The Presbyters Project

[Titulum secundum cod. A] XVIII [sic!]. Qua [etate] presbiter [ordinetur].

[Titulum secundum cod. R] XVII. Qua idemque aetate eps debeat consecrari.

[Titulum secundum coll. Hispanam] XVII. Qua aetate episcopi uel presbyteres consecrentur.

Presbyterum uero uel episcopum ante triginta annos, id est ante quam ad uiri perfecti aetatem ueniant, nullus metropolitanorum ordinare praesumat: ne per aetatem, quod aliquoties euenit, aliquo errore culpentur.

(ed. Munier 1963: 201, 221, 222, 224)

[Title according to cod. A] XVIII [sic!]. At what age should a presbyter be ordained.

[Title according to cod. R] XVII. And also at what age should a bishop be consecrated.

[Title according to the Hispana collection] XVII. At what age should bishops or presbyters be consecrated.

No metropolitan bishop should dare to ordain presbyter or bishop a person who is less than thirty years old, that is before he attains the age of a mature man, so that no one be found guilty of error that he committed due to his age, as used to happen.

(trans. J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

It seems that, since the minimal age for consecration of bishops and ordination of presbyters are the same, one could become bishop without prior experience of being a presbyter.

Place of event:

Region

Gaul

City

Agde

About the source:

Title: Council of Agde, Concilium Agathense anno 506
Origin: Agde (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The Council of Agde was held in September of 506 under the auspices of Cesarius, bishop of Arles, and with the permission of the Visigothic King Alaric. The first 47 canons are considered genuine, since only those are present in the oldest codices. The rest, present in some manuscripts, must have been taken from the other council acts, especially those of the Council of Epaone in 517. This council was attended by 24 bishops, and 8 presbyters and 2 deacons, who represented their bishops. More on the council, see Klingshirn 1994, 97-104.

Edition:

Ch. Munier ed., Concilia Galliae a. 314-a. 506, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 148, Turnhoult 1963.

Bibliography:

W.E. Klingshirn, Caesarius of Arles: the making of a Christian community in late antique Gaul, Cambridge 1994, 97-104.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Impediments or requisits for the office - Age

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Equal prerogatives of presbyters and bishops

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER924, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=924