The Presbyters Project

Canon 2

Statuit sancta synodus ut reliquiae in quibuscumque locis de Arrianam haeresem inventae fuerint prolate a sacerdotibus, in quorum ecclesias repperiuntur pontificibus praesentatae igne probentur quod si a quibuslibet occu[ta]tae fuerint et deteguntur a sacrosanctae ecclesiae coetu segregentur.

(eds. Vives 1963: 154)

Canon 2

The holy council decided that the relics found in places belonging to the Arian heresy shall be taken by priests in whose churches they were discovered and presented to pontiffs [in order to] prove them by fire. If someone is hiding and concealing them, he or she shall be separated from the congragation of the Church.

(trans. by M. Szada)

Discussion:

The canon has been issued at the council held three years after the official conversion of the Visigothic Kingdom to the Nicene Christianity from Arianism at the Third Council of Toledo in 589. The canon 9 of the Third Council of Toledo mentioned the appropriation of the formerly Arian basilicas by the Catholics, but the more detailed instructions were given only by the Second Council of Saragossa. It ordered in the canon 2 to prove the Arian relics by fire and in canon 3 to consecrate anew basilicas originally built and consecrated by the Arians.

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Saragossa

About the source:

Title: Second Council of Saragossa 592, Concilium Caesaraugustanum secundum a. 592, Concilium Caesaraugustanum II, Concilium II Caesaraugustanum
Origin: Saragossa (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The provincial synod of the province of Tarraconensis was held in Saragossa in 592 (the seventh year of the reign of king Reccared mentioned in the canon 1). It was presided by the metropolitan bishop of the province Artemius (see subscriptions in the acts of the council).

Edition:

J. Vives ed., Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos, Barcelona-Madrid 1963.

Bibliography:

F.-M. Beltrán Torreiro, ''El II Concilio de Zaragoza (592) y las últimas repercusiones de la crisis arriana en la Hispania visigoda'', Espacio, tiempo y forma. Serie III, Historia medieval 3 (1990), 41-48.

J. Orlandis, D. Ramos-Lissón, Historia de los concilios de la España romana y visigoda, Pamplona 1986.

Categories:

Functions within the Church - Parish presbyter

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical

Administration of justice - Excommunication/Anathema

Devotion - Veneration of saints and relics

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1452, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1452