The Presbyters Project

II.5. De sacerdotibus.

[...]

(14) [...] Quod autem is qui post baptismum aliquo mortali peccato corruptus est ad sacerdotium non promoueatur, lex ipsa testatur. Moyses enim in lege praecepit sacerdotibus ne aliquod pecus uitiatum ad aram dei offerant. Quod ipsud postea spernentibus sacerdotibus Israhel per Malachiam inproperauit deus dicens: Vos sacerdotes qui polluistis nomen meum et dixistis: In quo polluimus te? Offertis super altare meum panem pollutum. Nonne, si offeratis caecum uel languidum, nonne malum est? Vnde et in Numeris uitula rufa, cuius cinis expiatio populi est, non aliter iubetur offerri ad altare domini nisi quae terrena opera non fecerit, iugumque delicti non traxerit, nec uinculis peccatorum fuerit alligata. (15) Sed quid plura subiciam? Si enim is qui iam in episcopatu uel presbiterio est positus mortale aliquod peccatum admiserit, retrahitur: quanto magis siquis ante ordinationem peccator inuentus ut ordinetur? Quapropter, quia lex peccatores a sacerdotio remouet, consideret se unusquisque et, sciens quia potentes potenter tormenta patiuntur, retrahat se ab hoc non tam honore quam onere, et aliorum locum qui digni sunt non ambiat occupare.

(ed. Lawson 1989: 61-62)

II.5. On priests.

[...]

(14) [...] However, the Law itself testifies that anyone who has been corrupted after baptism by some mortal sin is not to be promoted to ordination. For in the Law, Moses ordered the priests that no spoiled animal be offered at the altar of God. Afterwards, the priests the Israel rejecting this, God reproached them through Malachi, saying: "O priests, who despise my name. You say, 'How have we despised your name?' By offering polluted food on my altar... And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not wrong?" [Mal 1:6-8]. Whence also in Numbers a red heifer, whose ashes are an expiation of the people, is not to be ordered to be offered at the altar of the Lord unless it has not done earthly works and has not borne the yoke of transgression, nor been hindered by the chains of sins [see Num 19:2]. (15) And what more can I bring up? If anyone who has already been placed in the episcopate or presbyterate should admit some mortal sin, let him be withdrawn: would it not be better [if someone] were found to be a sinner before ordination that if he were ordained? For that reason, since the law removes sinners from priesthood, let each one of them consider for themselves and, knowing that "the mighty shall be mightily put to the test" [Wis 6:7 (Vulgate)], withdraw themselves from it not because of the honor but because of the burden, and not go around occupying the place of others who are worthy.

(trans. Knoebel 2008: 75)

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Seville

About the source:

Author: Isidore of Seville
Title: De ecclesiasticis officiis, On the Ecclesiastical Offices, De origine officiorum
Origin: Seville (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Isidore was born probably ca 560, he became the bishop of Seville in 600, and he held that office to his death in AD 636. He wrote several works, among them the De ecclesiasticis officiis composed certainly after AD 598 (the composition of the Moralia in Job by Gregory the Great which are used by Isidore in the books 5 and 6). We cannot establish another terminus ante quem than the year of death of Isidore, although some scholars proposed that the De ecclesiasticis officiis were written before the composition of Chronicon in AD 615 (Lawson 1989: 13*-14*). The argument is based on the assumption that the list of Isidore`s writings composed by Braulio, bishop of Saragossa is ordered chronologically, but, as was demonstrated by its most recent editor (Martin 2006: 64-73), most certainly it is not the case.

Isidore composed the treatise at the request of Bishop Fulgentius of Écija (see the dedicatory letter at the beginning of the book). The De ecclesiasticis officiis is also one of the most important sources for the early Spanish liturgy.

Edition:

C.M. Lawson ed., Sancti Isidori episcopi Hispalensis de ecclesiasticis officiis, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 113, Turnhout 1989

Translation:

Isidore of Seville, De ecclesiasticis officiis, translation and introduction by T.L. Knoebel, Ancient Christian Writers 61, New York 2008

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Impediments or requisits for the office - Improper/Immoral behaviour

Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical

Administration of justice - Demotion

Theoretical considerations - On priesthood

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1290, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1290