. Part I. It is asked concerning those who are ordained by men not established to have been bishops, whether they are to be consecrated again or not. That they are not to be consecrated is proved by the authority of Gregory, who, writing to John, Bishop of Ravenna, [book II, epistle 32], says:

Just as one who has once been baptized ought not to be baptized again, so one who has once been consecrated cannot be consecrated again. But if anyone came to the priesthood with a slight fault, penance ought to be imposed for the fault, and yet the order is to be preserved. To the contrary, the same Gregory testifies, writing to a certain bishop:

As for the priests whom you found: if those men by whom they are ordained are unknown, and it is doubtful whether those who ordained them were bishops or not, then, if the priests themselves are men of good conduct and catholic, and are instructed in the ministry of Christ and in every holy law, let them receive the blessing of the priesthood from their bishop and be consecrated, and thus let them discharge the sacred ministry. GRATIAN. Therefore, the prohibition against a consecrated person being consecrated again in the same order is to be understood of one who was consecrated by a man whom it was certain had the right of consecrating. But one who is consecrated by a man not established to have had the right of consecrating is to be consecrated again, because if that man did not have the right of consecrating, the present man received nothing of consecration from the outpouring of oil. And because he was not consecrated in that order, now, coming to consecration as though for the first time, he obtains the priestly blessing and consecration from the bishop. But if the man did have the right of consecrating, in the first anointing he obtained consecration; in the second consecration is not repeated, but only the anointing, just as one concerning whom it is doubtful whether he has been baptized or not ought to be baptized. If he had not been baptized before, he obtains the grace of baptism; but if he had been baptized, he receives nothing in the second anointing, nor does this pertain to a repetition of baptism, but to the safeguarding of salvation. This is likewise to be observed concerning churches to be consecrated. Hence in the Council of Nicaea:

Consecration ought not to be applied again to churches once consecrated to God unless they have been burned by fire or polluted by the shedding of blood or by the seed of anyone; because, just as an infant once baptized by any priest in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ought not to be baptized again, so too a place dedicated to God is not to be consecrated again, except for those causes that we named above, provided nevertheless that those who consecrated it held the faith of the Holy Trinity. Part II. GRATIAN. Between bishops and chorepiscopi, however, there is this difference: bishops can be ordained only in cities, while chorepiscopi can also be ordained in villages. Bishops grant canonical letters, while chorepiscopi can give only commendatory and pacific letters. Bishops have the right of consecrating; chorepiscopi confer only the lesser orders, but they cannot furnish the Levitical and priestly blessing. Bishop Leo writes as follows concerning them to all the Bishops, [epistle LXXXVI, otherwise LXXXVIII]:

Although chorepiscopi and priests share with bishops the dispensation of many ministries, nevertheless let them know that certain things are prohibited to them, such as the consecration of priests, deacons, and virgins; the establishment, blessing, or anointing of an altar. Indeed, it is not permissible for them to erect altars or consecrate churches, nor through the imposition of hands to impart the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, to baptized faithful or converted heretics, nor to prepare chrism, nor to sign with chrism the foreheads of the baptized, nor publicly at mass to reconcile anyone doing penance, nor to send canonical letters to anyone. [PALEA. For all these things are unlawful for chorepiscopi, who are known to correspond to the example and form of the seventy-two disciples, or for priests, who bear the same figure.] For although they have consecration, they nevertheless do not have the summit of the pontificate. Part III. GRATIAN. But these men, because of their insolence by which they usurped the offices of bishops for themselves, are today prohibited by the Church. Hence Pope Damasus says, [to the Bishops of Africa, epistle V]:

Chorepiscopi are prohibited both by this holy see and by the bishops of the whole world. For their institution is exceedingly dishonorable and exceedingly depraved, because it lacks all authority for them to presume anything from the ministry of the supreme priest. § 1. For we have learned that there are no more than two orders among the disciples of the Lord, namely, the twelve apostles and the seventy-two disciples. Whence this third has proceeded, we do not know. And what lacks reason must be rooted out. Part IV. § 2. But that those who were ordained by fewer than three bishops are not bishops is plain to all. For it was prohibited by the holy Fathers that those who were ordained by one or two bishops be called bishops. If they do not have the name, how will they have the office? Likewise Urban, [Pope II]:

Whose vicars bishops are in the Church, and who ought to give them this dignity, Saint Augustine shows, saying:

“In place of your fathers, sons have been born to you. The fathers who were sent are the apostles; in place of the apostles sons were born and were constituted bishops. For whence were the bishops who are throughout the whole world born today? The Church herself calls those men fathers; she herself begot them, and she herself established them in the seats of the fathers. Therefore do not think yourself deserted because you do not see Paul, because you do not see Peter, because you do not see those through whom you were born: from your offspring fatherhood has grown for you. In place of your fathers, sons have been born to you; you will constitute them princes over all the earth. The Church begot sons; she established them as princes in place of her fathers over all the earth.”