Canon 16 is one of the four instances (two in the canons of the Council of Agde in 506 [868] and [900], and one in the canons of the Council of Riez in 439, [404]) where the communio peregrina is mentioned. This evidence makes clear a few things - communio peregrina is a kind of punishment prescribed only for the clergy, it lessens their status in their churches, and somehow involves the Eucharist. The meaning of the adjective peregrinus may suggest that this was kind of communion intended for the peregrini, that is the clerics or laypersons travelling outside of their churches who should have letters of recommendation from their bishops confirming their status and in consequence allowing them to participate in the sacraments given in the visited church. In that case, persons who could not be validated, would receive somehow a diminished form of communion (Vogel 1973: 80-81). Another possibility proposed by Mathisen (2006) is that a cleric punished with communio peregrina could receive communion only in his home church, and would be peregrinus in any other church. However, as above mentioned suppositions cannot be supported by any evidence, the exact nature of this punishment will remain unclear.