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ER 904
Augustine, the bishop of Hippo Regius, refers to the cases of the Donatist bishops and presbyters deposed for love affairs. "Against Petilianus", Book 2, AD 401.
Book 2
 
61. [...] Quos testimonio grauidatarum feminarum conuictos uel collegas uel presbyteros uestros ab honore deponitis - quandoquidem ista exempla ubique non desunt -, quaero, antequam conuincerentur, utrum fallaces fuerint an ueraces. Respondebis utique: fallaces. Cur ergo uerum baptismum et habebant et dabant? [...]
 
(ed. Petschenig 1909: 56)
Book 2
 
61. [...] I ask whether your colleagues and presbyters, deposed from their offices and convicted on the testimony of the women whom they made pregnant (since there is no shortage of such examples anywhere), had they been treacherous or truthful before they were proven guilty? You will certainly answer: "treacherous". If so were they having and giving the true baptism?
 
(trans. S. Adamiak)
 

Discussion:

Augustine argues here for the validity of the baptism administered by sinners. He refers to the cases of the extramarital affairs of the Donatist clergy as something obvious and proven, and to the disciplinary measures taken by the Donatists themselves, implicitly conceding that similar situations were happening also on the Catholic side (I would read "anywhere" in this way).

Place of event:

Region
  • Latin North Africa

About the source:

Author: Augustine of Hippo
Title: Against Petilianus, Contra Litteras Petiliani, Contra Petilianum Revisions
Origin: Hippo Regius (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Petilianus was a Donatist bishop of Constantina (Cirta) in Numidia at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century. He wrote a letter to his clergy, in which he provided  them with arguments against the Catholics. Augustine responded to it gradually, when he was able to obtain copies of Petilianus`s work, and so he wrote the first book of his answer in 400, the second in 401, and the third between 401 and 403.
Edition:
M.Petschenig ed., Sancti Aureli Augustini Contra litteras Petiliani libri tres, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 52, Vienna-Leipzig 1909, 1-122.
 
Translation:
Saint Augustine, Answer to Petilian the Donatist, translated by J.R. King and revised by Chester D. Hartranft, Buffalo 1887; http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1409.htm.

Categories:

Sexual life - Sexual activity
    Sexual life - Extramarital
      Religious grouping (other than Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian) - Donatist
        Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
          Ritual activity - Baptism and instructing catechumens
            Public law - Ecclesiastical
              Relation with - Woman
                Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical
                  Administration of justice - Demotion
                    Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER904, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=904
                    Record by: Stanisław Adamiak
                    last edited: 2017-05-26 09:23:33
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