The Presbyters Project

Canon 62

De clericis damnatis.

Et illud petendum, ut statuere dignentur: ut si quis cuiuslibet honoris clericus iudicio episcoporum quocumque crimine fuerit damnatus, non liceat eum siue ab ecclesiis, quibus praefuit, siue a quolibet homine defensari, interposita poena damni, pecuniae, atque honoris, quo nec aetatem nec sexum excusandum esse praecipiant.

(ed. Munier 1974: 197)

Canon 62

On the condemned clerics

It should be also ordered that if a cleric of any grade was condemned by the judgment of bishops for any crime, neither the church over which he was presiding, nor any other person may defend him, under a pecuniary fine and the loss of dignity. Let them be warned that neither age nor sex may be an excuse here.

(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

The canon talks about “clerics of any grade”, but the expression “the church over which he was presiding” suggests that it refers mainly to bishops and presbyters. The canon certifies that, notwithstanding their condemnation by ecclesiastical authorities, the clerics in question may still have been enjoying support from their parishioners.

We read “poena damni pecuniae atque honoris” without commas, added by Munier in his edition, since it is much easier to understand it in this way, as “the loss of money and honour (dignity)”.

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 (692).

Edition:

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

Categories:

Described by a title - Clericus

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical

Intercession

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER299, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=299