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ID
ER 328
According to canon 2 of the Breviary of Ferrandus (North Africa, AD 523/546, repeating earlier norms) a candidate to the bishopric should pass through all the grades of the ecclesiastical career.
Canon 2
 
Vt quicumque laicus ad episcopatum eligetur prius annum in ministerio ecclesiastico per omnes gradus transeat.
Concilio Suffetulensi.
 
(ed. Munier 1974: 287)
Canon 2
 
Any layman chosen to be a bishop should firstly pass all the grades of the ecclesiastical ministry for a year.
Council of Sufetula.
 
(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

Ferrandus repeats the norm of the otherwise unknown council of Sufetula (North Africa). Since his Breviary generally follows chronological order, we may assume that it took place in the fourth century.
The norm itself is also unclear. It seems to order that if a layman is elected to a bishopric, he should spend a year (presumably already after being elected) passing through lower grades of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

Place of event:

Region
  • Latin North Africa
City
  • Carthage
  • Sufetula

About the source:

Author: Ferrandus of Carthage
Title: Breviary of Ferrandus, Breviatio Canonum
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Ferrandus was a deacon of Carthage; he died before 546. His "Breviary" is the first systematic collection of canons produced in Africa. It contains the titles (not the entire text) of 232 canons of different councils (not only from Africa), treating mainly the duties of various clerical offices (1-144), ecclesiastical delicts (145-198), and liturgical norms (199-232).
Edition:
C. Munier ed., Concilia Africae a. 345-a. 525, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 149, Turnhoult 1974, 284-311.  
 
Bibliography:
J. Gaudemet, Les Sources du droit de l’Église en Occident du IIe au VIIe siècle, Paris 1985.

Categories:

Former ecclesiastical career - Lower clergy
    Former ecclesiastical career - Deacon
      Former ecclesiastical career - Unspecified clerical grade
        Further ecclesiastical career - Bishop
          Act of ordination
            Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER328, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=328
            Record by: Stanisław Adamiak
            last edited: 2017-10-02 12:58:36
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