Conciliar Acts 3

(Erasm. I, 4; Pamel., Rigal., Baluz. LXVIII; Paris, LXVII; Oxon., Lips. LXVII; Routh, Reliquiae Sacrae, pp. 77 and 122.) This council was held in Africa, in the year of Christ 258, at the instance of the bishops of Spain, to the end that they might obtain the judgment of the African Church concerning the case of Basilides and Martialis. The case was this: Basilides, bishop of the church of Leon, and Martialis, bishop of the church of Astorga, because they had lapsed in persecution—being 'libellatici,' who, namely, while privately denying the faith, had with money purchased the public cult of idols—were stripped of episcopal honor at the denunciation of the faithful Spaniards, and in their place Sabinus and Felix were substituted.

When the persecution had ceased, they—like Felicissimus earlier in Africa, who had lapsed—with rash boldness strove to be received back by the Church without any loss of rank and honor. And when they were frustrated in this attempt, and saw Felix together with Sabinus substituted in their place, Basilides, consumed with envy, betook himself to the Apostolic See at Rome; and there, complaining that he had been unjustly deprived of his see, he presented to Stephen the Roman Pontiff a petition stuffed with many lies, and through it humbly begged to be restored to his former see and honor.

When the bishops of Spain had heard this, those two bishops who had been appointed in their place, Sabinus and Felix, were sent away to the African Church, and letters written to Cyprian and the rest of the bishops of his church were communicated by both parties, so that those same bishops might examine and adjudge the case of the two libellatici. Cyprian therefore, when he had received the legates together with the aforesaid letters, summoned his fellow bishops; and in their sacred assembly he saw to it that the letters written to him and his colleagues were read and recited, and that the legates, introduced into the council, should set forth their own case.

When these things had been done, that which had been decreed by the bishops of Spain concerning the deposition of the libellatici bishops Basilides and Martialis, and the substitution of Sabinus together with Felix, was confirmed by those bishops of the African Church who had taken part in this council—namely, that all libellatici can indeed be admitted to do penance, but are rightly forbidden from clerical ordination and the priestly dignity; and that these two were rightly stripped of their episcopal dignity, and Sabinus and Felix rightly substituted in their place. Having obtained this testimony, Sabinus and Felix themselves, fortified by letters of Cyprian and the other bishops written to Stephen and the bishops of Spain, sailed to Rome,

both to refute the lies of Basilides to his face, and also to restrain by the authority of the Apostolic See the obstinate despisers among the bishops of Spain. See Baronius, year 258, nn. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Cyprian, Caecilius, Primus, Polycarpus, Nicomedes, Lucilianus, Successus, Sedatus, Fortunatus, Januarius, Secundinus, Pomponius, Honoratus, Victor, Aurelius, Satius, Petrus, another Januarius, Saturninus, another Aurelius, Venantius, Quietus, Rogatianus, Tenax, Felix, Faustus, Quintus, another Saturninus, Lucius, Vincentius, Libosus, Geminius, Marcellus, Jambus, Adelphius, Victoricus, and Paulus, to Felix the presbyter and to the congregations dwelling at Leon and Astorga,

likewise to Laelius the deacon and to the congregation of Merida, the brethren dwelling there, greeting in the Lord. I. When we had come together into one place, we read your letter, dearly beloved brethren, which you sent to us through our fellow bishops Felix and Sabinus, out of the integrity of your faith and out of the fear of God, signifying that Basilides and Martialis are defiled with the certificates of idolatry and bound by the conscience of unspeakable crimes, and ought not to administer the episcopate nor the priesthood of God; and you have desired that an answer be written back to you on these matters, and that your just and likewise necessary anxiety be relieved either by the comfort or by the help of our judgment.

But indeed to this your desire not so much our counsels as the divine precepts make answer—by which it has long since been commanded with a heavenly voice and prescribed by the law of God who and what manner of men ought to serve the altar and celebrate the divine sacrifices. For in Exodus God speaks to Moses and warns him, saying: 'Let the priests who approach the Lord God be sanctified, lest perchance the Lord forsake them' (Exod. XIX, 22). And again: 'And when the holy ones approach to minister at the altar, they shall not bring sin upon themselves, lest they die' (Exod. XXVIII, 43). Likewise in Leviticus the Lord commands and says: 'A man in whom there is a blemish and defect shall not approach to offer gifts to God' (Lev. XXI, 17). II.

Since these things are foretold and made manifest to us, our services must needs be obedient to the divine precepts; nor can human indulgence in such matters accept a person or bestow anything upon anyone, where the divine prescription intervenes and lays down a law. For neither ought we to be unmindful of what the Lord said to the Jews through the prophet Isaiah, rebuking and being indignant that, despising the divine precepts, they followed human doctrines: 'This people,' he says, 'honors me with their lips, but their heart is far separated from me. In vain, moreover, do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men' (Isa. XXIX, 13). Which likewise the Lord repeats in the Gospel and says:

'You reject the commandment of God, that you may establish your own tradition' (Mark VII, 13). Having these things before our eyes, and considering them anxiously and religiously, in the ordinations of priests we ought to choose none but unstained and upright prelates, who, offering sacrifices to God in a holy and worthy manner, may be heard in the prayers which they make for the safety of the Lord's people—since it is written: 'God does not hear a sinner; but if anyone worships God and does his will, him he hears' (John IX, 31). On account of which, with full diligence and sincere examination, those ought to be chosen for the priesthood of God who are known to be heard by God. III.

Nor let the people flatter themselves as if they could be immune from the contagion of sin while communicating with a sinful priest and lending their consent to the unjust and unlawful episcopate of their prelate—since through the prophet Hosea the divine censure threatens and says: 'Their sacrifices shall be as the bread of mourning; all who eat of them shall be defiled' (Hosea IX, 4), teaching, namely, and showing that absolutely all are bound to sin who have been defiled by the sacrifice of a profane and unjust priest. Which likewise we find made manifest in Numbers, when Korah and Dathan and Abiram claimed for themselves against Aaron the priest the license of sacrificing.

There also through Moses the Lord commanded that the people be separated from them, lest, joined to the wicked, they themselves should be involved in the same wickedness. 'Separate yourselves,' he says, 'from the tents of these most hardened men, and do not touch the things that pertain to them, lest you perish together in their sin' (Num. XVI, 26). On account of which the people, obeying the Lord's precepts and fearing God, ought to separate themselves from a sinful prelate, and not mingle themselves with the sacrifices of a sacrilegious priest—since the people themselves above all have the power either of choosing worthy priests or of refusing the unworthy. IV.

And this very thing too we see descends from divine authority—that the priest be chosen in the presence of the people under the eyes of all, and be approved as worthy and suitable by public judgment and testimony—just as in Numbers the Lord commanded Moses, saying: 'Take Aaron your brother and Eleazar his son, and bring them up onto the mountain before all the congregation; and strip off Aaron's robe, and put it on Eleazar his son; and let Aaron be gathered to his people and die there' (Num. XX, 25, 26).

In the presence of the whole congregation God bids the priest be appointed—that is, he instructs and shows that priestly ordinations ought to be made only under the consciousness of the assisting people, so that, with the people present, either the crimes of the wicked may be uncovered or the merits of the good proclaimed, and that the ordination may be just and lawful which has been examined by the vote and judgment of all. Which afterward, according to the divine teachings, is observed in the Acts of the Apostles, when concerning the apostle to be ordained in the place of Judas, Peter speaks to the people: 'Peter,' it says, 'rose up in the midst of the disciples, and the crowd was in one place' (Acts I, 15).

And we observe that the apostles kept this not only in the ordinations of bishops and priests, but also of deacons; concerning which it is itself written in their Acts: 'And they,' it says, 'the twelve, called together the whole multitude of the disciples, and said to them' (Acts VI, 2). Which surely was done so diligently and carefully, with the whole people called together, lest any unworthy one should creep in to the ministry of the altar or to the priestly office. For that the unworthy are sometimes ordained not according to the will of God, but according to human presumption, and that these things displease God which do not come of lawful and just ordination, God himself makes manifest through the prophet Hosea, saying:

'They have set up a king for themselves, and not through me' (Hosea VIII, 4). V. On account of which it must diligently be kept and held, out of divine tradition and apostolic observance—which among us also and through almost all the provinces is held—that for ordinations to be rightly celebrated, the nearest bishops of the same province should each come together to that people for whom a prelate is ordained, and that the bishop be chosen in the presence of the people, which most fully knows the life of each and has examined the conduct of each one from his manner of living.

And this we see was done among you also in the ordination of our colleague Sabinus, that the episcopate should be conferred upon him by the vote of the whole brotherhood and by the judgment of the bishops who had assembled in person and had written to you about him, and that hands should be laid on him in the place of Basilides. Nor can the fact that Basilides, after his crimes had been detected and his conscience laid bare even by his own confession, going to Rome, deceived Stephen our colleague—placed far away and ignorant of the matter done and of the truth—so as to canvass to be unjustly restored to the episcopate from which he had been justly deposed, rescind an ordination rightly performed.

This tends to this end, that the sins of Basilides have not so much been abolished as heaped up, so that to his former sins there has been added also the crime of deceit and circumvention. For neither is he so much to be blamed upon whom it was negligently crept, as this man to be execrated who fraudulently crept in. But although Basilides could deceive men, he cannot deceive God, since it is written: 'God is not mocked' (Gal. VI, 7). But neither can deceit have profited Martialis, so that he too, being involved in grave offenses, ought not to hold the episcopate—since the Apostle warns and says: 'A bishop ought to be without crime, as a steward of God' (Titus I, 7). VI.

Wherefore, since—as you have written, dearly beloved brethren, and as our colleagues Felix and Sabinus affirm, and as another Felix of Saragossa, a cultivator of the faith and defender of the truth, signifies in his letter—Basilides and Martialis have been defiled with the abominable certificate of idolatry; and Basilides, still further, besides the stain of the certificate, when he lay sick in infirmity, blasphemed against God and confessed that he had blasphemed, and of his own accord laying down the episcopate for the wound of his conscience, turned to do penance, beseeching God, and being thankful enough if it might befall him even to communicate as a layman;

Martialis likewise, besides his long and frequent attendance at the base and filthy banquets of the heathen in their guild, and his sons buried in that same guild after the manner of foreign nations among profane sepulchres and interred with strangers, also—public records having been drawn up before the procurator ducenarius—testified that he had submitted to idolatry and denied Christ; and since there are many other grave offenses in which Basilides and Martialis are held entangled, in vain do such men attempt to usurp the episcopate for themselves, since it is manifest that men of this sort can neither preside over the Church of Christ nor ought to offer sacrifices to God;

especially since long ago, in agreement with us and with absolutely all the bishops established throughout the whole world, our colleague Cornelius also—a peaceful and just priest, and honored too with martyrdom by the favor of the Lord—decreed that men of this sort can indeed be admitted to do penance, but are forbidden from the ordination of the clergy and from priestly honor. VII. Nor let it move you, dearly beloved brethren, if among certain men in these latest times a slippery faith totters, or an irreligious fear of God wavers, or peaceful concord does not endure.

These things were foretold as coming to pass at the end of the age, and it was predicted by the voice of the Lord and the testimony of the Apostles that, as the world now fails and antichrist draws near, all good things would fail, but evil and adverse things would advance. VIII. Yet not so, although in these latest times, has either evangelical vigor fallen in the Church of God, or the strength of Christian virtue or of faith grown faint, that there does not remain a portion of priests which in no way succumbs to these ruins of affairs and shipwrecks of faith, but, strong and stable, guards the honor of the divine majesty and the priestly dignity with full and fearful observance. We remember and hold fast that, though the rest gave way and yielded, Mattathias (1 Macc.

II, 19, 20) yet vindicated the law of God valiantly; that Elijah (1 Kings XIX, 10), when the Jews fell away and withdrew from the divine religion, stood and contended sublimely; that Daniel (Dan. VI, 10, 21, 22), deterred neither by the solitude of a foreign land nor by the molestation of constant persecution, frequently and bravely rendered glorious martyrdoms; that likewise the three children, broken neither by their years nor by threats, faithfully withstood the Babylonian fires and conquered the conquering king in their very captivity. Let it be the concern of the number of the prevaricators or of the traitors who now in the Church have begun to rise against the Church and alike to undermine faith and truth.

Among very many there remains a sincere mind and an unimpaired religion, and a soul devoted to none but its Lord and God; nor does another's perfidy press the Christian faith down to ruin, but rather rouses and exalts it to glory—according to what the blessed apostle Paul exhorts and says (Rom. III, 3, 4): 'For what if some of them have fallen from the faith? Has their unbelief made the faith of God of no effect? God forbid! For God is true, but every man a liar.' But if every man is a liar and God alone is true, what else ought we servants, and especially the priests of God, to do, except to abandon human errors and lies, and, keeping the precepts of the Lord, to remain in the truth of God? IX.

Wherefore, even if some of our colleagues have arisen, dearly beloved brethren, who think the divine discipline ought to be neglected and rashly communicate with Basilides and Martialis, this thing ought not to disturb our faith—since the Holy Spirit threatens in the Psalms against such men, saying (Ps. XLIX, 17, 18): 'But you have hated discipline, and have cast my words behind you. If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and with adulterers you set your portion.' He shows them to become sharers and partakers in the sins of others who have been joined to the offenders. But this same thing also Paul the apostle writes and says:

'Whisperers, detractors, hateful to God, insolent, proud, boasters of themselves, inventors of evils, who, although they had known the justice of God, did not understand that those who do such things are worthy of death—not only those who do them, but also those who consent to those who do these things: for those who do such things,' he says, 'are worthy of death' (Rom. I, 30, 31, 32). He makes manifest and proves that not only those who do evil are worthy of death and come to punishment, but also those who consent to those doing such things; who, while they mingle themselves by unlawful communion with the wicked and with sinners not doing penance, are polluted by contact with the guilty, and, while they are joined in the fault, are likewise not separated in the punishment.

On account of which we both praise and approve the religious solicitude of your integrity and faith, dearly beloved brethren; and as much as we can we exhort you by our letter, that you do not mingle yourselves by sacrilegious communion with profane and defiled priests, but keep the whole and sincere firmness of your faith with religious fear. I desire you, dearly beloved brethren, ever to fare well.