The Presbyters Project

Canon 10-11

Alypius episcopus ecclesiae Thagastensis, legatus prouinciae Numidiae dixit: Nec illud praetermittendum est, ut si qui forte presbyter ab episcopo suo correptus, tumore uel superbia inflatus putauerit separatim sacrificia Deo offerenda uel aliud erigendum altare contra ecclesiasticam fidem uel disciplinam crediderit, non exeat inpunitus.

Valentinus primae sedis prouinciae Numidiae dixit: Necessario disciplinae ecclesiasticae et fidei congrua sunt quae frater noster Alypius prosecutus est; proinde quid exinde uideatur uestrae dilectioni dicite.

Ab uniuersis episcopis dictum est: Si quis presbyter a praeposito suo correptus fuerit, debet utique apud uicinos episcopos conqueri, ut ab ipsis causa possit audiri ac per ipsos suo episcopo reconciliari; quod nisi fecerit sed superbia, quod absit, inflatus secernendum se ab episcopi sui communione duxerit ac separatim cum aliquibus schisma faciens sacrificium Deo obtulerit, anathema habeatur; nihilominus et locum amittat. Et si querimoniam iustam aduersus episcopum non habuerit inquirendum erit.

(ed. Munier 1974: 103-104)

Canon 10-11

Alypius, bishop of Thagasta said: If a presbyter, censured by his bishop, was inflated by his pride and thought that he could offer God's sacrifice separately or erect another altar, believing that he could act against the ecclesiastic faith and discipline, we should not allow him to go unpunished.

Valentinus, the primate of Numidia, said: What our brother Alypius said is necessary for ecclesiastical discipline and consonant with the faith; therefore please declare what do you think about it.

All the bishops said: if a presbyter was censured by his superior, he should refer to neighbouring bishops so that his case may be heard by them and he can be reconciled with his bishop through them.

But if he did not do it, and, God forbid!, inflated by pride, he separated himself from the bishop of his communion, and separately, with others, offered to God sacrifice creating a schism, he will be anathematised and also dismissed from that place. He should be also removed far away from the city in which he lives.

And if he has not justified grievances against his bishop, there should be inquiry into it.

(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

The canon repeats Canon 8 of the Council of Carthage 390 [160].

The mention of the schism and "erecting" another altar suggests the possibility that excommunicated clerics may collude with the Donatists. However, the appeal procedure for the presbyters is established: they should refer to other bishops and hope for their judgement and intercession.

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Carthage

About the source:

Title: Canones in causa Apiarii
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Apiarius, a presbyter of Sicca Veneria in North Africa, was excommunicated for some unspecified crimes by his bishop, Urbanus. In 418 he appealed directly to Pope Zosimus, who sent legates to Africa to assess the charges. The council of African bishops gathered in Carthage in May 419 to address the question. On the 25 May they approved several disciplinary canons, mainly repeated from previous councils, which are known collectively in scholarship as “Canones in causa Apiarii”. They were also sometimes transmitted as the part of “Codex Apiarii causae”, together with other acts of the council of 419.

We follow the edition of Munier, who followed Turner, who established the text according to three codices: Vindobonensis 2141, fol. 106, Monacensis (olim Frisingensis), fol. 64`, and Wirceburgensis Univ. mp. th. f. 146, fol. 66. We ignore the later textual traditions, namely Italian collections (which were the basis of the edition of brothers Ballerini in PL 56), and the redaction of Dionysius Exiguus; both of them have been included in the Corpus Christianorum edition, and they contain only minor changes, which we ignore, with the exception of two canons not transmitted in the first recension.

Edition:

C. Munier ed., Concilia Africae a. 345-a. 525, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 149, Turnhoult 1974, 79-165.

Bibliography:

J. Gaudemet, Les Sources du droit de l'Église en Occident du IIe au VIIe siècle, Paris, 1985.

C.H. Turner, Ecclesiae occidentalis monumenta iuris antiquissima, vol. 1-2, Oxford 1889-1939.

Categories:

Change of denomination

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Ritual activity - Eucharist

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Relation with - Heretic/Schismatic

Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical

Administration of justice - Excommunication/Anathema

Administration of justice - Exile

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER236, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=236