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ER 278

Canon 55 of the Council of Carthage (North Africa, AD 397), preserved in the 5th-century Carthage Register, permits the bishop of Carthage to promote clerics from one diocese to another. Bishop Postumianus protests in the name of those who have only one presbyter, but Aurelius promises him that he will be given another cleric in the place of the presbyter who was made bishop (because it is difficult to find suitable candidates for episcopal ordination).

Canon 55

Aurelius episcopus dixit: Sermonem meum admittite, fratres. Contingit nonnumquam ut postulentur ab ecclesiis quae praepositis egent uel presbyteris uel episcopis, et tamen memor statutorum id sequor ut conueniam episcopum eius atque ei inculcem quod eius clericus a qualibet ecclesia postuletur, sed forte in hodierno non reluctati sunt et nequando contingat ut reluctentur, cum fuerint a me in hac causa postulati, quem scitis multarum ecclesiarum et ordinandorum curam sustinere.

[...]

Postumianus episcopus dixit: Deinde, qui unum habuerit, numquid debet illi unus ipse presbyter auferri?

Aurelius episcopus dixit: Sed episcopus unus esse potest per quem dignatione diuina presbyteri multi constituti possint; unus autem episcopus difficile inuenitur constituendus. Quapropter, si necessarium episcopatui quis habuerit presbyterum, et unum, ut dixisti, frater habuerit, etiam ipsum ad promotionem dare debebit.

Postumianus episcopus dixit: Ergo, si habet alius abundantes clericos, debet mihi alia plebs subuenire?

Aurelius episcopus dixit: Sane; quomodo tu ecclesiae alteri subueneris, persuadebitur illi, qui plures habet clericos, ut unum tibi ordinandum largiatur.

(ed. Munier 1974: 191-192)

Canon 55

Bishop Aurelius said: Please, listen to my words, brothers. It often happens that there are requests from the churches that lack superiors or presbyters or bishops. I am aware what has been established, and I act in this way: if a certain cleric is asked for by another Church, I convoke his bishop and make him understand it. For the time being, they are not reluctant to agree and it does not happen that they refuse, when they are asked for it by me, who, as you know, am responsible for so many Churches and those who are to be ordained.

[…]

Bishop Postumianus said: But if a bishop has only one presbyter, should he also be taken away from him?

Bishop Aurelius said: However, there can be one bishop who, by the grace of God, can ordain many presbyters; but it may be difficult to find one who may be ordained as a bishop. Therefore, if someone has a presbyter who is necessary for a bishopric, even if, as you have said, brother, he is the only one, even he should be given for the promotion.

Bishop Postumianus said: So even if someone has many clerics, I should help his diocese?

Bishop Aurelius said: Good. Just as you help other churches, they who have more clerics will be persuaded to give you one of them to be ordained.

(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

Despite many canons prohibiting transferring and promoting clerics from one diocese into another, this one effectively gives to primate Aurelius of Carthage the right to oversee such transfers (most probably only inside the Africa Proconsularis province). Further discussion gives us certain pieces of information about the situation of the African church in the early 5th century: there was a penury of clergy in some churches, there were dioceses (probably in very small towns) in which there was only one presbyter, and not every presbyter was deemed to be suitable for episcopal promotion: even Aurelius concedes that it was difficult to find them.

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa
Italy south of Rome and Sicily

City

Carthage
Capua

About the source:

Title: Carthage Register, Registri Ecclesiae Carthaginensis Excerpta
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The text of the canon was transmitted in the Carthage Register (Registri Ecclesiae Carthaginensis Excerpta). This collection was compiled by an anonymous author in the 5th century and included by Dionysius Exiguus in his "Codex canonum Ecclesiae Universae" in the early 6th century. It is sometimes known as "Codex canonum Ecclesiae Africanae" (Clavis Patrum Latinorum erroneously attributes this name to the "Codices in causa Apiarii" alone). In the text of the collection, the fiction is maintained, as if they were all read at the session of the Council of Carthage, 30 May 418. The canons from this collection were accepted later by the Council of Trullo (AD 692).

Edition:

C. Munier ed., Concilia Africae a. 345-a. 525, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 149, Turnhoult 1974, 173-247.

Categories:

Ecclesiastical transfer

Former ecclesiastical career - Unspecified clerical grade

Further ecclesiastical career - Bishop

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Reasons for ordination - Pastoral needs of the Christian community

Act of ordination

Specific number of presbyters from the same church

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Impediments or requisits for the office

Shortage of clergy

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER278, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=278