distinction — Decretum of Gratian
Distinction LXXIV
GRATIAN. Part I. It is asked concerning those who scorn to be promoted by their bishops, whether they are to be elevated unwillingly or not. Concerning them it is found to have been enacted as follows in the Third Council of Orléans, [c. 7]:
GRATIANUS. I. Pars. Queritur de his qui ab episcopis suis promoueri contempnunt, an inuiti sint sublimandi, an non? De his ita statutum inuenitur in Concilio Aurelianensi III.: [cap. 7.]
Friedberg, col. 261/262
C. I. A bishop who presumes to ordain an unwilling man is to be subject to suspension for a year.
A bishop who presumes to ordain one who is unwilling or protests, being subjected to a year’s penance, is not to presume to celebrate masses.
C. I. Annuae suspensioni subiaceat episcopus, qui inuitum ordinare presumit.
Episcopus, qui inuitum aut reclamantem ordinare presumpserit, annuali penitenciae subditus missas facere non presumat.
Friedberg, col. 261/262
C. II. No one is to be promoted unwillingly.
Likewise Gregory to Bishop Natalis, [of Salona, in book I of the Register, epistle 19]. We have learned that the records which you sent us, drawn up in the council’s registry, in which Archdeacon Honoratus is implicated, are full of the seed of quarrels, since at one and the same time a single person, unwilling, is advanced to the order of the priesthood, while he is removed from the office of the diaconate as though unworthy. And just as it is just that no one be compelled to rise unwillingly, so I think it must be judged that no innocent person be cast down unjustly from the ministry of his order. To the contrary it is found in the Council of Carthage, [c. 31]:
C. II. Nullus promoueatur inuitus.
Item Gregorius Natali Episcopo. [Salonitano, in lib. I. Reg. epist. 19.] Gesta, que nobis consilii uestri secretario confecta direxistis, in quo archidiaconus Honoratus adicitur, plena esse semine iurgiorum cognouimus, cum uno eodemque tempore una persona nolens ad sacerdotii ordinem prouehitur, que tamquam inmerita a diaconatus offitio remoueatur. Et sicut iustum est, ut nemo crescere conpellatur inuitus, ita censendum puto, ne quisquam insons ab ordinis sui ministerio deiciatur iniuste. Econtra inuenitur in Concilio Cartaginensi: [c. 31.]
Friedberg, col. 261/262
C. III. Those who scorn to be promoted by their bishops are to be cast down from their place.
If any clerics have scorned to be promoted by their bishops, let them not remain there from which they refused to depart.
C. III. Qui ab episcopis suis promoueri contempnunt, a loco suo deiciantur.
Si qui clerici ab episcopis suis promoueri contempserint, nec illic maneant, unde recedere noluerunt.
Friedberg, col. 261/262
C. IV. Likewise on the same.
It has pleased us that any clerics or deacons who, because of the necessities of ecclesiastical affairs, have not obeyed their bishops wishing to promote them to a higher honor in their church, are not to minister there in their own grade, from which they refused to depart.
C. IV. Item de eodem.
Placuit, ut quicumque clerici uel diaconi pro necessitatibus ecclesiasticarum rerum non obtemperauerint episcopis suis, uolentibus eos ad honorem ampliorem in ecclesia sua promouere, nec illic ministrent in gradu suo, unde recedere noluerunt.
Friedberg, col. 261/262
C. V. Later bishops are not to be set before earlier ones.
Likewise from the Council of Agde, [c. 23]. Let no one set a later bishop before an earlier one among bishops whose life is not reproved, unless perhaps, lifted up by pride, he scorns to fulfill what the bishop commanded for the necessity of the Church. Part II. § 1. Certainly, if because of a simpler nature he is unable to fulfill or discharge the office of the archdiaconate, let the one whom the bishop has elected to be set above him hold the name of his place and the ordering of the church.
C. V. Posteriores prioribus episcopi non preponantur.
Item ex Concilio Agatensi. [c. 23.] Episcoporum etiam, quorum uita non reprehenditur, posteriorem priori nullus preponat, nisi forte superbia elatus quod pro necessitate ecclesiae episcopus iusserit inplere contempnat. II. Pars. §. 1. Sane si offitium archidiaconatus propter simpliciorem naturam inplere aut expedire nequiuerit, ille loci sui teneat nomen et ordinationem ecclesiae, quem elegerit episcopus preponendum.
Friedberg, col. 261/262
C. VI. A person ought not to be held unwillingly in the place in which he was ordained.
Likewise Gregory to John, Bishop of Syracuse, [book XI, epistle 34]. By the report of certain persons it has reached us that Cosmas—who, from being a monk of the monastery of Saint Lucy, was made a subdeacon in the church of Syracuse by your predecessor Maximian of venerable memory, and is afterward said to have been ordained by you as a priest on the estate called Juliana—is so vehemently afflicted by excessive sadness and by the character of the place that he regards his life as a punishment and seeks the aid of flight for his contrition. And therefore, because we ought to show ourselves toward our subjects as we, if we had been subjects, would wish our prelates to be toward us, it is an act of great kindness if your holiness takes care to bring him back to the church where he discharged the office of the subdiaconate and to establish him there as a cardinal cleric. And, as far as we judge, you ought to do this if there is nothing that justly exasperates your mind against him. But if there is some fault, let your fraternity make this known to us by your letters, so that we may be able to know it. Part III. GRATIAN. But that text of Gregory is to be understood of those who, not from a cause of necessity but from a cause of ingratitude, cunningly seek to be promoted by their bishops. The text of the Council of Carthage, however, is to be understood of those who are unwilling to obey their bishops when, because of the necessity of the Church, they wish to promote them to higher things. Anyone can corroborate this distinction from the decree of Pope Simplicius, who, writing to John, Archbishop of Ravenna, [epistle II], says among other things:
C. VI. In quo loco quis ordinatus est inuitus teneri non debet.
Item Gregorius Iohanni Episcopo Siracusano. [lib. XI. epist. 34.] Quorumdam ad nos relatione peruenit, Cosmam, qui ex monacho monasterii S. Luciae a decessore tuo uenerandae memoriae Maximiano in ecclesia Siracusana subdiaconus factus, atque a te postea in possessione, que Iuliana uocatur, presbiter dicitur ordinatus, ita nimia tristicia et loci qualitate uehementer afflictum, ut uitam sibi penam existimet, et contricioni suae fugae querat auxilium. Et ideo, quia tales erga subiectos nostros debemus existere, quales nos, si subiecti fuissemus, nostros uellemus esse prepositos, magnae benignitatis est, si eum in ecclesia, ubi subdiaconii est functus offitio, sanctitas tua reducere atque illic studuerit constituere cardinalem. Quod et facere, quantum arbitramur, debes, si nichil est, quod iuste contra eum animos tuos exasperet. Si uero aliqua culpa est, suis nobis epistolis hoc fraternitas uestra, ut scire possimus, insinuet. III. Pars. Gratian. Verum illud Gregorii de his intelligendum est, qui non causa necessitatis, sed causa ingratitudinis callide ab episcopis suis promoueri queruntur. Illud autem Cartaginensis concilii de his intelligitur, qui nolunt obtemperare episcopis suis propter necessitatem ecclesiae uolentibus eos ad altiora promouere. Hanc distinctionem ex decreto Simplicii Papae quilibet ualet corroborare, qui scribens Iohanni Archiepiscopi Rauennati, [epist. II.] ait inter cetera:
Friedberg, col. 263/264
C. VII. No one is to be dragged unwillingly to the episcopate.
Where did you learn those things which you perpetrated against Gregory, our bishop and fellow brother, not from affection but from envy? You suffered him to be dragged before you with inexcusable violence and to be harassed, so that you imposed so great an honor upon him not through tranquility of mind but through madness, as it must be said. For such things could not have been done with soundness of counsel. We are unwilling to aggravate what was done, lest we be compelled to judge what is deserved; for one who abuses the power permitted to him deserves to lose his privilege. But we give notice that, if after these things you presume something of this kind and perchance believe that you can make anyone a bishop, priest, or deacon against his will, know that the ordinations of the church of Ravenna or of Emilia are to be taken away from you.
C. VII. Non est aliquis inuitus ad episcopatum pertrahendus.
Ubi ista didicisti, que in episcopum et confratrem nostrum Gregorium non dilectione, sed inuidia perpetrasti? quem inexcusabili uiolentia pertrahi ad te passus es atque uexari, ut ei tantum honorem non per animi tranquillitatem, sed per amentiam, sicut dicendum est, irrogares? Neque enim talia potuissent fieri sanitate consilii. Nolumus exaggerare quod gestum est, ne cogamur iudicare quod dignum est; nam priuilegium meretur amittere, qui permissa sibi abutitur potestate. Denunciamus autem, quod, si post hec aliquid tale presumpseris, et aliquem seu episcopum, uel presbiterum, uel diaconum inuitum facere forte credideris, ordinationes tibi Rauennatis ecclesiae uel Emiliensis noueris auferendas.
Friedberg, col. 263/264
C. VIII. On the same.
Likewise Gregory to Antoninus the Subdeacon, [book II, epistle 16, indiction 10]. Honoratus, archdeacon of the church of Salona, had requested by a supplication sent to my predecessor of holy memory that he in no way be compelled by his bishop, against custom and unwillingly, to be promoted to the order of a higher grade. For he declared that this was being done to him not for the sake of advancement but because of ill will. For this reason our predecessor of holy memory had even then forbidden by his writings Natalis, our brother and fellow bishop, to promote the aforesaid Archdeacon Honoratus unwillingly or to retain in his heart the pain of the ill will he had conceived. And when these same things had also been most earnestly forbidden by me, he, not only neglecting God’s commands but also contemning our writings, attempted cunningly to degrade the aforesaid archdeacon under the guise of promoting him to a higher honor. Hence it was brought about that, when the latter had been removed from the place of the archdiaconate, he brought in another who could comply with his conduct. We judge that this Archdeacon Honoratus cannot be displeasing to his bishop for any other reason than that he prohibited him from giving sacred vessels to his relatives. Both my predecessor of holy memory then and I now wished to investigate this cause with subtle inquiry, but, conscious of himself and his deeds, he deferred sending his person to judgment. Hence we have thought your experience should be strengthened by the authority of the present precept, so that, coming to Salona, it may take care to exhort Natalis, our brother and fellow bishop, admonished by at least so many writings, to receive the above-mentioned archdeacon in his status. But if, as is his custom, he should perhaps contumaciously defer doing this, you shall, by authority of the apostolic see, forbid him the use of the pallium which had been granted him by this see. If you perceive that even after losing the pallium he still perseveres in the same obstinacy, you shall deprive that bishop of participation in the Lord’s body and blood. GRATIAN. Discipline is also to be applied by which those unwilling to be promoted to sacred orders are impelled to obey their bishops. For those constituted in the lesser orders are to be promoted gradually through the individual grades, so that those who scorn to obey their bishops may grieve that men whom they formerly had as subjects have been set above them. Hence Gelasius writes to Bishop Victor:
C. VIII. De eodem.
Item Gregorius Antonino Subdiacono. [lib. II. epist. 16. Indict. 10.] Honoratus, archidiaconus Salonitanae ecclesiae a sanctae memoriae decessore meo missa supplicatione poposcerat, ut ab antistite suo inuitus prouehi ad fortioris gradus ordinem contra morem nullo modo cogeretur. Hoc enim fieri sibi non causa prouehendi, sed causa ingratitudinis perhibebat. Pro qua re tunc etiam sanctae memoriae predecessor noster scriptis suis Natali fratri coepiscopoque nostro interdixerat, ne Predictum Honoratum archidiaconum inuitum proueheret, neue dolorem conceptae ingratitudinis in corde retineret. Cumque etiam a me hec eadem summopere fuerint interdicta, non solum mandata Dei negligens, sed etiam scripta nostra contempnens, prefatum archidiaconem quasi ad fortiorem honorem prouehens conatus est callide degradare. Unde actum est, ut, eodem archidiaconatus loco submoto, alium adscisceret, qui eius obtemperare moribus potuisset. Quem Honoratum archidiaconem arbitramur antistiti suo aliunde displicere non posse, nisi quod eum uasa sacra suis parentibus dare prohibebat. Quam causam subtili uolumus et tunc sanctae memoriae decessor meus, et nunc ego indagatione perquirere, sed sui suorumque actuum conscius personam suam ad iudicium postposuit destinare. Unde experientiam tuam presentis precepti auctoritate duximus fulciendam, quatinus, conueniens in Salonia, Natalem fratrem nostrum et coepiscopum nostrum saltim tot scriptis ammonitum studeat adhortari, ut supra memoratum archidiaconem in suo statu suscipiat. Quod si facere hoc contumaciter, ut consueuit, forte distulerit, usum pallii ei, qui ab hac sede concessus sibi fuerat, ex auctoritate sedis apostolicae contradices. Quem si etiam amisso pallio adhuc in eadem pertinacia perseuerare perspexeris, dominici corporis et sanguinis eundem antistitem participatione priuabis. Gratian. Adhibenda est etiam disciplina, qua nolentes promoueri ad sacros ordines ad obediendum episcopis suis pronocentur. In minoribus siquidem ordinibus constituti paulatim per singulos gradus sunt prouehendi, ut contempnentes suis obedire episcopis doleant sibi esse prelatos, quos prius habebant subiectos. Unde Gelasius scribit Victori Episcopo:
Friedberg, col. 263/264
C. IX. When those in the greater orders have scorned to be ordained, men are to be promoted from the lesser orders.
Your affection has consulted us concerning the promotion of its clerics, declaring that the deacons refuse to come to the grade of the priesthood, of which you recall your church to be in need.
Therefore, because ecclesiastical moderation and gravity do not permit men to be made against their will, that ordination can be effected so as to make willing men from the unwilling if you take care to promote to the priesthood those whom you have among the acolytes or subdeacons who are more mature in age and whose life is approved, so that those who were unwilling to advance among their own may be rendered later than their inferiors among the lesser men. Let these men obtain the advantages of a priest more abundantly than the deacons, so that, constrained at least by this reason, the latter may strive to seek both the honor which they had fled and its gain.
C. IX. Cum maiores ordinari contempserint, de minoribus promoueantur ordinibus.
Consuluit dilectio tua de suorum promotione clericorum, perhibens, quod diaconi ad presbiterii gradum (quo ecclesiam tuam memoras indigere) uenire detrectant.
Quapropter, quia inuitos fieri ecclesiastica moderatio grauitasque non patitur, ut ex nolentibus fiant uolentes ordinatio illa potest perficere, si quos habes in acolitis, uel subdiaconibus maturiores etate, et quorum sit uita probabilis, hos in presbiterium studeas promouere, ut, qui in suis proficere noluerunt, reddantur suis inferioribus post minores. Ipsa commoda presbiteri propensius quam diaconi consequantur, ut hac saltem ratione constricti et honorem, quem refugerant, appetere nitantur, et questum.
Friedberg, col. 263/264