distinction — Decretum of Gratian
Distinction LXXXIII
GRATIAN. Part I. It is also to be provided that one who is elected to ordination, even if he appears foreign to his own vice, is not defiled by consenting to the vices of others. For as Pope Symmachus says: “There is no great difference whether you inflict death or permit it. For one is proved to inflict death upon the sick who, although he can, does not exclude it.” Hence Gregory VII says, [in the Register, book VI, c. 12, of the Roman Synod celebrated in the year of the Lord 1080, otherwise 1078]:
GRATIANUS. I. Pars. Prouidendum quoque est, ne is, qui ad ordinandum eligitur, etsi a proprio uitio uideatur alienus, consentiendo alienis inquinetur. Ut enim Simacus Papa ait: "Non est grandis differentia, utrum lethum inferas, uel admittas. Mortem enim languentibus probatur infligere, qui hanc, cum possit, non excludit." Hinc Gregorius VII. ait: [in Reg. lib. VI. c. 12. Romanae Sinodi, celebratae Anno Domini 1080. al. 1078.]
Friedberg, col. 293/294
C. I. A bishop who consents to the fornication of his clerics is to be suspended from office.
If any bishop, with payment or entreaties intervening, consents to the fornication of priests or deacons, or to the crime of incest, in his parish, or does not attack the crime committed by authority of his office, let him be suspended from office.
C. I. Suspendatur ab offitio, clericorum suorum fornicationi consentiens episcopus.
Si quis episcopus fornicationem presbiterorum, diaconorum, uel crimen incestus in sua parrochia precio uel precibus interueniente consenserit, uel commissum auctoritate sui offitii non inpugnauerit, ab offitio suspendatur.
Friedberg, col. 293/294
C. II. One who sins under the name of holiness harms the Church most of all.
Likewise Augustine. Certainly no one in the Church harms more than one who, acting perversely, has the name or order of holiness and of a priest. For no one presumes to rebuke him when he sins, and the fault is vehemently extended as an example, since the sinner is honored because of reverence for the order. Therefore, a bishop who does not correct the crimes of such men is to be called a shameless dog rather than a bishop.
C. II. Maxime ecclesiam ledit sub nomine sanctitatis delinquens.
Item Augustinus. Nemo quippe in ecclesia amplius nocet, quam qui peruerse agens nomen uel ordinem sanctitatis et sacerdotis habet. Delinquentem namque hunc nullus redarguere presumit, et in exemplum culpa uehementer extenditur, quoniam pro reuerentia ordinis peccator honoratur. Episcopus itaque, qui talium crimina non corrigit, magis dicendus est canis inpudicus quam episcopus.
Friedberg, col. 293/294
C. III. One who does not resist error consents to it.
Likewise Innocent. An error which is not resisted is approved, and truth, when it is by no means defended, is oppressed. For to neglect to trouble perverse men when you can is nothing other than to foster them.
Nor is he free from the scruple of hidden association who ceases to oppose a manifest crime.
C. III. Qui non resistit errori, consentit.
Item Innocentius. Error, cui non resistitur, approbatur, et ueritas, cum minime defensatur, obprimitur. Negligere quippe, cum possis perturbare peruersos, nichil est aliud quam fouere.
Nec caret scrupulo societatis occultae, qui manifesto facinori desinit obuiare.
Friedberg, col. 293/294
C. IV. It does not benefit one not to be polluted by his own error if he consents to another’s.
Likewise Pope Pius, [epistle I to all Christ’s faithful]. For what does it benefit him not to be polluted by his own error, if he furnishes consent to one who errs?
C. IV. Non prodest suo errore non pollui, qui alieno consentit.
Item Pius Papa. [epist. I. ad omnes Christi fideles] Quid enim prodest illi suo errore non pollui, qui consensum prestat erranti?
Friedberg, col. 293/294
C. V. One who does not intervene consents.
Likewise Gregory. One who does not intervene to cut away the things that ought to be corrected appears to consent to one who errs. GRATIAN. But just as one ought not to flatter the vices of others, so neither ought one to delight in the praises of evil men. Hence Anacletus to all the faithful:
C. V. Qui non occurrit, consentit.
Item Gregorius. Consentire uidetur erranti, qui ad resecanda, que corrigi debent, non occurrit. Gratian. Sicut autem aliorum uitia palpare non debet, ita nec malorum laudibus delectari. Unde Anacletus cunctis fidelibus:
Friedberg, col. 293/294
C. VI. Most wretched is the bishop who glories in the praises of evil men.
Nothing is more wretched than that pastor who glories in the praises of wolves. If he wishes to please them and chooses to be loved by them, great destruction will come from this upon the sheep. Therefore, no pastor can please both wolves and flocks of sheep. For a mind bound by earthly prisons loses the memory of labors. But just as diligence is found to be the mother of the arts in each one’s work, so negligence is the stepmother of learning. Part II. GRATIAN. Although a priest ought to be immune both from his own crimes and from those of others, nevertheless, if he has conducted himself otherwise, the words of his preaching ought not for that reason to be contemned. For as Jerome says: just as lye flowing through damp ashes washes and is not washed, so good teaching through an evil teacher washes the souls of believers from the filth of sins.
C. VI. Miserrimus est episcopus, qui malorum gloriatur laudibus.
Nichil illo pastore miserius, qui luporum gloriatur laudibus. Quibus si placere uoluerit, atque ab his amari delegerit, erit hinc ouibus magna pernicies. Nullus igitur pastorum placere lupis et gregibus ouium potest. Perdit enim memoriam laborum mens terrenis obligata carceribus. Sicut autem artium in suo quoque opere inuenitur mater instantia, ita nouerca erudicionis est negligentia. II. Pars. Gratian. Quamquam sacerdotem tam a suis, quam ab alienis criminibus oporteat esse imunem, tamen si aliorsum sese habuerit, non ideo uerba suae predicationis debent contempni. Sicut enim Ieronimus ait: ut lixiuium per cinerem humidum fluens lauat, et non lauatur, ita bona doctrina per malum doctorem animas credentium lauat a sorde peccatorum.
Friedberg, col. 293/294