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As long as his own bishop does not commune with an excommunicate, let that same bishop not be communed with by other bishops: so that the bishop may rather take care not to say against anyone what he cannot prove by other evidence. Aurelius the bishop said: According to the statutes of the whole council assembled, and the opinion of my own humble self, it is pleasing to bring all matters to a conclusion: let all the headings designated and digested by the proceedings of this day be entered in the ecclesiastical acts; but those things which have not yet been expressed, on the following day, through our brothers Faustinus the bishop, and Philippus and Asellus the presbyters, we shall write back to our venerable brother and fellow-bishop Boniface. And they subscribed.
I, Aurelius the bishop, have subscribed to these acts of the statutes drawn up before us. I, Valentinus, bishop of the first see of the province of Numidia, have subscribed to these acts. I, Faustinus, bishop of the Church of Potentia in the province of Picenum, legate of the Roman Church, have subscribed to these acts. I, Augustine, bishop of Hippo, legate of the province of Numidia, have subscribed to these acts. I, Possidius, bishop of Calama, legate of the province of Numidia, have subscribed to these acts. I, Vincentius of Culusi, have subscribed to these acts. I, Fortunatianus of Neapolis, have subscribed to these acts. I, Pentadius of Carpi, have subscribed to these acts. I, Rufinianus of Muzubi, have subscribed to these acts.
I, Praetextatus of Sicilibba, have subscribed to these acts. I, Quodvultdeus of Vera, have subscribed to these acts. I, Candidus of Germania, have subscribed to these acts. I, Maximianus of Aquae, have subscribed to these acts. I, Jucundus of Suffetula, legate of the province of Byzacena, have subscribed to these acts. I, Maximinus, legate of the province of Byzacena, have subscribed to these acts. I, Hilarianus of Horreum Caelium, legate of the province of Byzacena, have subscribed to these acts. I, Novatus of Sitifis, legate of the same province, have subscribed to these acts. I, Ninellus of Rusurra, legate of the province of Caesariensis, have subscribed to these acts. I, Laurentius of Icosium, legate of the province of Caesariensis, have subscribed to these acts.
I, Numerianus of Rusguniae, legate of the province of Caesariensis, have subscribed to these acts. I, Leo of Mocta, legate of the province of Caesariensis, have subscribed to these acts. I, another Leo, legate of the province of Sitifensis, have subscribed to these acts. And the other 227 bishops likewise subscribed. I, Philippus the presbyter, legate of the Roman Church, have subscribed to these acts gathered together by us. I, Asellus the presbyter, legate of the Roman Church, have subscribed to these acts, which were drawn up through us. Here begins the letter sent from the whole African council to Boniface, bishop of the city of Rome, through Faustinus the bishop and Philippus and Asellus the presbyters, legates of the Roman Church. CXXXIV.
To the most blessed lord and honourable brother Boniface, Aurelius, Valentinus of the first see of the province of Numidia, and the rest who were present, two hundred and seventeen in number, from the whole council of Africa.
Since it has pleased the Lord that, concerning those matters which our holy brothers—our fellow-bishop Faustinus, and our fellow-presbyters Philippus and Asellus—transacted with us, our humility should write back, not to the bishop Zosimus of blessed memory, from whom they brought mandates and letters to us, but to your Reverence, who have been divinely appointed in his place, we ought briefly to make known those things which were concluded by the concord of both parties; and not those things which are contained in the lengthy volumes of the proceedings, in which, with charity indeed preserved, yet not without no small labour of altercation, we lingered, deliberating in the acts those things which now pertain to the cause.
Although he too, if he were still in the body, would have received this the more gladly because he would see it concluded more peacefully, lord and brother. The presbyter Apiarius, concerning whose ordination, excommunication, and appeal there had arisen no slight scandal not only at Sicca but indeed for the whole African Church, asking pardon for all his errors, was restored to communion. But our fellow-bishop of Sicca, Urbanus, who had previously been over him, without any hesitation corrected what seemed to need correction in himself. But because provision had to be made for the peace and quiet of the Church, not only for the present but also for the future—since many such things had gone before, so that it behoved similar or even graver matters thereafter to be guarded against—
it pleased us that the presbyter Apiarius, the honour of his rank being indeed retained, should be removed from the Church of Sicca, and that, having received a letter of commendation, he should exercise the office of the presbyterate wherever else he might wish and be able. This we granted without difficulty to him as he himself requested by his own letters. Indeed, before this cause was closed with that conclusion, among other things which we were debating in lengthy disputations—because reason itself demanded that, in the ecclesiastical proceedings, we should ask of our brothers Faustinus the fellow-bishop, and Philippus and Asellus the fellow-presbyters, that they should produce whatever had been enjoined upon them to transact with us.
Some things indeed they set forth in words without any writing; but when we rather insisted upon that which they carried in their letters, they produced a memorandum. This, when it had been read to us, was also appended to the acts which they take with them to you. In it four matters were enjoined upon them to be transacted with us: one concerning the appeals of bishops to the bishop of the Roman Church; another, that bishops should not importunately sail to the imperial court; the third concerning the trying of the causes of presbyters and deacons before neighbouring bishops, if they have been wrongly excommunicated by their own; the fourth concerning Bishop Urbanus being excommunicated, or even summoned to Rome, unless he should correct those things which seemed to need correction.
Of all these, concerning the first and third—that is, that it be lawful to appeal to Rome, and that the causes of clerics be concluded before the bishops of their own provinces—we already took care, even in the previous year by our letters given to the same Zosimus, bishop of venerable memory, to intimate that we should allow these things to be observed for a little while without any injury to him, until the inquiry into the statutes of the Council of Nicaea. And now we beseech your Holiness that, just as those things were enacted or established at Nicaea by the Fathers, so you cause them, as enacted by us, to be observed, and there among you cause to be carried out those things which they brought in the memorandum:
that is, if a bishop has been accused, and the assembled bishops of his own region have judged him and deposed him from his rank, and he is seen to have appealed and has taken refuge with the most blessed bishop of the Roman Church, and has wished to be heard, and the latter has thought it just that the examination be renewed, let him deign to write to those bishops who are in the bordering and neighbouring province, that they themselves may diligently investigate all things and define them according to the faith of the truth. But if he who asks that his cause be heard again has by his entreaty moved the Roman bishop to send a presbyter from his side, it shall be in his power to do what he wishes and what he judges fit.
And if he has decreed that there should be sent those who, being present, may judge together with the bishops, having the authority of him by whom they were dispatched, it shall be at his discretion. But if he believes it sufficient that bishops should put an end to the matter, he shall do what he has judged by his most wise counsel. Likewise concerning presbyters and deacons. If any bishop, being irascible (which he ought not to be), is quickly or harshly moved against his presbyter or deacon, and wishes to expel him from the Church, provision must be made lest an innocent man be condemned or lose communion:
let the one who is ejected have the power to appeal to the neighbouring bishops, and let his cause be heard and more diligently examined, since a hearing ought not to be denied to one who requests it; and let that bishop who rejected him, whether justly or unjustly, patiently accept that the matter be discussed, so that either his sentence may be approved or amended. These things, at any rate, were inserted in the acts until the arrival of the most truthful copies of the Council of Nicaea, which, as they themselves who were directed to us from the Apostolic See have alleged, are contained in the memorandum. And in order that they may be observed even among you in Italy, in no way are we willing to suffer, or compelled to tolerate, such things as have already been mentioned:
but we believe, with the mercy of the Lord our God assisting, that, while your Holiness presides over the Roman Church, we shall no longer have to endure this arrogance. And there shall be observed toward us those things which ought to be observed even without our arguing for them, with that brotherly charity which, according to the wisdom and justice that the Most High has given you, you yourself also perceive ought to be observed—if perchance the canons of the Council of Nicaea have it otherwise. For although we read very many codices, yet nowhere in the Council of Nicaea, in the Latin codices, did we read it as in the aforesaid memorandum the things directed thence are set forth.
Then, because here we have been unable to find these things in any Greek codex, we more greatly desire that they be brought to us from the Eastern Churches, where the same decrees are said to be able to be found also in authentic form. For which reason we beseech your Reverence also, that you yourself deign to write to the bishops of those parts—that is, of the Churches of Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople. And if it should also please your Holiness otherwise, that from there those same canons established by the Fathers at the city of Nicaea may come to us, you above all conferring this benefit, with the Lord's help, upon all the Western Churches.
For who would doubt that the copies of the Council of Nicaea assembled in Greece are most truthful, which, brought and compared from places so diverse and from the noble Greek Churches, agree together? Until this is done, we profess that these things which have been alleged to us in the aforesaid memorandum—concerning the appeals of bishops to the bishop of the Roman Church, and concerning the causes of clerics being concluded before the bishops of their own provinces—we shall observe until they are proved; and we trust, in the will of God, that your Beatitude will help us to this end. But as for the other things which have been enacted or confirmed in our synod, since our aforesaid brothers,
our fellow-bishop Faustinus, and the presbyters Philippus and Asellus, carry them with them, they will, if you deign, make them known to your Holiness. And in another hand: May our Lord keep you for us for very many years, most blessed brother. There also subscribed Alypius, Augustine, Possidius, Marinus, and the other bishops. Here begin the rescripts to the African council from Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, in which they transmitted the authentic acts of the Council of Nicaea, translated from the Greek by the presbyter Innocentius; which letters also, together with the same Council of Nicaea, through the said presbyter Innocentius and Marcellus, subdeacon of the Church of Carthage, were directed to the holy Boniface, bishop of the Church of Rome, on the sixth day before the Kalends of December. CXXXV.
To the honourable lords, the holy brothers and fellow-bishops Aurelius, Valentinus, and to all the holy congregation gathered in the synod of Carthage, Cyril greeting your charity in God. I have received with all joy, through our son the presbyter Innocentius, the writings of your Reverence, containing much complaint, in which you wrote to us that from the archive of our Church we should hand over to your Love the most truthful copies, under the profession of our faith, from the authentic synod established and confirmed by the holy Fathers at the city of Nicaea, the metropolis of Bithynia.
Wherefore, honourable lord brothers, with salvation going before us through the Lord, I have found it necessary, through the bearer of these letters, our son the presbyter Innocentius, to direct to your charity the most faithful copies from the authentic synod held at the city of Nicaea in Bithynia. This you will also find, if you seek it, in the ecclesiastical history. Concerning Easter, as you wrote, we announce to you that we shall celebrate it on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of May in the coming indiction. And in another hand: May God and our Lord keep your holy congregation, which we desire, most dear brothers. Here begins the letter of Atticus, bishop of Constantinople, to the same. CXXXVI.
To the holy lords, deservedly most blessed brothers and fellow-bishops, Aurelius, Valentinus, and the other most dear ones established in the synod held at Carthage, Atticus the bishop. Through our son Marcellus, your subdeacon, I have received the writings of your Love with all giving of thanks, giving thanks to the Lord that I have been counted worthy to enjoy the kindness of such great brothers. Most blessed lord brothers, you wrote indeed that I should direct, under the attestation of the faith, the most truthful canons established by the Fathers at the city of Nicaea, the metropolis of Bithynia. And who is there who would deny to his brothers the common faith, or the statutes confirmed by the Fathers?
Concerning which matter, through the same my son Marcellus, your subdeacon, who is exceedingly in haste, I have directed, in full, just as the canons were established at the city of Nicaea by the Fathers, as you ordered: asking that your holy congregation may bid much prayer to be made for me. And in another hand: May our God keep your holiness, which we desire, holy brothers. Here begin the copies of the Council of Nicaea, directed on the sixth day before the Kalends of December, after the consulship of the most glorious emperors Honorius for the twelfth time and Theodosius for the eighth, the Augusti, to Boniface, bishop of the city of Rome. CXXXVII. We believe in one God, the Father almighty, creator of things visible and also invisible.
And in one Lord our Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of the Father, only-begotten—that is, of the substance of the Father—God of God, light of light, true God of true God, born, not made, of the same substance with the Father, through whom all things were made, things heavenly and things earthly. Who for us men and for our salvation descended, and was incarnate, and being made man suffered. And he rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, thence to come to judge the living and the dead: and in the Holy Spirit.
But those who say, 'There was a time when he was not,' and that he was made out of nothing, or that the Son of God is of another substance or essence, or is mutable or changeable—these the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes. To this symbol of faith there were also annexed by the said pontiffs the copies of the statutes of the same Council of Nicaea, just as they are contained above throughout; which we have not believed it necessary to write out again here. Here begins the letter of the African council to Pope Celestine, bishop of the city of Rome. CXXXVIII.
To our most beloved lord and honourable brother Celestine: Aurelius, Palatinus, Antonius, Tutus, Servusdei, Terentius, Fortunatus, Martinus, Januarius, Optatus, Ceticius, Donatus, Theasius, Vincentius, Fortunatianus, and the rest of us who were present at the universal African Council of Carthage. We could wish that, just as your Holiness signified to us in the letter sent through our fellow presbyter Leo that you had rejoiced at the arrival of Apiarius, so we likewise might send you these present writings with gladness concerning his acquittal. Then indeed both our gladness and yours would now be more assured, nor would that joy appear over-hasty which had hitherto gone before, founded more upon what was yet to be heard than upon what had been heard.
When our holy brother and fellow bishop Faustinus came to us, we assembled a council, and we believed that he had been sent with him for this reason: that just as through his efforts Apiarius had formerly been restored to the presbyterate, so now, by his labour, Apiarius might be cleared of the grave charges brought against him by the people of Thabraca. But the examination conducted by our council found such great and monstrous misdeeds of his that they overcame the very patronage rather than the judgement of the aforesaid Faustinus, and the exertions of an advocate rather than the justice of an impartial arbiter. For in the first place, see how much he obstructed us, heaping diverse injuries upon the whole assembly, as though asserting the privileges of the Roman Church, and wishing that this man be received by us into communion:
Your Holiness, believing that he had lodged an appeal—which he could not prove—had restored him to communion; yet this was by no means lawful, as you will more fully learn from a reading of the records. After a three-day judicial inquiry, most laborious, while in deepest distress we were investigating the various charges laid against him, God the just Judge, strong and long-suffering, cut short by a great shortcut either the delays of our fellow bishop Faustinus or the evasions of Apiarius himself, by which he was attempting to conceal his abominable shameful deeds.
For when his more foul and more rotten obstinacy was crushed—that obstinacy by which he sought, through the shamelessness of his denial, to bury so much black filth—as our God constrained his conscience and brought to public light even before men the hidden things which He already condemned in that man's heart as in a wallowing-place of crimes, suddenly the deceitful denier burst forth into a confession of all the disgraceful deeds charged against him.
And at last, of his own accord, he convicted himself of all those incredible reproaches, and turned into groans that very hope of ours by which we both believed and desired that he might be cleansed of such shameful stains—save that he softened this our sorrow with one consolation alone: that he both released us from the toil of a longer inquiry and provided some sort of healing for his own wounds, even by a confession reluctant and resisting his own conscience, lord brother. Therefore, having paid the foregoing duty of the salutation owed to you, we earnestly beseech you that hereafter you do not too readily admit to your ears those who come thence, nor be willing any longer to receive into communion those excommunicated by us;
for your Venerableness will easily perceive that this too was defined by the Council of Nicaea. For even if it seems there to be provided only concerning the lower clergy or laymen, how much more did it intend this to be observed concerning bishops, lest those who in their own province have been suspended from communion should seem to be too hastily or unduly restored to communion by your Holiness! Let your Holiness likewise repel, as is worthy of you, the wrongful refuges of presbyters and the clergy of lower rank, since by no definition of the Fathers has this right been taken away from the African Church; and the Nicene decrees most plainly committed both clerics of lower grade and bishops themselves to their own metropolitans. For most prudently and most justly they saw [that is, provided]
that whatever matters arise in their own localities should be settled where they arose. Nor would the grace of the Holy Spirit be wanting to any province, by which equity may be both prudently discerned by the priests of Christ and most steadfastly maintained; especially since it is granted to each one, if he be aggrieved by the judgement of those who heard his case, to appeal to the councils of his own province, or even to a universal council. Unless perhaps there be someone who believes that the justice of an inquiry can be inspired into any single individual, yet denied to the priests gathered in council in countless numbers.
Or how shall that overseas judgement be valid, to which the necessary persons of witnesses cannot be brought, whether on account of their sex, or because of the infirmity of old age, or by many other hindrances? For that any be sent, as it were from the side of your Holiness, we find established by no synod of the Fathers. As for that which formerly, through this same fellow bishop of ours Faustinus, you transmitted as though it were a part of the Nicene Council, in the truer councils, which are received as Nicene—sent in authentic copy by our holy fellow bishop Cyril of the Church of Alexandria, and by the venerable Atticus, bishop of Constantinople—
which also, even before this, through the presbyter Innocentius and the subdeacon Marcellus—by whom they were directed to us from them—were transmitted by us to Bishop Boniface of venerable memory, your predecessor: in these we were unable to find any such thing. Do not, moreover, send your clerics as executors at the request of any who ask, nor grant them, lest we seem to introduce the smoky vanity of the world into the Church of Christ, which holds out the light of simplicity and the day of humility to those who desire to see God;
For concerning our brother Faustinus (now that, by reason of his abominable wickedness, the lamentable Apiarius has been removed from the Church of Christ), we are confident that, with the uprightness and moderation of your Holiness, and with fraternal charity preserved, you will not suffer him to be sent to Africa any longer. And in another hand: May our Lord guard your Holiness, praying for us through a long span of years, lord brother.