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ER 899

Reparatus, bishop of Carthage, and other African bishops, in the letter to Pope John II ask what to do with a former Arian priest. At the end of the letter they refer to their decisions concerning the "vagabond" clerics who left Africa and went to the "overseas regions". Letter 85 in the Collectio Avellana, compiled in the second half of the 6th century.

Epistula 85

3. Definitionibus autem Nicaeni concilii publica lectione transcursis inter alia, de quibus nasci debuit disputatio, requiri iam coeperat, quomodo Arrianorum sacerdotes ad catholicam fidem suscipi oporteat, utrumne in suis honoribus an in laica commumione: sic omnibus nobis unanimiter subito placuit sciscitari primitus beatitudinis uestrae sententiam. Potest enim sedes apostolica, quantum speramus, tale nobis interrogantibus dare responsum, quale nos approbare concorditer explorata ueritas faciat. 4. Ex omnium quidem collegarum tacitis motibus nemini placere sensimus, ut in suis honoribus Arriani suscipiantur; uerumtamen conuenire caritati cre<di>dimus, ut quid habeat sensus noster, in publicam notitiam nemo perduceret, nisi prius uel consuetudo nobis uel definitio Romanae ecclesiae proderetur. [...]

6. Non solum enim de sacerdotibus sed de ipsis quoque paruulis apud eos baptizatis, utrum soleant uel debeant ad clericatum, si petierint, adplicari, consulimus. A multis enim facere istas frequenter petitiones ** concedimus nec negamus, donec habito uobiscum diligentiore tractatu legatio nostra reuertatur.

7. Illud etiam beatitudini tuae credimus intimandum, fratres aliquantos ex nostro collegio sine causa plebibus suis ad transmarinas navigare saepius regiones. Hoc diutius ecclesia toleravit excusante eos violentia temporis mali. Petimus nunc, ut quicumque forsitan episcopus aut presbyter sive diaconus aut cuiuslibet inferioris ordinis clericus sine nostra epistola venerit et non adprobaverit se pro utilitate sanctarum ecclesiarum fuisse directum, similis erroni iudicetur neque vestra communione dignus existat, ut in omnibus et per omnia beatitudinis vestrae disciplina laudetur.

(ed. Guenther : 329-330).

Letter 85

3. Among other things, we have publicly read the definitions of the Council of Nicaea. From this, among the matters that should be discussed, a question about the way in which the Arian priests should be received into the Catholic faith arose, whether that should happen with their honours preserved or as laymen. We quickly arrived at a unanimous decision to seek Your Beatitude’s opinion. We pose the question to the Apostolic See in the hope that she may give us an answer from explored truth which would compel our approval. 4. We have deduced from the unspoken words of all our colleagues that nobody favours the notion of accepting the Arians with their full honours. Nevertheless, we believe that love requires that, whatever our sentiments, nothing should be made public until either the custom or the determination of the Roman Church becomes known to us. [...]

6. We seek advice not only about priests, but also about the boys baptized by them [i.e. Arians], as to whether they should be admitted to clerical orders, should they request it. Since many such requests have been made, ** we have agreed not to reject them, until our legation returns from you, having learnt your preference as to how the matter should be treated.

7. We believe that Your Beatitude should know about some brothers from our college, who often travel overseas without a cause of their people. The Church for a long time tolerated this, since they were vindicated by the violence of that evil time. But now we ask you that if any bishop, presbyter, deacon or a cleric of any lesser rank arrives without our letter and is unable to prove that he has come for the benefit of the holy Churches, let him be regarded as an errant and unworthy of your communion, so that your discipline may be praised by everyone in every place.

(trans. S. Adamiak 2016: 133-134)

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa
Italy south of Rome and Sicily
Rome

City

Carthage

About the source:

Author: Reparatus of Carthage
Title: Collectio Avellana
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The letter was issued by Bishop Reparatus of Carthage and his colleagues who gathered at the council in Carthage in the basilica of Faustus (Ep. 85.1) in AD 535, shortly after the reconquest of Africa by the Byzantines and the fall of the Vandal kingdom. The council convened to discuss the question of the former Arians, and especially former Arian priests. Emperor Justinian advocated rather lenient solution allowing them to remain in office, but it displeased the Catholic clergy, and they therefore decided to appeal to the Pope (see Adamiak 2016: 129-138).

Collectio Avellana is a collection containing 244 letters issued by emperors, imperial magistrates and popes. The earliest item is dated to AD 367, the latest to AD 553. Hence, the compilator worked most probably in the second half of the 6th century. Two hundred documents of the Collectio are not known from any other collection. The editor of the Collectio, Günther noticed that it can be divided into five thematic parts (Gunther 1896: 3-96; Steinacker 1902: 14-15; Blaudeau 2013: 4):

1) no. 1-40 is an independent collection making use of the records of the prefecture of the city of Rome concerning two episcopal elections;

2) no. 41-50 that are derived from the records of the bishopric in Carthage, and consist of the letters of Innocentius I and Zosimus;

3) no. 51-55, the late letters of Leo I not known from any other source, regarding the exile of Bishop Timothy II of Alexandria;

4) no. 56-104 the group of letters from the pontificates of Simplicius, Gelasius, Symmachus, John, Agapet, and Vigilius;

5) no. 105-243 the letters from the records of Hormisdas.

The modern name of the collection derives from the codex Vaticanus Latinus 4961 copied in the monastery Sancti Crucis in fonte Avellana that was considered the oldest by the brothers Ballerini who edited the Collectio in 1787.

Edition:

O. Guenther ed., Epistolae Imperatorum Pontificum Aliorum Inde ab a. CCCLXVII usque DLIII datae Avellana Quae Dicitur Collectio, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 35/1, 35/2, Prague, Vienna, and Leipzig 1895

Translation:

S. Adamiak, Carthage, Constantinople and Rome: Imperial and Papal Interventions in the Life of the Church in Byzantine Africa (533-698), Rome 2016

Bibliography:

S. Adamiak, Carthage, Constantinople and Rome: Imperial and Papal Interventions in the Life of the Church in Byzantine Africa (533-698), Rome 2016

Categories:

Travel and change of residence

Religious grouping (other than Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian) - Arian

Change of denomination

Functions within the Church - Wandering presbyter/Without office

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical

Administration of justice - Excommunication/Anathema

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER899, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=899