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ER 2256

Canon 13 (= canon 10 in the Greek version) of the Council of Serdica (Dacia) in 343 orders that a wealthy layman to become a bishop has to first go through lectorate, diaconate, and presbyterate.

Latin text:

Canon 13

OSSIVS EPISCOPVS DIXIT:

Et hoc necessarium arbitror ut diligentissime tractetis: si forte aut diues, aut scolasticus de foro, aut ex administratore, episcopus postulatus fuerit, non prius ordinetur nisi ante et lectoris munere et officio diaconii et ministerio praesbyterii fuerit perfunctus; ut per singulos grados (si dignus fuerit) ascendat ad culmen episcopatus. Potest enim per has promotiones, quae habebunt utique prolixum tempus, probari qua fide sit, qua modestia, qua grauitate et uerecundia: et si dignus fuerit probatus, diuino sacerdotio inlustretur. Nec conueniens est nec rationis disciplina patitur, ut temere aut leuiter ordinetur aut episcopus aut praesbyter aut diaconus—maxime qui sit neofitus, cum beatissimus apostolus magister gentium ne hoc fieret denuntiasse et prohibuisse uideatur; quia longi temporis examinatio merita eius probabit.

VNIVERSI DIXERVNT Placere sibi haec.

Greek text:

Canon X

Ὅσιος ἐπίσκοπος εἶπεν·

Καὶ τοῦτο ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι νομίζω ἵνα μετὰ πάσης ἀκριβείας καὶ ἐπιμελείας ἐξετάζοιτο, ὥστε, ἐάν τις πλούσιος ἢ σχολαστικὸς ἀπὸ ἀγορᾶς ἀξιοῖτο ἐπίσκοπος γίνεσθαι, μὴ πρότερον καθίστασθαι ἐὰν μὴ καὶ ἀναγνώστου καὶ διακόνου καὶ πρεσβυτέρου ὑπηρεσίαν ἐκτελέσοι· ἵνα καθ᾽ἕκαστον βαθμὸν (ἐάνπερ ἄξιος νομισθείη) εἰς τὴν ἀψῖδα τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς κατὰ προκοπὴν διαβῆναι δυνηθείη. ἕξει δὲ ἑκάστου τάγματος ὁ βαθμὸς οὐκ ἐλαχίστου δηλονότι χρόνου μῆκος, δί᾽οὗ ἡ πίστις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ τῶν τρόπων καλοκἀγαθία καὶ ἡ στερρότης καὶ ἡ ἐπιείκεια γνώριμος γενέσθαι δυνήσεται, καὶ αὐτὸς ἄξιος τῆς θείας ἱερωσύνης νομισθεὶς τῆς μεγίστης ἀπολαύσει τιμῆς. οὔτε γὰρ προσῆκόν ἐστιν οὔτε ἡ ἐπιστήμη οὔτε ἡ ἀγαθὴ ἀναστροφὴ ἐπιδέχεται τολμηρῶς καὶ κούφως ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἰέναι, ὥστε ἢ ἐπίσκοπον ἢ πρεσβύτερον ἢ διάκονον προχείρως καθίστασθαι, οὕτω γὰρ ἂν εἰκότως νεόφυτος νομισθείη· ἐπειδὴ μάλιστα καὶ ὁ μακαριώτατος ἀπόστολος, ὅς καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν γεγένηται διδάσκαλος, φαίνεται κωλύσας ταχείας γίνεσθαι τὰς καταστάσεις· τοῦ γὰρ μηκίστου χρόνου ἡ δοκιμασία τὴν ἀναστροφὴν καὶ τὸν ἑκάστου τρόπον οὐκ ἀπεικότως ἐκτυποῦν δυνήσεται.

(ed. Turner 1939)

Latin text:

Canon 13

BISHOP OSSIUS SAID:

And I think it necessary that you treat this most carefully: if it happens that either a rich man or a jurist from the forum, or an administrator, shall have been asked for as bishop, he shall not be ordained before he has discharged the function of lector and the office of deacon and the ministry of presbyter, that he may ascend [by these] grades one by one (if he is suitable) to the summit of the episcopate. For by these promotions, which in any case have extended time, his faith, his modesty, his dignity, and reverence can be proved. And if he is proved suitable, let him be distinguished by the divine priesthood. It is not appropriate, nor does the rule of reason allow, that a bishop or presbyter or deacon be ordained thoughtlessly or casually—especially [one] who is a neophyte, since the most blessed apostle, the teacher of the Gentiles, is seen to have denounced and prohibited this, for it is a prolonged examination that will prove his merits.

ALL SAID:

This is pleasing.

Greek text:

Canon 10

BISHOP OSSIUS SAID:

I think this also to need scrutiny with all precision and care: if it is desired that a rich man or a jurist of the forum become a bishop, he shall not be ordained before having fulfilled the functions of reader, deacon, and presbyter, that in accord with each step (if he is deemed worthy) he may proceed to the height of the episcopate. And each step will clearly not be of the shortest length of time, through which his faith and his good character and his strength may be made well known, and, deemed worthy of the priesthood, he can enjoy this great honour. For it is not fitting nor does discipline or good sense allow proceeding to this act rashly or casually so as to ordain a bishop or presbyter or deacon hastily, for such a one can fairly be called a neophyte. Most certainly the most blessed apostle—he who became the teacher of the Gentiles—is seen to have forbidden hasty ordinations; for scrutiny of even the longest time will not unreasonably be required to reveal the mode of life and character of each.

ALL SAID:

These [things] are pleasing and absolutely must not be overturned.

(trans. Hess 2002: 221, 233-35)

Place of event:

Region

Danubian provinces and Illyricum
Rome

City

Serdica
Rome

About the source:

Title: Council of Serdica 343, Council of Sardica 343, Concilium Serdicense a. 343, Concilium Sardicense a. 343
Origin: Serdica (Danubian provinces and Illyricum)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian, Arian

The Council of Serdica in Dacia was a part of the Trinitarian controversy. The matter failed to be settled at the council of Nicaea in 325 which produced a credo with the controversial term "homoousios" (consubstantial) to describe the Son-Father relation in the Trinity. One of the fiercest pro-Nicenes was bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, whom his opponents managed to sentence at the council of Tyre in 335. This decision caused controversy and there were attempts to revise it. In 341, in Rome, Pope Julius I gathered a council which overturned the sentence. Julius asked the Eastern bishops to approve this revision, but when they gathered in Antioch in 341 they failed to do that; they also issued the formulation of faith which avoided the term "homoousios", approved by the council of Nicaea. Julius I asked the emperors Constans and Constantius to convene a new council to resolve this disagreement. The council gathered in Sardica in 343 and was presided over by Hosius of Cordoba. Eastern bishops arrived but were unwilling to acquit Athanasius (and other pro-Nicenes condemned by the Eastern councils: Marcellus of Ancyra and Asclepus of Gaza) and they soon left the council and withdrew to Philippopolis where they held their own gathering. The Westerners continued the proceedings, rehabilitated Athanasius, and issued a set of disciplinary canons. These survived in two differing versions, Latin and Greek. There are 21 canons in the Latin text, and twenty in the Greek; the arrangement also slightly differs. For a detailed discussion of the council of Serdica 343 and the textual problems caused by the surviving text see: Hess 2003, Stephens 2015. See also Simonetti 1975: 161-87; Hanson 1988: 293-305.

Edition:

C.H. Turner (ed.), Ecclesiae Occidentalis monumenta iuris antiquissima, 2 vols, Oxford 1899-1939

Translation:

H. Hess, The Early Development of Canon Law and the Council of Serdica, Oxford 2002

Bibliography:

R.P.C. Hanson, The search for the Christian doctrine of God: the Arian controversy 318-381, Edinburgh 1988.

M. Simonetti, La crisi ariana nel IV secolo, Roma 1975.

C.W.B. Stephens, Canon law and episcopal authority: the canons of Antioch and Serdica, Oxford 2015.

Categories:

Social origin or status - Social elite

Former ecclesiastical career - Lower clergy

Further ecclesiastical career - Deacon

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Economic status and activity - Indication of wealth

Impediments or requisits for the office - Neophyte Neophyte

Impediments or requisits for the office - Ecclesiastical career

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2256, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2256