Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 1466
Pope Siricius (384-398) restates the requirement of sexual continence for the higher clergy. He is lenient towards those who did not mantain it earlier, but threatens with demotion those who do not respect it later. Siricius, Letter to Himerius, bishop of Tarragona, Rome, AD 385.
Letter 1
 
8. [...] Plurimos enim  sacerdotes Christi atque levitas, post longa consecrationis suae tempora, tam de coniugibus propriis, quam etiam de turpi coitu sobolem didicimus procreasse, et crimen suum hac praescriptione defendere, quia in veteri Testamento sacerdotibus ac ministris generandi facultas legitur attributa.
 
9. Veteris Testamenti auctoritas frustra praetenditur. Dicat mihi nunc, quisquis ille est sectator libidinum, praeceptorque vitiorum: Si aestimat, quia in lege Moysi passim sacris ordinibus a Domino laxata sunt frena luxuriae, cur eos, quibus committebantur sancta sanctorum praemonet dicens: Sancti estote, quia et ego sanctus sum Dominus Deus vester? cur etiam procul a suis domibus, anno vicis suae, in templo habitare iussi sunt sacerdotes? hac videlicet ratione, ne vel cum uxoribus possent carnale exercere commercium, ut conscientiae integritate fulgentes, acceptabile Deo munus offerrent. Quibus expleto deservitionis suae tempore, uxorius usus solius successionis causa fuerat relaxatus; quia non ex alia, nisi ex tribu Levi, quisquam ad Dei ministerium fuerat praeceptus admitti.
 
10. [...]  Quarum sanctionum omnes sacerdotes atque levitae insolubili lege constringimur, ut a die ordinationis nostrae, sobrietati ac pudicitiae et corda nostra mancipemus et corpora, dummodo per omnia Deo nostro in his, quae quotidie offerimus, sacrificiis placeamus. [...]
 
11. Lapsis ex ignorantia servatur honor, secus aliis. Et quia aliquanti, de quibus loquimur, ut tua sanctitas retulit, ignoratione lapsos esse se deflent: his hac conditione misericordiam dicimus non negandam, ut sine ullo honoris augmento, in hoc quo detecti sunt, quam diu vixerint, officio perseverent, si tamen posthac continentes se studuerint exhibere. li vero, qui illiciti privilegii excusatione nituntur, ut sibi asserant veteri hoc lege concessum; noverint se ab omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indigne usi sunt, apostolicae sedis auctoritate deiectos, nec umquam posse veneranda attrectare mysteria; quibus se ipsi, dum obscoenis cupiditatibus inhiant, privaverunt. Et quia exempla praesentia cavere nos praemonent in futurum: quilibet episcopus, presbyter, atque diaconus, quod non optamus, deinceps fuerit talis inventus, iam nunc sibi omnem per nos indulgentiae aditum intelligat obseratum: quia ferro necesse est excidantur vulnera, quae fomentorum non senserint medicinam.
 
(ed. Coustant 1845: 1138-1140)
Letter 1
 
8. [...]  For we learned that many priests and deacons of Christ, long after their ordination, have produced offspring both from their own wives and even through filthy liaisons, and defend their sin with this excuse, that it is read in the Old Testament that the opportunity to procreate was given to priests and ministers.
 
9. Let him speak to me now, whoever is an addict of obscenities and a teacher of vices. If he thinks that here and there in the law of Moses the restraints of indulgence are relaxed by the Lord for sacred orders, why does He admonish those to whom the Holy of Holies was committed saying: "Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy"?   Why indeed were priests ordered to live in the temple, far from their homes, in the year of their service? Just for this reason: so that they could not engage in physical contact even with wives, and that shining in integrity of conscience they might offer acceptable service to God. The period of service having been completed, use of wives was permitted to them for reason of succession alone, because no one from a tribe other than of Levi was directed to be admitted to the ministry of God.
 
10. [...]  All we priests and deacons are bound by the unbreakable law of those sanctions, so that from the day of our ordination we subject our hearts and bodies to moderation and modesty in order that in every respect we might please our God in these sacrifices which daily we offer. [...]
 
11. And because a considerable number of those of whom we speak, as your holiness reported, lament that they lapsed in ignorance, we declare that mercy should not be denied to them, with this condition: if henceforth they strive to conduct themselves continently, they should continue as long as they live in that office which they held when they were caught, without any advancement in rank. But those who lean on the excuse of an illicit privilege by asserting that this was conceded to them in the old law, let them know that they have been expelled by the authority of the apostolic see from every ecclesiastical office, which they used unworthily, nor can they ever touch the mysteries which ought to be venerated, of which they deprived themselves when they were obsessed with obscene desires. And because present examples forewarn us to be vigilant in the future, any bishop, presbyter, and deacon henceforth found in this situation--which we hope will not happen--should understand right now that every avenue of forgiveness from us for himself is blocked, because it is necessary that wounds which do not respond to the medication of a soothing compress should be excised with a knife.
 
(trans. R.  Somerville, B. Brasington 1998: 36-39)
 
 

Discussion:

"Priests" ("sacerdotes") refers here to both bishops and presbyters, because "levites" are certainly deacons.

Place of event:

Region
  • Rome
  • Iberian Peninsula
City
  • Rome

About the source:

Author: Siricius
Title: Letters, Epistulae
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
The letter, written in early AD 385, is the response to the questions sent by Himerius, bishop of Tarragona in the Iberian Peninsula, to the predecessor of Siricius, Damasus. It is considered to be first papal "decretal", i.e. a letter aimed at correcting doctrinal errors and impose discipline in an authoritative way.
Edition:
P. Coustant ed., S. Siricii papae epistolae et decreta, Paris 1845, Patrologia Latina 13, 1131-1178.
H. Wurm, Studien und Texte zur Dekretalensammlung des Dionysius Exiguus, Bonn 1939.
 
Translation:
Robert Somerville and Bruce Brasington, Prefaces to Canon Law Books in Latin Christianity (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998) 36-39; see online version
Bibliography:
A. Ferreiro, "Pope Siricius and Himerius of Tarragona (385): Provincial Papal Intervention in the Fourth Century”, [in :] The Bishop of Rome in Late Antiquity, Farnham, Burlington 2015.

Categories:

Family life - Permanent relationship before ordination
    Family life - Permanent relationship continued after ordination
      Family life - Offspring
        Sexual life - Extramarital
          Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
            Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς
              Ritual activity - Eucharist
                Public law - Ecclesiastical
                  Sexual life - Marital
                    Further ecclesiastical career - None
                      Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical
                        Administration of justice - Demotion
                          Theoretical considerations - On priesthood
                            Ritual activity - Daily mass
                              Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1466, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1466