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ER 2253

Canon 7 (= canon 5 in the Greek version) of the Council of Serdica (Dacia) in 343 mentions "presbyters a latere" of the bishop of Rome in regulations concerning bishops appealing to Rome.

Latin text:

Canon 7

OSSIVS EPISCOPVS DIXIT:

Placuit autem ut si episcopus accusatus fuerit et iudicauerint congregati episcopi regionis ipsius et de gradu suo deiecerint eum, et appellasse uideatur et confugerit ad beatissimum ecclesiae Romanae episcopum, et uoluerit audiri et iustum putauerit {ut} renouetur examen; scribere his episcopis dignetur qui in finitima et propinqua prouincia sunt, {ut} ipsi diligenter omnia requirant et iuxta fidem ueritatis definiant. Quod si qui rogat causam suam iterum audiri et depraecatione sua mouerit episcopum Romanum ut e latere suo praesbyterum mittat, erit in potestate episcopi quid uelit aut quid aestimet: {et} si decreuerit mittendos esse qui praesentes cum episcopis iudicent habentes {eius} auctoritatem a quo destinati sunt, erit in suo arbitrio; si uero crediderit sufficere episcopos ut negotio terminum inponant, faciet quod sapientissimo consilio suo iudicauerit.

Greek text:

Canon V

Ὅσιος ἐπίσκοπος εἶπεν·

Ἤρεσεν ἵνα εἴ τις ἐπίσκοπος καταγγελθείη καὶ συναθροισθέντες οἱ ἐπίσκοποι τῆς ἐνορίας τῆς αὐτῆς τοῦ βαθμοῦ αὐτὸν ἀποκινήσωσιν, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκκαλεσάμενος καταφύγῃ ἐπὶ μακαριώτατον τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίας ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ βουληθείη αὐτοῦ διακοῦσαι δίκαιόν τε εἶναι νομίσῃ ἀνανεώσασθαι αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐξέτασιν τοῦ πράγματος· γράφειν τούτοις τοῖς ἐπισκόποις καταξιώσῃ τοῖς ἀγχιστεύουσι τῇ ἐπαρχίᾳ, ἵνα αὐτοὶ ἐπιμελῶς καὶ μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἕκαστα διερευνήσωσιν καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας πίστιν ψῆφον περὶ τοῦ πράγματος ἐξενέγκωσιν. εἰ δέ τις ἀξιοῖ καὶ πάλιν αὐτοῦ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀκουσθῆναι καὶ τῇ δεήσει τῇ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπον κινεῖν δόξῃ, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου πλευροῦ πρεσβυτέρους ἀποστείλοι· εἶναι ἐν τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ, αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ὅπερ ἄν καλῶς ἔχειν δοκιμάσῃ· καὶ <ἐὰν> ὁρίσῃ δεῖν ἀποσταλῆναι τοὺς μετὰ τῶν ἐπισκόπων κρινοῦντας ἔχοντάς τε τὴν αὐθεντίαν τούτου παρ᾽οὗ ἀπεστάλησαν, καὶ τοῦτου θετέον· εἰ δὲ ἐξαρκεῖν νομίζοι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πράγματος ἐπίγνωσιν καὶ ἀπόφασιν τοῦ ἐπισκόπου, ποιήσει ὅπερ ἄν τῇ ἐμφρονεστάτῃ αὐτοῦ βουλῇ καλῶς ἔχειν δόξῃ.

Ἀπεκρίναντο οἱ ἐπίσκοποι·

Τὰ λεχθέντα ἤρεσεν.

(ed. Turner 1939)

Latin text:

Canon 7

BISHOP HOSIUS SAID:

Moreover, it was pleasing that if a bishop has been accused and the assembled bishops of his region have judged him and removed him from his office and he seems to have appealed and has fled to the most blessed bishop of the Roman church, and wishes to be given a hearing and [the Roman bishop] thinks it just [that] his trial be repeated, let him deign to write to those bishops who are in a bordering and neighbouring province that they may diligently inquire into the entire matter and honourably reach a conclusion according to their true belief. But if he who asks that his case be heard again moves the Roman bishop by his supplication to send presbyters a latere, let it be in the power of the [Roman] bishop [to do] what he wishes or what he thinks. And if he decides to send those who will judge with the bishops having the authority over him by whom they were sent, let that be his choice. If, however, he shall believe the bishops [themselves] to suffice for bringing the matter to conclusion, let it be as he decides by his most wise judgement.

Greek text:

Canon 5

BISHOP HOSIUS SAID:

It was found pleasing that if any bishop is denounced and the assembled bishops of the same region remove him from his office, and as if appealing he takes refuge with the most blessed bishop of the Roman church, and he wishes to hear him, and he thinks it just to renew the examination of his case, let him be pleased to write to the bishops of the nearby province that they may examine everything carefully and with exactness and give their votes on the matter according to their true belief. And if anyone thinks that his case should be heard again and the bishop of Rome being moved by his request sees fit to send presbyters from his side, let it be in the power of that bishop, if he thinks it good and decides that it is right to send them to judge with the bishops, having the power of him by whom they were sent, Let this too be determined. But if he thinks that the bishop[s] are sufficient to know and decide the affair, let him do as seems good in his wise judgement.

THE BISHOPS ANSWERED:

That which has been said pleases us.

(trans. Hess 2002: 215-17, 229)

Place of event:

Region

Danubian provinces and Illyricum
Rome

City

Serdica
Rome

About the source:

Title: Council of Serdica 343, Council of Sardica 343, Concilium Serdicense a. 343, Concilium Sardicense a. 343
Origin: Serdica (Danubian provinces and Illyricum)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian, Arian

The Council of Serdica in Dacia was a part of the Trinitarian controversy. The matter failed to be settled at the council of Nicaea in 325 which produced a credo with the controversial term "homoousios" (consubstantial) to describe the Son-Father relation in the Trinity. One of the fiercest pro-Nicenes was bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, whom his opponents managed to sentence at the council of Tyre in 335. This decision caused controversy and there were attempts to revise it. In 341, in Rome, Pope Julius I gathered a council which overturned the sentence. Julius asked the Eastern bishops to approve this revision, but when they gathered in Antioch in 341 they failed to do that; they also issued the formulation of faith which avoided the term "homoousios", approved by the council of Nicaea. Julius I asked the emperors Constans and Constantius to convene a new council to resolve this disagreement. The council gathered in Sardica in 343 and was presided over by Hosius of Cordoba. Eastern bishops arrived but were unwilling to acquit Athanasius (and other pro-Nicenes condemned by the Eastern councils: Marcellus of Ancyra and Asclepus of Gaza) and they soon left the council and withdrew to Philippopolis where they held their own gathering. The Westerners continued the proceedings, rehabilitated Athanasius, and issued a set of disciplinary canons. These survived in two differing versions, Latin and Greek. There are 21 canons in the Latin text, and twenty in the Greek; the arrangement also slightly differs. For a detailed discussion of the council of Serdica 343 and the textual problems caused by the surviving text see: Hess 2003, Stephens 2015. See also Simonetti 1975: 161-87; Hanson 1988: 293-305.

Edition:

C.H. Turner (ed.), Ecclesiae Occidentalis monumenta iuris antiquissima, 2 vols, Oxford 1899-1939

Translation:

H. Hess, The Early Development of Canon Law and the Council of Serdica, Oxford 2002

Bibliography:

R.P.C. Hanson, The search for the Christian doctrine of God: the Arian controversy 318-381, Edinburgh 1988.

M. Simonetti, La crisi ariana nel IV secolo, Roma 1975.

C.W.B. Stephens, Canon law and episcopal authority: the canons of Antioch and Serdica, Oxford 2015.

Categories:

Travel and change of residence

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Ecclesiastical administration - Ecclesiastical envoy

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2253, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2253