The Fourth Ecumenical Council

We have judged it right that the canons set forth by the holy Fathers at each synod until now should remain in force.

If any bishop should perform an ordination for money, and bring down to sale the grace that cannot be sold, and ordain for money a bishop, or a chorepiscopus, or presbyters, or deacons, or any other of those numbered in the clergy; or should appoint for money a steward, or an advocate, or a warden, or anyone at all on the canon, for his own base gain: let him who has attempted this, on being convicted, be in peril of his own rank; and let him who is ordained derive no benefit from the ordination or appointment made by trade, but let him be alien to the dignity or the charge which he obtained for money. And if anyone should appear even as a go-between in such shameful and unlawful gains, let him too, if he is a cleric, fall from his own rank; and if he is a layman or a monk, let him be anathematised.

It has come to the holy synod that some of those enrolled in the clergy, for base gain, become lessees of other men's estates and take on worldly business under contract, neglecting the service of God, while slipping into the houses of worldly men and taking on the management of properties out of love of money. The holy and great synod has therefore decreed that henceforth no one, not a bishop, not a cleric, not a monk, is either to lease estates or to thrust himself into the worldly administration of affairs; unless perhaps he be called by the laws to the unavoidable guardianship of minors, or the bishop of the city should permit him to take care of ecclesiastical affairs, or of orphans or widows unprovided for, and of those persons most in need of ecclesiastical help, for the fear of God. And if anyone should henceforth attempt to transgress what has been decreed, let such a one be subject to ecclesiastical penalties.

Let those who truly and sincerely pursue the solitary life be counted worthy of fitting honour. But since some, making use of the monastic guise, throw into confusion both the churches and civil affairs, going about in the cities indiscriminately, and even taking it upon themselves to set up monasteries for themselves, it has seemed good that no one anywhere build or set up a monastery or a house of prayer against the will of the bishop of the city; and that the monks in each city and country be subject to the bishop, and embrace stillness, and give heed only to fasting and prayer, persevering in the places in which they made their renunciation; and that they neither meddle in ecclesiastical or worldly affairs nor take part in them, leaving their own monasteries, unless perhaps they should be permitted to do so for necessary need by the bishop of the city; and that no one receive a slave into the monasteries to become a monk against the will of his own master. And whoever transgresses this our decree we have decreed to be out of communion, that the name of God be not blasphemed. The bishop of the city, however, must make due provision for the monasteries.

Concerning bishops or clerics who pass from city to city, it has seemed good that the canons laid down concerning them by the holy Fathers have their force.

No one is to be ordained at large, neither presbyter, nor deacon, nor anyone at all of those in the ecclesiastical order, unless the one ordained is specifically proclaimed in a church of a city or of a village, or in a martyr's shrine, or in a monastery. And as for those ordained at large, the holy synod has decreed that such a laying on of hands be of no effect, and that they may act nowhere, to the reproach of him who ordained them.

We have decreed that those once placed in the clergy, or who have become monks, are to go neither into military service nor into worldly dignity; or else, those who dare this and do not repent so as to return to that which they first chose for God's sake are to be anathematised.

Let the clerics of the poorhouses, and of the monasteries, and of the martyrs' shrines remain under the authority of the bishops in each city, according to the tradition of the holy Fathers; and let them not in self-will throw off the rein of their own bishop. And those who dare to overturn such a regulation in any manner whatever, and are not subject to their own bishop, if they are clerics, let them be subject to the penalties of the canons; and if monks or laymen, let them be out of communion.

If any cleric has a matter against a cleric, let him not forsake his own bishop, and let him not run off to worldly courts; but let him first argue the case before his own bishop, or else, with the consent of the bishop himself, let the trial be held before whomever both parties wish. And if anyone should act contrary to these things, let him be subject to canonical penalties. And if a cleric has a matter against his own bishop, or against another bishop, let him be judged before the synod of the province. And if a bishop or a cleric should have a dispute with the metropolitan of the same province, let him have recourse to the exarch of the diocese, or to the throne of the reigning city of Constantinople, and let him be judged before it.

It is not lawful for a cleric to be enrolled at the same time in the churches of two cities, both in that in which he was ordained at the first and in that to which he has fled, as to a supposedly greater one, out of desire for empty glory. And those who do this are to be restored to their own church, in which they were ordained from the beginning, and to minister there only. If, however, anyone has already been transferred from one church to another, he is to have no part in the affairs of the former church, or of the martyrs' shrines, or poorhouses, or hostels under it. And as for those who dare, after the decree of this great and ecumenical council, to do any of the things now forbidden, the holy synod has decreed that they fall from their own rank.

We have decreed that all the poor and those in need of help are to travel, after examination, with short letters, that is, with ecclesiastical letters of peace only, and not with letters of commendation; because letters of commendation ought to be given only to persons who are of repute.

It has come to us that some, contrary to the ecclesiastical ordinances, having run to the powers, have by means of pragmatic decrees divided one province into two, so that as a result there are two metropolitans in the same province. The holy synod has therefore decreed that henceforth nothing of the kind be dared by a bishop; otherwise he who attempts such a thing is to fall from his own rank. And as many cities as have already been honoured with the name of metropolis by imperial letters, let them enjoy the honour only, and so also the bishop who administers that church; that is to say, the city that is truly the metropolis keeps its own rights.

Clerics who are strangers and unknown are in no way to minister anywhere in another city without letters of commendation from their own bishop.

Since in some provinces it has been permitted to readers and cantors to marry, the holy synod has decreed that it is not lawful for any of them to take a heterodox wife. And those who have already had children from such a marriage, if they have already baptised those born of them among the heretics, are to bring them to the communion of the catholic Church; but if they have not baptised them, they may no longer baptise them among the heretics, nor indeed join them in marriage to a heretic, or a Jew, or a Hellene, unless perhaps the person being joined to the orthodox one should promise to pass over to the orthodox faith. And if anyone should transgress this decree of the holy synod, let him be subject to a canonical penalty.

A woman is not to be ordained deacon before forty years of age, and she only after strict examination. And if, having received the laying on of hands and remained for some time in the ministry, she should give herself to marriage, having insulted the grace of God, let such a woman be anathematised together with him who has been joined to her.

It is not lawful for a virgin who has dedicated herself to God the Master, nor likewise for monks, to enter into marriage. And if they should be found doing this, let them be out of communion. But we have decreed that the bishop of the place is to have authority over the lovingkindness to be shown to them.

The rural or country dioceses in each province are to remain undisturbed with the bishops who hold them, and especially if they have held them without force and administered them for a period of thirty years. But if within the thirty years any dispute has arisen, or should arise, concerning them, it is lawful for those who say they are wronged to raise the matter before the synod of the province. And if anyone should be wronged by his own metropolitan, let him be judged before the exarch of the (civil) diocese, or before the throne of Constantinople, as has been said before. And if any city has been newly founded by imperial authority, or should be newly founded hereafter, let the order of the ecclesiastical dioceses also follow the civil and public forms.

The crime of conspiracy or of faction has been altogether prohibited even by the laws outside; much more, then, is it fitting to forbid it to happen in the Church of God. If, therefore, any clerics or monks should be found conspiring, or forming factions, or contriving plots against bishops or fellow clerics, let them fall altogether from their own rank.

It has come to our hearing that in the provinces the synods of bishops prescribed by the canons are not held, and that because of this many ecclesiastical matters that need correction are neglected. The holy synod has therefore decreed, according to the canons of the holy Fathers, that the bishops in each province come together to the same place twice a year, wherever the bishop of the metropolis shall approve, and correct each of the matters that arise. And bishops who do not come together, though they are staying in their own cities, and that in good health, and free from all unavoidable and necessary business, are to be rebuked in a brotherly manner.

Clerics who belong to a church, as we have already decreed, are not permitted to be appointed to the church of another city, but are to be content with that in which they were from the beginning counted worthy to minister; except those who, having lost their own native lands by necessity, have passed over to another church. And if any bishop, after this decree, should receive a cleric belonging to another bishop, it has seemed good that both the one received and the one who received him be out of communion, until the cleric who has moved away returns to his own church.

Clerics or laymen who accuse bishops or clerics are not to be admitted to accusation simply and without examination, unless their repute has first been examined.

It is not lawful for clerics, after the death of their own bishop, to seize the things belonging to him, as has also been forbidden by the ancient canons; otherwise those who do this are to be in peril of their own ranks.

It has come to the hearing of the holy synod that certain clerics and monks, having been entrusted with nothing by their own bishop, and sometimes even having been put out of communion by him, betake themselves to the reigning city of Constantinople and stay in it for a long time, causing disturbances and troubling the ecclesiastical state, and they overturn the houses of some. The holy synod has therefore decreed that such persons first be reminded, through the advocate of the most holy church of Constantinople, to go out of the reigning city; and if they persist shamelessly in the same doings, that they be expelled even against their will through the same advocate, and return to their own places.

Monasteries once consecrated with the consent of the bishop are to remain monasteries for ever, and the property belonging to them is to be kept, and they are no longer to become worldly dwellings; and those who allow this to happen are to be subject to the penalties of the canons.

Since some of the metropolitans, as we have heard, neglect the flocks entrusted to them and put off the ordinations of bishops, it has seemed good to the holy synod that the ordinations of bishops take place within three months, unless perhaps unavoidable necessity should bring it about that the time of the delay be extended. And if he does not do this, he is to be subject to ecclesiastical penalties. The revenue of the widowed church, however, is to be kept intact with the steward of the same church.

Since in some churches, as we have heard, the bishops manage the ecclesiastical property without stewards, it has seemed good that every church which has a bishop should also have a steward from its own clergy, administering the ecclesiastical property according to the judgement of its own bishop; so that the stewardship of the church may not be without witness, nor its property be scattered as a result, nor reproach be brought upon the priesthood. And if he does not do this, he is to be subject to the divine canons.

Those who carry off women under the name of marriage, or who act with or assist those who carry them off, the holy synod has decreed, if they are clerics, are to fall from their own rank; and if laymen, are to be anathematised.

Everywhere following the definitions of the holy Fathers, and acknowledging the canon just now read of the one hundred and fifty most God-beloved bishops who were gathered in the imperial city of Constantinople, New Rome, in the time of Theodosius the Great of pious memory, who was emperor, we too define and decree the same things concerning the prerogatives of the most holy church of the same Constantinople, New Rome. For indeed the Fathers fittingly assigned the prerogatives to the throne of elder Rome, because that city was the reigning one. And moved by the same aim, the one hundred and fifty most God-beloved bishops assigned equal prerogatives to the most holy throne of New Rome, judging with good reason that the city honoured with imperial rule and a senate, and enjoying equal prerogatives with elder imperial Rome, should also be magnified like her in ecclesiastical matters, being second after her. And that the metropolitans alone of the Pontic, and of the Asian, and of the Thracian diocese, and further the bishops in the barbarian lands of the aforesaid dioceses, are to be ordained by the aforesaid most holy throne of the most holy church of Constantinople; that is, each metropolitan of the aforesaid dioceses ordaining the bishops of the province together with the bishops of the province, as has been declared by the divine canons; and that the metropolitans of the aforesaid dioceses are to be ordained, as has been said, by the archbishop of Constantinople, concordant votes being taken according to custom and referred to him.

To bring a bishop to the rank of a presbyter is sacrilege. And if some just cause removes those men from the exercise of the episcopate, they ought not to hold even the place of a presbyter. But if they were removed from the dignity without any charge, they shall return to the dignity of the episcopate. Anatolius, the most reverent archbishop of Constantinople, said: These who are said to have come down from the episcopal dignity to the order of presbyter, if they are condemned for some reasonable causes, are rightly not worthy to be even within the honour of a presbyter; but if they were brought down to the lesser rank without some reasonable cause, they are entitled, if indeed they appear blameless, to take back both the dignity and the priesthood of the episcopate.

Since the most reverent bishops of Egypt have for the present put off subscribing to the letter of the most holy archbishop Leo, not as fighting against the catholic faith, but saying that it is the custom in the Egyptian diocese to do nothing of the kind without the consent and regulation of the archbishop, and they ask that respite be granted them until the ordination of the one who is to be bishop of the great city of the Alexandrians, it has seemed to us reasonable and humane that respite be afforded to them, remaining in their own status in the reigning city, until the archbishop of the great city of the Alexandrians is ordained. Wherefore, remaining in their own status, they shall either give sureties, if this is possible for them, or they shall be trusted upon oath.