The Presbyters Project

Canon 28

Nullus episcoporum de ordinationibus clericorum praemia praesumat exigere, quia non solum sacrilegum, sed hereticum est. Sicut in dogmatibus ecclesiasticis habetur insertum, non ordinandum clericum, qui per ambitionem ad imaginem Simonis magi pecuniam offert sacerdoti. Et quia dixit: Gratis accepistis, gratis date. Cum talis sit, qui gratiam Dei a sacerdote estimat pretio comparari, quales illi, qui uendit. Vterque usque ad sinodum ab ecclesia segregetur; cauta enim est in salute prouisio ad effugienda culpa delicti aditum delinquendi repelli.

(ed. de Clercq 1963: 194)

Canon 28

No bishop should dare to collect money (praemia exigere) for the ordination of clerics as it is not only sacrilegious, but also heretical. Just as written in the De ecclesiacticis dogmatibus [by Gennadius of Marseille] that someone who, out of ambition imitates the example of Simon the sorcerer and offers money to the priest should not be ordained a cleric. Moreover, He said: Freely ye have received, freely give [Matt 10:8]. For both the one who wants to buy God's grace from a priest and the one who sells it should be considered as such [i.e. followers of Simon magus]. Both should be separated from the Church, for it is prudent, when safeguarding the salvation, to drive away the wrongdoer in order to avoid the opportunity for a sinful error.

(trans. J. Szafranowski)

Place of event:

Region

Gaul

City

Tours

About the source:

Title: The Second Council of Tours, Concilium Turonense II anno 567
Origin: Tours (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

This council, the second one held in the city of Tours, gathered under the auspices of Charibert I on 18 November 567, in the last year of his reign. The list of subscribers for that synod is quite short as it holds only eight signatures. Suprisingly, it lacks even the bishop of Tours himself, Eufronius, or any bishop from his metropolitan province. Most probably, the original list was substantially longer.

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.

Categories:

Described by a title - Clericus

Reasons for ordination - Personal ambition

Simony/Buying office

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Economic status and activity - Buying & selling

Administration of justice - Excommunication/Anathema

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1474, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1474