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| Of the right of bishops not to be accused or hurt by detraction.
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II.
Of the right of bishops not to be accused or hurt by
detraction.
You desired also to consult us, as we find in the
above-mentioned letter of yours, on the subject of the accusing of
priest,—a thing which, as we learn also from the same epistle, is
exceedingly frequent among you. You have intimated, besides, that
very many notice that not a few in places of ecclesiastical dignity do
not live in a manner conformable to the discourses and sacraments with
which the people are served by their means. O miserable men, who
in looking at these forget Christ, who long since indeed told us how
that the law of God should be obeyed, rather than that those should be
looked to for imitation who do not the things which they say; and
bearing with the traitor himself even to the end, He sent him also
along with the rest to preach the Gospel. For the apostles had no
such custom, neither did they teach that it was one fit to be
had. And to like effect their successors also, foreseeing by the
Spirit of God things to come, have determined largely on such
subject. Besides, as you read in the Acts of the Apostles,
“There was at that time among them that believed one heart and
one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he
possessed was his own; but they had all things common.”2842
For there was no laying of
accusations against each other among them, except what was friendly;
neither ought there ever to be such among their followers or among
believers: for the Lord says, “Do not that to another which thou
wouldst not have done to thyself.”2843
And He says also, “Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;”2844
and,” Love worketh no ill to his
neighbour.”2845
In
accordance herewith, the apostles themselves and their successors
decreed of old time
that those persons should not be admitted to lay accusations who were
under suspicion, or who but yesterday, or the day before, or a little
time ago, were at enmity, as they come thus under suspicion, or who are
not of good conversation, or whose life is reprehensible, or who are
doubtful in the matter of the true faith. In like manner is it
decided to be with those whose faith and life and liberty are unknown,
or who are marked with the stains of infamy, or entangled in the snares
of offences. Again, those have neither the right nor the power to
accuse the priests or the clergy, who are incapable themselves of being
made priests legitimately, and are not of their order; for just as the
priests and the other members of the clerical order are debarred from
laying accusations against the secular laity, so these latter, too,
should be debarred and excluded from the right of bringing charges
against the former. And as the former should not be admired by
the latter, so the latter should not be admired by the former:
for as the conversation of the priests of the Lord ought to be
something separate from the conversation of these others, so should
they be separate from them also in the matter of litigation; “for
the servant of the Lord ought not to strive.”2846
To the utmost of your power,
dearly beloved brethren, do ye prohibit such accusations, and all
unrighteous and injurious emulations, because contention is to be
avoided by all means. “For a just man will fall seven times
in a day, and will rise again; but the wicked shall fall into
mischief. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth,” saith
Solomon, “and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth; lest
the Lord see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from
him. Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou
envious at the wicked: for the evil have not the hope of the
future, and the candle of the wicked shall be put out. Envy not
evil men, neither be thou desirous to be with them; for their mind
meditates rapine, and their lips speak deceits.”2847
Dearly beloved, beware of these
things. Ponder these things, and minister comfort to the brethren
in all things; for, as the Truth says in His own person, “By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.”2848
For
if in things secular each man’s right and his proper position are
kept for him, how much more ought there to be no confusion induced in
matters of ecclesiastical order! And this is a right which will
be duly observed if no deference is paid to mere power, but all to
equity. Whence it is an established duty, that the bishops of
each several district should exercise a watchful care over all those
who live under their rule, and in the fear of God should dispose of all
cases in which they are concerned, and of all matters in which they are
interested. It is therefore extremely inequitable that any
bishops should neglect their own cases, and mix themselves up
with those of others. But those whose part it is to ordain such
persons to the priesthood, and by whom they have been already ordained,
ought to order the life and judgment of such by the exercise of a
competent and regular administration; for, as the law says,
“Cursed is every one that removeth his neighbour’s
landmarks. And all the people said Amen.”2849
To this therefore, brethren, has
God foreordained you, and all who hold the highest office of the
priesthood, that ye should put all injustice out of the way, and cut
off presumption, and help those who labour in the priesthood, and give
no occasion for their reproach and trouble, but bring assistance to him
who endures calumny and reproach, and cut off him who works calumny and
reproach, and act for the help of the Lord in His priests. The
Lord, moreover, has chosen the priests for Himself, that they should
sacrifice to Him, and offer oblations to their Lord. He commanded
the Levites also to be under them in their ministries. Whence He
speaks to Moses in these terms: “And Eleazar the son of
Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have
the oversight of them that keep the charge of the
sanctuary.”2850
For of
these the Lord spake to Moses in this wise: “Take the
Levites instead of the first-born among the children of Israel, and the
cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be
mine: I am the Lord.”2851
If
the Lord willed the Levites to be His own, how much more has He taken
the priests for Himself! And of these He says: “If
any stranger cometh nigh, he shall be put to death.”2852
All objects, moreover, that are
the Lord’s are to be handled carefully, and are not lightly to be
injured; for even among men, those are reckoned faithful who attend to
the interests of their masters rightly, and deal with them faithfully,
and rightly observe the commands of their masters, and transgress them
not. And those, on the other hand, are reputed unfaithful who
deal with the interests of their masters carelessly and negligently,
and despise their commands, and do not observe them as they
ought.
Accordingly we have set these matters before you, in
order that those who now know it not may know this; viz., that the
priests, too, whom the Lord has taken to Himself from among all men,
and has willed to be His own, are
not to be dealt with lightly, nor injured, nor rashly accused or
reprehended, save by their masters, seeing that the Lord has chosen to
reserve their causes to Himself, and ministers vengeance according to
His own judgment. For in these and other precepts of the Lord the
faithful are distinguished, and the unfaithful at the same time
disapproved. For these are rather to be borne with by the
faithful than made subjects of reproach (exprobrandi);
just as there is chaff with the wheat even to the last winnowing, and
as there are bad fish with good even on to their separation, which is
yet to be on the shore,—that is to say, at the end of the
world. By no means, then, can that man be condemned by a human
examination, whom God has reserved for His own judgment, that the
purpose of God, according to which He has decreed to save what had
perished, may be unalterable. And consequently, as His will
suffers no change, let no man presume on matters which are not conceded
to him. And herein is the meaning of that word which the apostle
speaks: “Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you,
because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take
wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be
defrauded?”2853
To
this, too, our Lord’s word may refer: “And if any man
will take away thy coat, and sue thee at the law, let him have thy
cloak also.”2854
And in
another place: “Of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them
not again.”2855
Moreover,
there are certain things which might be thought most trivial were they
not shown in the Scriptures to be of more serious import. Who
would ever consider the man who says to his brother “Thou
fool” worthy of hell-fire, were it not that the Truth Himself
told us so?2856
Those,
furthermore, who commit those sins whereof the apostle says,
“They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God,”2857
are by all
means to be guarded against, and are to be compelled to seek amendment
if they do not choose it voluntarily, because they are marked with the
stains of infamy, and go down into the pit, unless assistance is
brought them by sacerdotal authority. Those also are to be dealt
with in like manner of whom he says, “With such persons, no, not
to eat;”2858
because such
persons are branded with infamy until they are restored by sacerdotal
authority, and reinstated in the bosom of our holy mother the Church;
since those who are outside us cannot communicate with us. And it
is manifest that these are outside us, and ought to be separated from
us, with whom it is not lawful for us to eat or to take food. In
like manner also, all persons who underlie the charge of any manner of
turpitude and dishonour, are rendered infamous; and all who arm
themselves against fathers are rendered infamous. “Sand,
and salt, and a mass of iron, is easier to bear than a man without
understanding, and foolish and impious.”2859
“He that wanteth
understanding thinks upon vain things; and a foolish and erring man
imagineth follies.”2860
For their
suspicion has overthrown many, and their opinion hath held them in
vanity. “A stubborn heart shall fare evil at the last; and
he that loveth danger shall perish therein. A heart that entereth
two ways shall not have rest; and the evil heart in them shall be made
to stumble. A wicked heart shall be laden with sorrows; and the
sinner shall heap sin upon sin.”2861
The holy apostles and their
successors, having such things in mind, and foreseeing, as being filled
with the Holy Spirit, the course of wicked men, and having regard to
the simple, determined that the accusing of priests should be a matter
undertaken with difficulty, or never undertaken, that they might not be
ruined or displaced by wicked men. For if this were made an easy
matter to secular and wicked men, there would remain no one, or but the
scantiest few; seeing that it ever has been and still is the
case—and (which is yet worse) that too in growing
measure—that the wicked persecute the good, and that the carnal
are hostile to the spiritual. For this reason, then, as has been
already said, they decreed that such should not be accused at all; or
if that could not be avoided, that the accusing of such should be made
a matter of great difficulty. And they determined also, as has
been stated above, by what persons that function should not be assumed;
and they resolved further, that bishops should not be cast out from
their own proper seats and churches. But if in any way the matter
of accusation should be taken in hand before their rightful seat
and all their property are restored by those laws, they should by no
means be accused or criminated by any one, and should not answer any
one on such charges, unless they choose to do so of their own
accord. But after they have been reinstated, as has been before
noted, and have had all their effects restored to them by those laws,
when their affairs are arranged and set in order, they should then have
a long period allowed them for the disposing of their case; and
thereafter, if need be, they should be regularly summoned, and so come
to the suit; and if the matter seem just, they should answer the
propositions of their accusers with the help of their brethren.
For so long as their effects, or their churches and property, are held by their adversaries, or
by any person, no manner of reason allows that any charge ought to be
preferred against them. And no one is at liberty by any means to
bring any charge against them, whether superior or inferior, so long as
they are dispossessed of their churches, effects, or powers. In
like manner also it was decreed, and we too confirm the same statutes
and hereby decree, that if any one among the clergy proves an enemy or
traducer of his bishops, and seeks to criminate them, or conspires
against them, at once, before the consideration of judicial
investigation, he should be removed from the clerical order, and given
over to the court (curiæ), to which he shall devote
himself zealously all the days of his life, and shall remain infamous
without any hope of restoration. And let no one ever presume to
be at once accuser, and judge, or witness; for in every judicial
investigation there must always be four persons present: that is,
the judges elected, and the accusers, and the defenders, and the
witnesses. In like manner we decree and ordain by apostolic
authority, that the flock should not dare to bring a charge against
their pastor, to whose care they had been consigned, unless he falls
into error in the faith; for the deeds of superiors are not to be
smitten with the sword of the mouth; neither can the disciple be above
the master, as the voice of Truth saith, “The disciple is not
above his master, nor the servant above his lord.”2862
And pride is hateful before God and men, and all
iniquity is execrable. “The Lord hath destroyed the memory
of the proud, and hath left the memory of the humble in mind. The
seed of men shall be honoured, this seed that feareth God.
But that seed shall be dishonoured that transgresseth the commandments
of the Lord. Among brethren, he that is chief is honourable; and
they that fear the Lord shall be in His eyes. My son, saith
Solomon, preserve thy soul in meekness, and give honour to him whom
honour beseemeth.”2863
“Blame not any one before thou examinest him; and when thou hast
examined him, reprove him justly. Answer not a word before thou
hearest the cause; neither interrupt with talk in the midst of thy
seniors.”2864
After
the example of Ham the son of Noah, they are condemned who bring the
faults of their fathers into public view, or presume to accuse or
calumniate them; even as was the case with Ham, who did not cover the
shame of his father Noah, but exhibited it for mockery. And in
like manner those are justified by the example of Shem and Japhet, who
reverently cover and seek not to display those matters in which they
find their fathers to have erred. For if a bishop should happen
to err from the faith, he should in the first place be corrected
privately by those placed under him (a subditis
suis). And if he show himself incorrigible (which
may God forbid), then an accusation should be laid against him before
his primates, or before the seat of the apostles. For his other
actings, however, he is rather to be borne with by his flock and those
put under him, than accused or made the subject of public detraction;
because when any offence is committed in these matters by those put
under them, His ordinance is withstood who set them before him, as the
apostle says, “Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the
ordinance of God.”2865
But he
who fears Almighty God, agrees in no way to do anything contrary to the
Gospel, or contrary to the apostles, or contrary to the prophets or the
institutions of the holy fathers. The priests therefore are to be
honoured, and not to be injured or reproached. Thus read we in
Ecclesiasticus: “Fear the Lord with all thy soul, and
reverence His priests. Love Him that made thee with all thy
strength, and forsake not His ministers. Honour God with thy
whole soul, and honour the priest, and cleanse thyself beforehand with
the shoulders (propurga te cum brachiis).
Give him his portion, as it is commanded thee, of the first-fruits; and
purge thyself concerning negligence with a few things. Thou shalt
offer the gift of thy shoulders, and the sacrifice of sanctification,
and the first-fruits of the holy things to the Lord. And stretch
thine hand unto the poor, that thine atonement and blessing may be
perfected.”2866
We
desire these things to become known not to you only, but through you to
all the brethren, that we may abide in Christ of one accord and one
mind, making no claim for ourselves through strife or vainglory, and
being pleasers not of men, but of God our Saviour. To Him
belongeth honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
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