Second Lateran Council (1139)

Canon 1

Anyone simoniacally ordained shall be deposed.

We decree that if anyone has been ordained simoniacally, he shall lose the office thus illicitly obtained.®

Canon 2

If anyone has obtained ecclesiastical promotion simoniacally, he shall lose the honor thus acquired, and buyer and seller as well as intermediaries shall be condemned.

If anyone, impelled by the execrable vice of avarice, has by means of money obtained a prebend, priory, deanery, or any ecclesiastical honor or promotion, or any ecclesiastical sacrament, as chrism, holy oil, or the consecration of altars and churches, he shall be deprived of the honor thus illicitly acquired, and buyer and seller and intermediary agent shall be stigmatized with the mark of infamy. Neither for provisions nor under pretense of some custom shall something be demanded from anyone either before or after, nor shall anyone presume to give, because it is simoniacal; but freely and without any price shall he enjoy the dignity or benefice conferred on him.?

Canon 3

Those excommunicated by one bishop may not be restored by others. Communication with one excommunicated entails the same censure.

We absolutely forbid that those who have been excommunicated by their own bishops be received by others. He who shall dare communicate knowingly with one excommunicated before he is absolved by the one who excommunicated him, shall incur the same penalty. i

Canon 4

Bishops and clerics should so conduct themselves that they do not offend those whose model and example they should be.

We command that bishops and clerics in mind and in body strive to be pleasing to God and to men, and not by superfluity, discome to an end, alienatum se a fratrum communione cognoscat; nec eum recipi liceat, nisi in sequenti synodo fuerit absolutus (c.12, D. XVIII); similarly the Synods of Agde (506) in canon 35 (c.13, D. XVIID, of Tarragona (516) in canon 6 (c.14, D.XVIII, etc. The same penalty is imposed by the Sixth Synod of Carthage (401) in canon 14 on a bishop who should promote a monk not of his diocese to the clerical state, or appoint such a one superior of a monastery within his diocese (Hefele-Lecletcq, H, 129).

13 Innocent III distinguished between intercourse or communication knowingly held with one excommunicated iz crimine criminoso, that is, giving advice or aid of any kind in the crime for which the excommunication was incurred, and ordinary communication, that is, ordinary conversation with, or praying or eating with the one excommunicated. The former was punished with major, the latter with minor excommunication (c.29, X, De sentent. excomm., V, 39).

1 Kober, Der Kircbenbann, Tübingen, 1863; Hollweck, Die kirchlichen Strafgesetze, Mainz, 1899.

sensions, or the color of their clothes, nor in their tonsure, offend the sight of those whose model and example they ought to be; but rather let them manifest the sanctity that should be part and parcel of their office. But if, admonished by their bishops, they do not amend, let them be deprived of their benefices.15

CANON $

Canon 5

Possessions of deceased bishops must remain in charge of the steward and clergy and must not be seized by anyone.

We decree that that which was enacted in the Council of Chalcedon (canon 22) be inviolately observed; namely, that the possessions of deceased bishops be not seized by anyone, but that they remain in the hands of the steward and the clergy for the needs of the Church and his successor. That detestable and barbarous rapacity shall henceforth cease. If anyone in the future shall dare attempt this, let him be excommunicated. Those who seize the possessions of deceased priests or clerics, let them be subjected to the same penalty.!*

Canon 6

Clerics living with women shall be deprived of their office and benefice.

We also decree that those who in the subdiaconate and higher orders have contracted marriage or have concubines, be deprived of their office and ecclesiastical benefice. For since they should be and be called the temple of God, the vessel of the Lord, the abode of the Holy Spirit, it is unbecoming that they indulge in marriage and in impurities."

Canon 7

Masses celebrated by members of the clergy who have wives or concubines are not to be attended by anyone.

Following in the footsteps of our predecessors, the Roman pontiffs Gregory VII, Urban, and Paschal, we command that no one attend the masses of those who are known to have wives or concubines. But that the law of continence and purity, so pleasing to God, may become more general among persons constituted in sacred orders, we decree that bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, canons regular, monks, and professed clerics (conversi) who, transgressing

15 [dentical with canon 2 of Clermont and Reims. 16 [dentical with canon 3 of Clermont and Reims. 17 Identical with canon 4 of Clermont and Reims. Cf. canon 21 of I Lateran.

the holy precept, have dared to contract marriage, shall be separated. For a union of this kind which has been contracted in violation of the ecclesiastical law, we do not regard as matrimony. Those who have been separated from each ot n:

with such excesses.

er, shall do penance commensurate

Canon 8

This applies also to nuns.

We decree that the same be observed with regard to nuns if, which God forbid, they attempt to marry.

Canon 9

Monks and canons regular are not to study jurisprudence and medicine for the sake of temporal gain.

An evil and detestable custom, we understand, has grown up in the form that monks and canons regular, after having received the habit and made profession, despite the rule of the holy masters Benedict and Augustine, study jurisprudence and medicine for the sake of temporal gain. Instead of devoting themselves to psalmody and hymns, they are led by the impulses of avarice to make themselves defenders of causes and, confiding in the support of a splendid voice, confuse by the variety. of their statements what is just and unjust, right and wrong. The imperial constitutions, however, testify that it is absurd and disgraceful for clerics to seek to become experts in forensic disputations. We decree, therefore, in virtue of our Apostolic authority, that offenders of this kind be severely punished. Moreover, the care of souls being neglected and the purpose of their order being set aside, they promise health in return for detestable money and thus make themselves physicians of human bodies. Since an impure eye is the messenger of an impure heart, those things about which good people blush to speak, religion ought not to treat (that is, religious ought to avoid). Therefore, that the monastic order as well as the order of canons may be pleasing to God and be conserved inviolate in their holy purposes, we forbid in virtue of our Apostolic authority that this be done in the future. Bishops, abbots, and priors consenting to such outrageous practice and not correcting it, shall be deprived of their honors and cut off from the Church.’®

Canon 10

Church tithes may not be appropriated by laymen. Likewise laymen possessing churches must return them to the bishops. Ecclesiastical honors are not to be conferred on young men.

In virtue of our Apostolic authority, we forbid that tithes of churches which canonical authority shows to have been given for pious purposes be possessed by laymen. Whether they have received them from bishops, kings, or other persons, unless they are returned to the Church, the possessors shall be judged guilty of sacrilege and shall incur the danger of eternal damnation. We command also that laymen who hold churches shall either return them to the bishops or incur excommunication. We confirm, moreover, and command that no one shall be promoted to the office of archdeacon or dean, unless he be a deacon or priest; those archdeacons and deans or provosts who exist below the orders just mentioned, if they refuse to be ordained, let them be deprived of the honor received.'? We forbid, moreover, that the aforesaid honors be bestowed upon young men, even though they are constituted in sacred orders; but let them be conferred on those who are noted for prudence and rectitude of life. We command, moreover, that churches be not committed to hired priests; but let every church that possesses the means of support have its own priest.

Canon 11

Clerics and other people, as well as their animals, shall at all times be secure.

We command also that priests, clerics, monks, travelers, merchants, country people going and returning, and those engaged in agriculture, as well as the animals with which they till the soil and that carry the seeds to the field, and also their sheep, shall at all times be secure.”°

Canon 12

Rules governing the truce of God. Bishops should do all in their power to establish peace.

We decree that the truce of God be strictly observed by all from the setting of the sun on Wednesday to its rising on Monday, and from Advent to the octave of Epiphany and from Quinquagesima to the octave of Easter. If anyone shall violate it and does not make satisfaction after the third admonition, the bishop shall direct against him the sentence of excommunication and in writing shall announce his action to the neighboring bishops. No bishops shall restore to communion the one excommunicated; indeed every bishop should confirm the sentence made known to him in writing. But if anyone (that is, any bishop) shall dare violate this injunction, he shall jeopardize his order. And since “a threefold cord is less easily broken” (Eccles. 4: 12), we command the bishops, having in mind only God and the salvation of the people, and having discarded all tepidity, offer each other mutual counsel and assistance for firmly establishing peace; nor should they be swayed in this by the love or hatred of anybody. But if anyone be found to be tepid in this work of God, let him incur the loss of his dignity.

Canon 13

Usurers are deprived of all ecclesiastical consolation and stigmatized with the mark of infamy.

We condemn that detestable, disgraceful, and insatiable rapacity of usurers which has been outlawed by divine and human

20 Identical with canons 8 of Clermont and 10 and 11 of Reims.

laws in the Old and New Testaments, and we deprive them of all ecclesiastical consolation, commanding that no archbishop, no bishop, no abbot of any order, nor anyone in clerical orders, shall, except with the utmost caution, dare receive usurers; but during their whole life let them be stigmatized with the mark of infamy, and unless they repent let them be deprived of Christian burial.”

Canon 14

Tournaments are condemned. Anyone losing his life in them shall be deprived of Christian burial. |

We condemn absolutely those detestable jousts or tournaments in which the knights usually come together by agreement and, to make a show of their strength and boldness, rashly engage in contests which are frequently the cause of death to men and of danger to souls. If anyone taking part in them should meet his death, though penance and the Viaticum shall not be denied him if he asks for them, he shall, however, be deprived of Christian burial.

Canon 15

Anyone laying violent hands on a cleric or monk shall be anathematized. Likewise he who lays hands on one seeking refuge in a church or cemetery.

If anyone at the instigation of the devil incurs the guilt of this sacrilege, namely, that he has laid violent hands on a cleric or monk, he shall be anathematized and no bishop shall dare absolve him, except mortis urgente periculo, till he be presented to the Apostolic See and receive its mandate. We command also that no one shall dare lay hands on those who have taken refuge in a church or cemetery. Anyone doing this, let him be excommunicated.

Canon 16

No one shall demand any ecclesiastical office on the plea of hereditary right. Such offices are conferred in consideration of merit.

It is beyond doubt that ecclesiastical honors are bestowed not in consideration of blood relationship but of merit, and the Church of God does not look for any successor with hereditary rights, but demands for its guidance and for the administration of its offices upright, wise, and religious persons. Wherefore, in virtue of our Apostolic authority we forbid that anyone appropriate or presume to demand on the plea of hereditary right churches, prebends, deaneries, chaplaincies, or any ecclesiastical offices. If anyone, prompted by dishonesty or animated by ambition, dare attempt this, he shall be duly punished and his demands disregarded.

Canon 17

Marriages between blood-relatives are prohibited.

We absolutely forbid marriages between blood-relatives. The declarations of the holy fathers and of the holy Church of God condemn incest of this kind, which, encouraged by the enemy of the human race, has become so widespread. Even the civil laws brand with infamy and dispossess of all hereditary rights those born of such unions.??

Canon 18

Incendiarism is condemned and its perpetrators are to be deprived of Christian burial. They are not to be absolved till they have made reparation.

By the authority of God and of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul we absolutely condemn and prohibit that most wicked, devastating, horrible, and malicious work of incendiaries; for this pest, this hostile waste, surpasses all other depredations. No one is ignorant of how detrimental this is to the people of God and what injury it inflicts on souls and bodies. Every means must be employed, therefore, and no effort must be spared that for the welfare of the people such ruin and such destruction may be eradicated and extirpated. If anyone, therefore, after the promulgation of this prohibition, shall through malice, hatred, or revenge set fire, or cause it to be set, or knowingly by advice or other connivance have part in it, let him be excommunicated. Moreover, when incendiaries die, let them be deprived of Christian burial. Nor shall they be absolved until, as far as they are able, they have made reparation to those injured and have promised under oath to set no more fires. For penance they are to spend one year in the service of God either in Jerusalem or in Spain.

Canon 19

If any archbishop or bishop relaxes this ordinance, he shall restore the loss incurred and shall be suspended from his episcopal office for one year.

Canon 20

We do not deny to kings and princes the authority (facultatem) to dispense justice in consultation with the archbishops and bishops.

Canon 21

Sons of priests must be debarred from the ministry of the altar.

We decree that the sons of priests must be debarred from the ministry of the altar, unless they become monks or canons regular.

Canon 22

Bishops and priests are admonished to instruct the people against false penances.

Since among other things there is one that chiefly disturbs the Church, namely, false penance, we admonish our confrères (that is, the bishops) and priests that the minds of the people be not deceived by false penances, lest thus they should run the risk of being drawn into hell. A penance is false when it is performed for one sin only and not also for the others, or when only one is avoided, and the others are not. Hence it is written: “Whoever shall observe the whole law but offend in one (point), is become guilty of all,” ** so far as eternal life is concerned. For as one guilty of all sins will not enter the gate of eternal life, so also if one be guilty of only one sin. A penance, moreover, is false when the penitent does not resign a curial or commercial occupation, the duties of which he cannot perform without committing sin, or if he bears hatred in his heart or does not repair an injury or does not pardon an offense, or if he carries arms in contravention of justice.?*

Canon 23

'Those who reject the sacraments are condemned, and the civil power is invoked to restrain their mischief.

Those who, simulating a species of religious zeal, reject the sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord, the baptism of infants, the priesthood, and other ecclesiastical orders, as well as matrimony, we condemn and cast out of the Church as heretics, and ordain that they be restrained by the civil power. For their partisans also we decree the same penalty.*

Canon 24

Sacramentals shall be gratis.

We decree further that no money shall be demanded for chrism, oil, and burial.

Canon 25

Ecclesiastical offices may not be received from the hands of laymen.

If anyone has received a deanery, prebend, or other ecclesiastical benefices from the hands of laymen, he shall be deprived of the benefice thus unjustly obtained. For, according to the decrees of the holy fathers, laymen, no matter how devout they may be, have no authority to dispose of ecclesiastical property.*?

Canon 26

Women who pretend to be nuns are forbidden to live in private houses and receive strangers and persons of little faith.

We decree that that pernicious and detestable custom of some women who, though they live neither according to the Rule of blessed Benedict nor according to the rules of Basil and Augustine, yet wish to be commonly regarded as nuns, be abolished. For while, according to the rule, those living in monasteries must observe the common life in the church as well as in the refectory and dormitory, these build their own retreats (receptacula) and private houses in which, contrary to the sacred canons and good morals, they are not ashamed to receive at times under cover of hospitality strangers and persons of little religious faith. Wherefore, since all who do evil hate the light, moved by the same impulse, these, hidden in the tent of the just (that is, under the name of nuns), think they can conceal themselves also from the eyes of the Judge who sees all things, we absolutely and under penalty of anathema forbid that this disgraceful and detestable evil be practiced in the future.

Canon 27

Nuns may not sing the office with the monks.

We likewise forbid nuns to sing the divine office in the choir with the canons or monks.

Canon 28

Men of piety are not to be excluded from the election of bishops, and only capable and trustworthy persons are to be chosen for the episcopal office.

Since the decrees of the fathers insist that on the death of bishops the Churches be not left vacant more than three months, we forbid under penalty of anathema that the canons of cathedrals exclude from the election of bishops viros religiosos (that is, monks and canons regular), but rather with the aid of their counsel let a capable and trustworthy person be chosen for the episcopal office. If, however, an election has been held with such religious excluded and held without their assent and agreement, it shall be null and void.

40 "Sunt autem in eisdem ecclesiis (canonicarum) pariter canonici seculares in diebus festis et solemnibus ex altera parte chori cum predictis domicellis canentes et earum modulationibus equipollentes respondere studentes. . . . Similiter et in processionibus composite et ornate, canonici ex una parte et domine ex alia parte concinentes procedunt.” Historia, lib. Il, c. 31.

Canon 29

Slingers and archers directing their art against Christians, are anathematized.

We forbid under penalty of anathema that that deadly and God-detested art of slingers and archers be in the future exercised against Christians and Catholics. |

Canon 30

Ordinations by the antipope are null.

The ordinations conferred by Peter Leonis (Pierleone, the antipope Anacletus II) and other schismatics and heretics, we declare null and void.*?

THE ELEVENTH GENERAL COUNCIL (1179)