The Presbyters Project

Chapter 19

Quod daemoniis aliisque passionibus irretitis ministeria sacra tractare non liceat.

19. Usque adeo sane comperimus illicita quaeque prorumpere, ut daemoniis similibusque passionibus irretitis ministeria sacrosancta tractare tribuatur. Quibus si in hoc opere positis aliquid propriae necessitatis occurrat, quis de sua fidelium salute confidet, ubi ministros ipsos curationis humanae tanta perspexerit calamitate vexari? Atque ideo necessario removendi sunt, ne quibuslibet, pro quibus Christus est mortuus, scandalum generetur infirmis. Postremo, si corpore sauciatum fortassis aut debilem nequaquam sancta contingere lex divina permisit, quanto magis doni coelestis dispensatores esse non convenit, quod est deterius, mente perculsos?

(ed. Thiel 1868: 361.372-373)

Chapter 19

That it is not permitted to conduct the sacred services while under the influence of demonic or other unrestrained passions.

19. We have even been discovering continually that certain unlawful acts have made their appearance, such that it is allowed to handle the inviolable ministries with demonic and similarly unrestrained passions. If for those engaged in this work emergency of their own should arise, who of the faithful can have confidence in his own salvation when he has perceived that the very ministers who look after people are plagued by a disaster of such proportions? And so of necessity they must be removed, lest a scandal arise for any of the weaker, for whom Christ died. Finally, if, for example, divine law in no way permits someone with a bodily deformity or disability to touch holy things, how much more is it inappropriate for those who administer the heavenly gift when their mind has been affected, which is worse?

(trans. Neil - Allen 2014: 144.153)

Discussion:

Letter 14 of Pope Gelasius, written on 11 March 494, was addressed to the bishops of Lucania and Bruttium (ie. nowadays Calabria) and Sicily. They were under Gelasius' direct metropolitan jurisdiction. The long letter is a "decretal", and contains mainly various norms regulating the rights and obligation of clergy.

Various thing could have been considered a demonic influence, among the epilepsy, as hinted by Fragment 8 of Gelasius I, where he orders to investigate whether a bishop, allegedly frequently collapsing because of the attacs of the devil, ever fell down at home or in public (Neil, Allen 2004: 153).

Place of event:

Region

Rome
Italy south of Rome and Sicily

City

Rome

About the source:

Author: Gelasius I
Title: Epistulae, Letters
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome between AD 492 and 496.

Edition:

Thiel A. ed., Epistulae Romanorum pontificum genuinae et quae ad eos scriptae sunt a S. Hilario usque ad Pelagium II, 1, Braunsberg 1868, 287-510.

Translation:

B. Neil, P. Allen edd., The Letters of Gelasius I (492-496): Pastor and Micro-Manager of the Church of Rome, Turnhout 2014.

Bibliography:

B. Neil, P. Allen edd., The Letters of Gelasius I (492-496): Pastor and Micro-Manager of the Church of Rome, Turnhout 2014.

Categories:

Impediments or requisits for the office - Physical incapacity

Impediments or requisits for the office - Improper/Immoral behaviour

Theoretical considerations - On priesthood

Devotion - Supernatural experience

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1970, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1970