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ER 1162
Canon 37 of the Council of Épaone (Gaul, AD 517) decrees that the candidates for clergy should prove that they have led a pious life.
Canon 37
 
Ne laicus nisi religione praemissa clericus ordinetur.
 
(ed. de Clercq 1963: 34)
Canon 37
 
No layman should be ordained a cleric if he was not pious beforehand.
 
(trans. J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

The meaning of this canon is obscure. De Clercq suggested that religio should be understood as tempus praeparationis: a brief period of time preceding the ordination. On the other hand, Hefele (1895: 113) argued that candidates to clergy needed to profess asceticism and chastity – proof of the growing influence of the monastic circles.
Probably, it was required of candidates to live a pious life before taking Holy Orders, which involved separation from the marital bed for a period of time before ordination.
Other decrees which require "conversion" before ordination are canons 1 and 2 of the Fourth Council of Arles (AD 524) [1164] and [1165], and canon 6 of the Fourth Council of Orléans (AD 538) [1308].

Place of event:

Region
  • Gaul
City
  • Épaone

About the source:

Title: Council of Épaone 517, Concilium Epaonense anno 517
Origin: Épaone (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Just as the Council of Agde was held in 506 in the Visigothic kingdom and the First Council of Orléans in 511 in the Frankish realm, the Council of Épaone gathered bishops from the lands ruled by the Burgundians. The direct impulse for the council was the ascension to the throne of Sigismund in 516. The new king, unlike his Arian predecessors, followed the Catholic creed. Avitus, metropolitan of Vienne, and Viventiolus, metropolitan of Lyons, asked the bishops to convene on the day of 6th September 517 in Épaone, the exact location of which is unknown. It was most probably situated in the province of Vienne, possibly near present-day Anneyron or Saint-Maurice-l`Exil. The council gathered 24 bishops and one presbyter. It seems that also some other clerics and laymen attended the sessions.
Edition:
C. de Clercq ed., Concilia Galliae a. 511-a. 695, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 148 A, Turnhout 1963.
 
Translation:
J. Gaudemet, B. Basdevant, Les canons des conciles mérovingiens VIe-VIIe siècles, Sources chrétiennes 353, Paris 1989.
Bibliography:
C.J. Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church from the Original Documents, v. 4, trans. by W.R. Clark, Edinburgh 1895.

Categories:

Described by a title - Clericus
    Impediments or requisits for the office - Marriage
      Impediments or requisits for the office - Social/Economic/Legal status
        Public law - Ecclesiastical
          Devotion - Ascetic practice
            Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1162, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1162
            Record by: Jerzy Szafranowski
            last edited: 2018-04-09 11:03:18
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