The Presbyters Project

Letter 1

18. Clerico nulli conceditur poenitentiam agere.

Illud quoque nos par fuit providere, ut sicut poenitentiam agere cuiquam non conceditur clericorum, ita et post poenitudinem ac reconciliationem nulli umquam laico liceat honorem clericatus adipisci: quia quamvis sint omnium peccatorum contagione mundati, nulla tamen debent gerendorum sacramentorum instrumenta suscipere, qui dudum fuerint vasa vitiorum.

19. Et quia his omnibus, quae in reprehensionem veniunt, sola excusatio ignorationis obtenditur, cui nos interim, solius pietatis intuitu, necesse est clementer ignoscere: quicumque poenitens, quicumque bigamus, quicumque viduae maritus, ad sacram militiam indebite et incompetenter irrepsit, hac sibi conditione a nobis veniam intelligat relaxatam, ut in magno debeat computare beneficio, si adempta sibi omni spe provectionis, in hoc in quo invenietur ordine, perpetua stabilitate permaneat: scituri posthac omnium provinciarum summi antistites, quod si ultra ad sacros ordines quemquam de talibus crediderint assumendum, et de suo, et de eorum statu quos contra canones et interdicta nostra provexerint, congruam ab apostolica sede promendam esse sententiam.

(ed. Coustant 1845: 1143-1145)

Letter 1

18. No cleric is allowed to do penance.

It is proper also for us to ensure that just as it is not conceded to any member of the clergy to do penance, thus after repentance and reconciliation it is not permitted to any layman to attain the honor of clerical office. For although they have been cleansed of the contamination of all sins, nevertheless those who formerly were vessels of iniquities ought not to take up any of the instruments of the sacraments.

19. And because for all these things which come under censure the singular excuse of ignorance is pleaded, for the moment, out of consideration of piety alone, it is necessary that we indulgently make allowances for it. Any penitent, any twice married man, any husband of a widow who improperly and unsuitably slipped into the sacred militia should understand that pardon has been bestowed on them by us with this condition, that it should be counted as a great benefit if, having removed from himself all hope of promotion, he remains with perpetual steadfastness in that order where he is. Hereafter the bishops of all provinces will know that if they believe that anyone of this sort should in the future be taken into sacred orders, an appropriate judgment is to be given by the apostolic see concerning both their own status and that of those whom they promoted contrary to the canons and to our prohibitions.

(trans. R. Somerville, B. Brasington; http://www.historyandapologetics.com/2015/02/letter-of-pope-siricius-to-bishop.html)

Discussion:

The first part of the passage states the impossibility of penance for the clerics, but it probably should be understood in the sense that if a cleric committed a grave sin demanding penance, the possibility of penance was not closed to him, but afterwards he could not return to the clergy; the ban was motivated by the similar provision regarding laymen who had done penance and were afterwards ineligible for Church offices.

Place of event:

Region

Rome
Iberian Peninsula

City

Rome

About the source:

Author: Siricius
Title: Letters, Epistulae
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The letter, written in early AD 385, is the response to the questions sent by Himerius, bishop of Tarragona in the Iberian Peninsula, to the predecessor of Siricius, Damasus. It is considered to be first papal "decretal", i.e. a letter aimed at correcting doctrinal errors and impose discipline in an authoritative way.

Edition:

P. Coustant ed., S. Siricii papae epistolae et decreta, Paris 1845, Patrologia Latina 13, 1131-1178.

H. Wurm, Studien und Texte zur Dekretalensammlung des Dionysius Exiguus, Bonn 1939.

Translation:

Robert Somerville and Bruce Brasington, Prefaces to Canon Law Books in Latin Christianity (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998) 36-39

Bibliography:

A. Ferreiro, "Pope Siricius and Himerius of Tarragona (385): Provincial Papal Intervention in the Fourth Century”, [in :] The Bishop of Rome in Late Antiquity, Farnham, Burlington 2015.

Categories:

Family life - Marriage

Family life - Permanent relationship before ordination

Family life - More than one marriage

Described by a title - Clericus

Impediments or requisits for the office - Improper/Immoral behaviour

Impediments or requisits for the office - Marriage

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical

Administration of justice - Penance

Impediments or requisits for the office - Public penance

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1480, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1480