The Presbyters Project

Chapter 24

Quodsi qui ex monachis aut laicis eliguntur ad clerum, quum nulla cogit necessitas, antiqua in eis debent instituta servari. Quodsi probentur sacram mercati esse pretio dignitatem, ab officio deponantur; nam dantem et accipientem Simonis Magi crimen involvit.

(ed. Thiel 1868: 361; the full text of the chapter on page 375)

Chapter 24

That if some from the ranks of the monks or the laity are chosen for the clergy, when no necessity compels it, the ancient practice must be observed in their cases. If they are proved to have trafficked the holy rank for a price, they should be deposed from their office, for the crime of Simon Magus embraces the giver and the recipient.

(trans. Neil - Allen 2014: 144-145; slightly altered)

Discussion:

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

Only the title of the chapter is given here. Its first sentence is explained in the full text of the chapter; it says that even if there was recently a relaxation of some rules, because of pressing necessities, the ancient practice must be restored.

The next chapter of the letter (Chapter 25) prohibits the consecration of a new church or place of cult without the consent of the Apostolic See.

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:

Simony/Buying office

Administration of justice - Demotion

Monastic or common life

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1985, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1985