The Presbyters Project

[…]

Optaremus si, quemadmodum sanctitas tua de aduentu Apiarii laetatos uos fuisse, missis per conpresbyterum nostrum Leonem litteris, intimauit, ita nos quoque de eius purgatione haec scripta cum laetitia mitteremus.

[…]

Adueniente sane ad nos sancto fratre et coepiscopo nostro Faustino, concilium congregauimus, et credidimus ideo cum illo quoniam, sicut per eius operam presbyterio antea redditus fuerat, ita nunc posset de tantis criminibus a Thabracenis obiectis eo laborante purgari. Cuius tanta ac tam immania flagitia decursum nostri concilii examen inuenit, ut et memorati patrocinium potius quam iudicium ac defensoris magis operam quam disceptatoris iustitiam superarent.

African bishops recall how Apiarius appealed to Pope Celestine, lying to him about having already followed the African procedure of appeal. The Africans protest vehemently against the pope's intervention:

Presbyterorum quoque et sequentium clericorum improba refugia, sicut te dignum est, repellat sanctitas tua: quia et in nulla partum definitione hoc ecclesiae derogatum est Africanae et decreta Nicaena siue inferioris gradus clericos siue ipsos episcopos suis metropolitanis apertissime commiserunt.

In what follows the African bishops explain that every cleric has a right to a fair trial in Africa, whereas a trial overseas would cause many difficulties and doubts about the quality of judgement. Then they say that the alleged canons of Nicaea cited by the pope do not conform with the copies of the original text sent to Africa and to Pope Boniface, some years before, by Cyrill of Alexandria and Atticus of Constantinople, and carried by the presbyter Innocent and the deacon Marcellus.

Exsecutores etiam clericos, quibuscumque petentibus, nolite mittere, nolite concedere, ne fumosum tyfum saeculi in ecclesiae Christi lucem, quae simplicitatis et humilitatis diem Deum uidere cupientibus praefert, uideamur inducer. Nam de fratre nostro Faustino (amoto iam suis nefandis nequitiis de Christi ecclesia dolendo Apiario) secure sumus quod eum pro probitate ac moderatione tuae sanctitatis, salua fraternal caritate, ulterius Africa minime patietur.

(ed. Munier 1974: 169-172)

[...]

We wish we could be so joyful sending this letter about the penitence of Apiarius as Your Sanctity was full of joy with his coming to you, which you have expressed to us in the letter sent to us by our fellow presbyter Leo.

[...]

When our holy brother and fellow bishop Faustinus came to us, we gathered at the council. We believed that Faustinus was sent with Apiarius [to Africa], because as he had worked for readmitting him to priesthood before, so now he would be able to exonerate him of the many crimes of which he was accused by the people of Thabraca. The examination by our council found so many and so terrible wrongdoings, that the defence of him was overcoming the sense of the justice and the office of the judge.

As it befits you, let your sanctity reject the shameless evasions of presbyters and other clerics. No decision of the fathers has taken this issue from this African Church, and the Nicene decrees clearly entrust both the clerics of the lower grade and the bishops themselves to their metropolitans.

In what follows the African bishops explain that every cleric has a right to a fair trial in Africa, whereas a trial overseas would cause many difficulties and doubts about the quality of judgement. Then they say that the alleged canons of Nicaea cited by the pope do not conform with the copies of the original text sent to Africa and to Pope Boniface, some years before, by Cyril of Alexandria and Atticus of Constantinople, and carried by the presbyter Innocent and the deacon Marcellus.

Do not send your clerics (exsecutores clericos) on behalf of anyone who asks you, lest we see the smoke of worldly arrogance introduced into the light of the Church of Christ where we would rather see God’s day of simplicity and humility. We grieve that Apiarius has been removed for his impious wickedness from the Church of Christ, and we are sure that because of the probity and moderation of your sanctity, with respect for fraternal charity, Africa will not have to suffer the presence of our brother Faustinus any longer.

(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

We do not know what was the exact nature of the crimes committed by Apiarius in Tabarka. Jane Merdinger suggests that they were of a sexual nature, and that "indeed, Apiarius' sins must have been horrendous, for the fathers can only resort to euphemisms to describe them" (Merdinger 1997: 187), as opposed to the crimes of which Antoninus of Fussala was accused, and which were freely repeated by Augustine. Apiarius was already under ecclesiastical prosecution in 418/419 AD (see [254]).

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Carthage

About the source:

Title: Concilium Carthaginense a. 424/425, Council of Carthage 424/425, Optaremus
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The letter of the Council of Carthage 424/425 AD to Pope Celestine I is also known as "Optaremus", from its first word. The letter is the only preserved document of that council, which gathered to deal with the pope`s intervention on behalf of Apiarius, transmitted via legate Faustinus.

Edition:

C. Munier ed., Concilia Africae a. 345-a. 525, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 149, Turnhoult 1974, 169-172.

Bibliography:

J.E. Merdinger, Rome and the African church in the time of Augustine, New Haven 1997.

Categories:

Ecclesiastical administration - Ecclesiastical envoy

Public law - Ecclesiastical

PR105.

Administration of justice - Excommunication/Anathema

PR105.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER270, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=270