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ER 223
Canon 31 of the Council of Hippo (North Africa, AD 393), preserved in the "Breviarium Hipponense" (AD 397), instructs bishops and presbyters on the ways of dealing with orphaned virgins.
Canon 31
 
Vt uirgines sacrae, cum parentibus a quibus custodiebantur priuatae fuerint, episcopi uel presbyteri, ubi episcopus absens est, prouidentia grauioribus feminis commendentur, aut simul habitantes inuicem se custodiant, ne passim uagando ecclesiae laedant existimationem.
 
(ed. Munier 1974: 42)
Canon 31
 
If holy virgins lose their parents by whom they were guarded, bishops or presbyters (in absence of the bishop) should entrust them to the care of serious women, or they should live together and guard each other, so that they do not damage the reputation of the Church by wandering here and there.
 
(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

"Providentia" refers to "episcopi uel presbyteri", not "grauioribus feminis", but it was removed from the translation for the sake of simplicity. The authority of bishops and presbyters is put here on the same level.
The canon was repeated in the Registri Ecclesiae Carthaginensis Excerpta as Canon 44.

Place of event:

Region
  • Latin North Africa
City
  • Carthage
  • Hippo Regius

About the source:

Title: Breuiarium Hipponense
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
The bishops of Byzacena arrived too early for the African plenary council at Carthage in AD 397. Since they had to leave the city before the actual beginning of the proceedings Aurelius of Carthage charged them with editing the decisions of the Council of Hippo of AD 393. The document drafted in this way and accepted on 13 August 397 was called the "Breviarium Hipponense", and it was included later in the Canons in causa Apiarii from AD 419, Registri Ecclesiae Carthaginensis Excerpta, Breviarium of Ferrandus and Statuta Ecclesiae Antiqua.
Edition:
C. Munier ed., Concilia Africae a. 345-a. 525, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 149, Turnhoult 1974, 23-53.  

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
    Relation with - Monk/Nun
      Ecclesiastical administration
        Equal prerogatives of presbyters and bishops
          Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER223, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=223
          Record by: Stanisław Adamiak
          last edited: 2017-11-30 16:10:38
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