Conformity of the ecclesiastical discipline of the Reformed churches of France with that of the primitive Christians written by M. La Rocque ... ; render'd into English by Jos. Walker.

CONFORMITY.

The 7th Canon of the Council of Calcedon, forbids those that have been once admitted into the Clergy, to bear Arms, or to exercise any worldly Dignity: that is, The Synod requires that they should always abide in the Pro∣fession they have taken upon them, and that they should not forsake the Ministry of the Church. Rusticus, Bishop of Narbona, having writ to Pope Leo the Ist, That he was so moved with the Scandals which daily hapned, that he could wish to be freed from the Episcopal Office, to lead a more tranquile and quiet life; the Pope answering the Bishops Letter, * 1.1 intimated to him, That he could not with a safe Conscience forsake the Office he had under∣taken, nor flinch from the Employment committed to his trust. It is in this same Sense that Pope Felix the IV. Ann. Dom. 528. wrote to Caesarius, Bishop of Arles, That the Establishment of Church-Guides ought to be firm, and immutable. * 1.2 In the Year 895. there was a Council held at Tribury, near Mayence, compos'd of 22 Bishops, which in the 17th Canon renew'd that of Calcedon, which we above cited, and which anathematiz'd those of the Clergy which did not repent of having left their Cures, and which did not return to them. Pope Calixtus the II. assembled a Council at Tholouza, the Canons whereof are inserted in the 18th Chapter of Monsieur De Marca's 8th Book, De Concordia Imperii & Sacerdotii. The 10th of these Canons Excommunicates the Clergy we speak of, until they have repented of their prevarication. A great while before, * 1.3 to wit, in the Vth Century, and before the assembling of the Council of Calcedon, St. Cyril of Alexandria complains of this Abuse in his Canonical Epi∣stle; There is, saith he, another thing which doth not agree

with the Decrees of the Church, which is, That there are Priests which present Renunciations by writing; for if they are worthy to exercise the holy Ministry, they must reside on it; and if they are not worthy, they do not leave it for their Resig∣nation, but because their own Deeds condemn them. Thence it is, that Loup, Abbot of Ferriers in Gattinois, said in the IXth Century, That as nothing but Adultery could dis∣solve carnal Wedlock, so also it is not permitted to lay aside the Pastoral Charge once received, * 1.4 whilst one may contribute to the good of the Flock.

Nevertheless, there are sundry Examples of those which in divers times, and in divers places, have for qui∣etness sake renounced the Ministry; that is, they have forborn exercising the Functions, and exercising the Of∣fice of a Bishop: thus was was it done by Eustathius, * 1.5 Metropolitan of Pamphilia, to whom the Oecumenical Council of-Ephesus, in the year 431. preserv'd the Name, Honour, and Communion of a Bishop. Martirius, Bi∣shop of Antioch, withdrew himself by reason of the Extra∣vagance of his Clergy, the Disobedience of his People, and the Corruptions of his Church; but in preserving to him∣self the Honour and Dignity of the Ministry, as Theo∣dorus Lector writes in his Ecclesiastical History. * 1.6 In the next Age there hapned almost the same thing to Paul, Bishop of the same City of Antioch, in the VIth Century: and in the very Infancy of Religion, St. Clement, * 1.7 Disciple of the Apostles, advised Pastors, whose Churches were not well satisfied with them, he counsell'd them to go elsewhere, and to acquiesce to the desire of the People, assuring them to obtain a great degree of glory in Christ Jesus; adding, * 1.8 That those who have lived according to the Rule God has prescrib'd, has always, and will ever do after this manner, because they ought to desire nothing more than the Peace and Edification of the Churches.

Pope Innocent the IIId, in the 1st Book of Decretals, tit. 9. cap. 10. Nisi cum pridem, proposes sundry Rea∣sons wherefore it may be permitted to renounce the Con∣duct of a Flock; for instance, The reproach our Con∣sciences makes us of some Crime, infirmity of Body, want of Knowledg, the wickedness of the People, some grievous Scandal, or some personal Irregularity; these are the Reasons for which this Pope thought one might desire to be discharg'd from the Ministry of the Church.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 111.
• * 1.2

  Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 254. Tom. 7. Conc. p. 153.
• * 1.3

  Tom. 5. Part. 2. p. 211. Paris. 1638.
• * 1.4

  Ep. 2 Paris 1664.
• * 1.5

  Tom. 3. Conc. p. 428, 429.
• * 1.6

  L. 1. p. 555.
• * 1.7

  Tom. 3. Conc. p. 800.
• * 1.8

  Ep. ad Cor. p. 69.