The Presbyters Project

Canon 17

De his qui ex vasis ministerii ecclesiae aliquid vendiderint.

Si quis presbyter aut diaconus inventus fuerit aliquid de ministeriis ecclesiae venundasse, quia sacrilegium commisit, placuit eum in ordinatione ecclesiastica non haberi. In iudicio tamen episcopi dimittendum est sive dignus sit sive indignus in suo recipi gradu, quia multotiens pro hoc ipso quod de sacrosancto altario intaminaverint id cum episcopi potestate dimissum est.

(ed. Barlowe 1950: 128-129)

Canon 17

On those who sell something from the vessels of the ministry of the Church.

If a presbyter or deacon is found to have sold something from the things serving to the ministry of the Church, it pleased us that he shall no longer be in the ecclesiastical orders because he commited a sacrilege. It shall be judged by the bishop whether the offender is worthy or unworthy to get back his grade because frequently a thing that has been profanely taken from the most holy altar is disposed of with the authority of the bishop.

(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

Cf. canon 15 of the council of Ancyra in AD 314. Martin of Braga significantly changes the tenor of the original Greek canon that speaks generally about the property of the Church. According to the Ancyran canon anything that has been alienated from the Church property while the bishop was not there, can be claimed. Whether the price shall be returned to the buyer depends on the discernement of the bishop as some things can generate revenues that exceed the original price (see Joannou 1962:66-67). Martin of Braga, however, narrows the sense of the canon so that it concerns only the liturgical vessels. As they do not generate any revenues, all the pecuniary considerations of the second part are useless so that Martin transforms them and gives them another meaning, although he retains some of the wording.

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Braga

About the source:

Author: Martin of Braga
Title: Collectio orientalium canonum, seu Capitula Martini, Capitula Martini, Collection of the Eastern canons
Origin: Braga (Iberian Peninsula), Ancara (East)

In the manuscript tradition the canons of the Second Council of Braga (Iberian Peninsula) in AD 572 are followed by the Eastern canons collected and translated into Latin by Martin of Braga (Iberian Peninsula). He was using a Greek collection, impossible to identify with any of the collections known today, which gathered the canons of the several Eastern councils. Martin quotes also the canons of the First Council of Toledo AD 400. Martin dedicated his work to Bishop Nitigisius of Lugo (Iberian Peninsula). Those two bishops met on the Second Council of Braga, and possibly the collection was composed for this occasion (Barlowe 1950: 84-87).

Edition:

C. Barlowe ed., Martini episcopi Bracarensis opera omnia, New Haven 1950.

Bibliography:

P.-P. Joannou, Discipline générale antique, v. 1, p.2, Grottaferrata 1962.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Ecclesiastical administration - Administering Church property

Economic status and activity - Buying & selling

Livelihood/income

Private law - Ecclesiastical

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1063, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1063