The Seventh Ecumenical Council

For those who have obtained the priestly dignity, the prescriptions of the canonical ordinances are both testimonies and right directions; and receiving them gladly, we sing with David, the revealer of God, to the Lord God, saying: In the way of your testimonies I have delighted, as in all riches; and: You have commanded righteousness, your testimonies are for ever; give me understanding and I shall live. And for ever the prophetic voice commands us to keep the testimonies of God and to live in them, as plainly abiding unshaken and immovable; because Moses, the beholder of God, also speaks thus: To them it is not possible to add, and from them it is not possible to take away. And the divine Apostle Peter, glorying in them, cries: Which things angels desire to look into. And Paul says: Even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach a gospel to you other than what we have preached to you, let him be anathema. These things being so, then, and being solemnly attested to us, exulting over them as one who finds much spoil, we gladly embrace the divine canons, and we hold fast their ordinance whole and unshaken, those set forth by the holy trumpets of the Spirit, the all-praised Apostles, and by the six holy ecumenical councils, and by those assembled locally for the issuing of such decrees, and by our holy Fathers. For all of them, illumined by one and the same Spirit, defined what is profitable. And those whom they consign to anathema, we also anathematise; and those to deposition, we also depose; and those to excommunication, we also excommunicate; and those whom they hand over to penance, we likewise subject to it. For: Let the manner of life be without love of money, being content with what is present; so cries out expressly the one who ascended to the third heaven and heard unspeakable words, Paul the divine Apostle.

Since, singing psalms, we pledge ourselves to God: I will meditate on your statutes, I will not forget your words; it is salutary for all Christians to keep this, but especially for those invested with the priestly dignity. Therefore we decree that everyone who is to be advanced to the rank of the episcopate shall by all means know the Psalter, so that, as a result of this, he may also admonish all the clergy under him to be initiated in the same way. And he is to be examined strictly by the metropolitan, whether he is eager to read searchingly, and not in passing, the sacred canons, and the holy Gospel, and the book of the divine Apostle, and all the divine Scripture; and to conduct himself according to the divine commandments, and to teach the people under him. For the essence of our hierarchy is the God-delivered oracles, that is, the true knowledge of the divine Scriptures, as the great Dionysius declared. And if he hesitates, and is not glad to do and to teach thus, let him not be ordained. For God said prophetically: You have rejected knowledge, and I will reject you from being a priest to me.

Every election made by rulers, of a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, is to remain void, according to the canon which says: If any bishop, having made use of secular rulers, becomes master of a church through them, let him be deposed, and let him be excommunicated, and all those in communion with him. For he who is to be promoted to the episcopate must be elected by bishops, as has been defined by the holy Fathers in Nicaea in the canon which says: It is fitting that a bishop be appointed above all by all those in the province; but if such a thing be difficult, either because of pressing necessity or because of the length of the road, three at the very least gathering together in the same place (the absent also voting with them and consenting through letters), then the ordination is to be performed. And the confirmation of what is done is to be given in each province to the metropolitan.

The herald of the truth, Paul the divine Apostle, as if laying down a canon for the presbyters of the Ephesians, or rather also for the whole priestly company, spoke thus boldly, saying: I have coveted no one's silver, or gold, or apparel; in all things I have shown you that, labouring thus, you must help the weak, reckoning it blessed to give rather than to receive. Therefore we too, having been taught by him, decree that a bishop by no means contrive, for base gain, making excuses in sins, to demand gold, or silver, or anything else in kind from the bishops, or clerics, or monks who serve under him. For the Apostle says: The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God; and: The children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. If anyone, then, should be found, for the demanding of gold or of anything else in kind, or on account of some passion of his own, barring from the liturgy and excommunicating any of the clerics under him, or shutting a venerable church so that the liturgies of God are not celebrated in it, and directing his own madness against a thing without sense, he is truly without sense himself, and he shall be subject to the same suffering, and his labour shall return upon his own head, as a transgressor of the commandment of God and of the apostolic ordinances. For Peter too, the chief summit of the Apostles, commands: Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not by constraint but willingly, according to God; not for base gain, but eagerly; not as lording it over the charges allotted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, you shall receive the unfading crown of glory.

It is a sin unto death when some, sinning, remain uncorrected. And worse than this, if, stiff-necked as well, they rise up against piety and truth, preferring Mammon to obedience to God, and not holding to his canonical ordinances. In these the Lord God is not, unless perhaps, being humbled, they return to soberness from their own fault; for they ought rather to draw near to God, and with a contrite heart to ask the remission and pardon of this sin, not to pride themselves on the unlawful giving. For the Lord is near to those who are contrite in heart. Those, then, who boast that they have been placed in the Church through the giving of gold, and who rest their hope on this evil custom, which estranges from God and from all priesthood, and who from this, with shameless face and open mouth, dishonour with reproachful words those who, for virtue of life, were chosen by the Holy Spirit and appointed without the giving of gold: those who do this are first to take the lowest rank of their own order; and if they persist, they are to be corrected by penance. And if anyone should ever appear to have done this in an ordination, let it be done according to the apostolic canon which says: If any bishop becomes master of this dignity through money, or a presbyter, or a deacon, let him be deposed, both he himself and the one who ordained him, and let them be cut off altogether from communion, as Simon the magician was by me, Peter. Likewise also according to the second canon of our holy Fathers in Chalcedon, which says: If any bishop should perform an ordination for money, and bring down to sale the grace that is not for sale, and ordain for money a bishop, or a chorepiscopus, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or any of those numbered in the clergy, or promote for money a steward, or an advocate, or a warden, or anyone at all belonging to the canon, for his own base gain, he who has attempted this, being convicted, let him be in peril of his own rank; and let the one ordained be in no way benefited by the ordination or promotion made by trade, but let him be estranged from the dignity or the charge which he obtained for money. And if anyone should appear even acting as go-between in such shameful and unlawful takings, let him too, if he be a cleric, fall from his own rank; and if a layman or a monk, let him be excommunicated.

Since there is a canon which says: Twice in the year in each province the canonical inquiries ought to be made through an assembly of bishops; because of the distress, and because those assembling are ill provided for travel, the holy Fathers of the sixth council decreed that by every means and whatever the pretext it be held once in the year, and that what is amiss be corrected. This canon, then, we too renew; and if any ruler is found hindering this, let him be excommunicated. And if any of the metropolitans should neglect to have this done, apart from necessity and force and some reasonable excuse, let him be subject to the canonical penances. And when the synod is held concerning canonical and evangelical matters, the assembled bishops must give study and care to the keeping of the divine and life-giving commandments of God. For in keeping them there is great reward; for the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and the way of life is reproof and instruction; and: The commandment of the Lord is far-shining, enlightening the eyes. And the metropolitan is not to have leave to demand, out of what the bishop brings with him, either a beast or anything else in kind. For if he is convicted of having done this, he shall repay fourfold.

Paul the divine Apostle said: The sins of some men are manifest beforehand, and for some they also follow after. When sins, then, have gone before, other sins also follow them. So upon the impious heresy of the accusers of Christians other impieties also followed. For just as they took away from the Church the sight of the venerable icons, so they have also abandoned certain other customs, which must be renewed and so be held according to the written and unwritten legislation. As many venerable churches, then, as have been consecrated without holy relics of martyrs, we decree that in them a deposition of relics be made with the customary prayer. And he who consecrates a church without holy relics, let him be deposed, as having transgressed the ecclesiastical traditions.

Since some from the religion of the Hebrews, being in error, have thought fit to mock Christ our God, pretending to be Christians but denying him in secret, and secretly keeping the Sabbath, and doing other Jewish things, we decree that these be received neither into communion, nor into prayer, nor into the church, but that they be openly Hebrews according to their own religion, and that they neither baptise their children nor buy or acquire a slave. But if any of them is converted out of sincere faith, and confesses with his whole heart, making a public show of their customs and practices, so that others too may be reproved and corrected, this one is to be received and baptised, and his children too, and it is to be made sure that they depart from the Hebrew practices; but if they are not so disposed, they are by no means to be received.

All the childish playthings and raving bacchic frenzies, the false writings composed against the venerable icons, must be delivered to the episcopal residence of Constantinople, so that they may be put away with the other heretical books. And if anyone is found hiding these: if he be a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, let him be deposed; and if a layman or a monk, let him be excommunicated.

Since some of the clerics, circumventing the canonical ordinance, leave their own diocese and run off into another diocese, and for the most part in this God-guarded and imperial city, and attend upon rulers, performing the liturgies in their oratories: it is not permitted to receive these, without the consent of their own bishop and of the bishop of Constantinople, in any house or church whatsoever. And if anyone does this, persisting, let him be deposed. And as for those who do this with the knowledge of the aforesaid priests, it is not permitted to them to take up worldly and secular cares, as being forbidden to do this by the divine canons. And if anyone should be caught holding the charge of those called majordomos, let him either cease or be deposed. Let him rather go to the teaching of the children and the household servants, reading the divine Scriptures to them; for it was for this that he was allotted the priesthood.

Being all under obligation to keep the divine canons, we ought by every means to preserve inviolate also the one which says that there are to be stewards in each church. And if each metropolitan appoints a steward in his own church, it would be well; but if not, the bishop of Constantinople has leave, of his own authority, to appoint a steward in that metropolitan's church. Likewise also the metropolitans have leave, if the bishops under them do not choose to install stewards in their own churches. And the same is to be kept also in the case of monasteries.

If any bishop, or abbot, is found alienating any of the demesne lands of the episcopal residence or of the monastery into the hand of a ruler, or making them over to another person, the conveyance is to be void, according to the canon of the holy Apostles which says: Let the bishop have the care of all the ecclesiastical things, and let him administer them as with God overseeing; but let it not be permitted him to appropriate anything of them, or to give the things of God to his own relatives; and if they be poor, let him supply them as poor, but let him not, on their pretext, sell off the things of the church. And if they plead that the field causes loss and is of no profit at all, not even so are they to make over the place to the local rulers, but to clerics or to farmers. And if they use wicked cunning, and a ruler buys the field from the cleric or the farmer, even so the sale is to be void, and it is to be restored to the episcopal residence or to the monastery; and the bishop or the abbot who does this, let him be driven out: the bishop from the episcopal residence, and the abbot from the monastery, as wickedly scattering what they did not gather.

Since, through the calamity that befell the churches on account of our sins, certain pious houses were seized by certain men, both episcopal residences and monasteries, and became common lodgings: if those who hold them choose to give them back, so that they may be restored as of old, it is well and good; but if not, if they are of the priestly roll, we command that they be deposed; and if monks or laymen, that they be excommunicated, as being condemned by the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and let them be placed where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, because they oppose the voice of the Lord which says: Do not make the house of my Father a house of trade.

That order is established in the priesthood is manifest to all; and to preserve with exactness the ministrations of the priesthood is well-pleasing to God. Since, then, we see some receiving the tonsure of the clergy from infancy without laying-on of hands, and not yet having received laying-on of hands from bishops, and reading from the ambo in the assembly, but doing this uncanonically, we direct that from now on this not be done; and the same is to be kept also in the case of monks. But each abbot has leave to perform the laying-on of hands of a reader in his own monastery, and in it alone, if a laying-on of hands was given to the abbot himself by a bishop for the presidency of an abbot, he being, that is, a presbyter. Likewise also, according to the ancient custom, the chorepiscopi must appoint readers by permission of the bishop.

From now on let a cleric not be enrolled in two churches; for this is proper to trade and base gain, and foreign to ecclesiastical custom. For we have heard from the very voice of the Lord that: No one can serve two lords; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. Each one, then, according to the apostolic voice, in that in which he was called, in this ought to remain, and to attend in one church. For the things that are done for base gain in ecclesiastical matters stand estranged from God. For the need of this life there are various occupations. From these, then, if anyone wishes, let him provide the necessities of the body; for the Apostle said: To my needs, and to those who were with me, these hands have ministered. And this holds in this God-guarded city; but in the country places outside, because of the lack of men, let it be allowed.

All foppishness and bodily adornment are foreign to the priestly order and state. Those bishops or clerics, then, who adorn themselves with bright and conspicuous garments, these must be corrected; and if they persist, be handed over to penance; likewise also those who anoint themselves with perfumes. And since a root of bitterness springing up has become a defilement to the catholic Church, the heresy of the accusers of Christians, and those who received it not only abhorred the iconic representations but also thrust away all reverence, being vexed with those who live gravely and piously, and in them has been fulfilled what is written: Godliness is an abomination to a sinner; if, therefore, any are found laughing at those who wear plain and grave clothing, let them be corrected by penance. For from the earliest times every priestly man lived in modest and grave attire. For everything that is taken up not for need but for embellishment carries the charge of ostentation, as the great Basil said. But neither did they wear an embroidered garment of silken fabrics, nor did they add any trimmings of other colours on the edges of their garments. For they had heard from the God-voiced tongue that those who wear soft things are in the houses of kings.

Some of the monks, leaving their own monasteries, as desiring to rule and disdaining to obey, undertake to build houses of prayer, not having what is needed for completion. If anyone, then, attempts to do this, let him be prevented by the bishop of the place; but if he has what is needed for completion, let what he has planned be brought to an end. And let the same be kept also in the case of laymen and clerics.

Be without offence also to those outside, says the divine Apostle. And for women to live in episcopal residences or monasteries is a cause of every offence. If anyone, then, is caught keeping a slave woman or a free woman in an episcopal residence, or in a monastery, for the undertaking of some service, let him be put under penance; and if he persists, let him be deposed. And if it should happen that there are women on the suburban estates, and a bishop or an abbot wishes to make the journey there, while the bishop or abbot is present let no woman at all undertake any service at that time, but let her keep apart in another place until the bishop has gone back, for the sake of blamelessness.

So far has the defilement of the love of money spread among the leaders of the churches, that even some of those called devout, both men and women, forgetting the commandment of the Lord, have been deceived, and make for gold the admissions of those who come to the priestly order and to the monastic life. And it comes to pass that where the beginning is unapproved, the whole is also to be rejected, as the great Basil says; for it is not permitted to serve God and mammon. If anyone, then, is found doing this: if he is a bishop, or an abbot, or anyone of the priestly order, let him either cease or be deposed, according to the second canon of the holy synod in Chalcedon; and if an abbess, let her be driven out of the monastery and handed over to another monastery for subjection; likewise also an abbot who does not have ordination as presbyter. And in the case of the things given over by parents to their children in the manner of dowry goods, or of their own possessions, that are offered, those who offer them confessing that these are dedicated to God, we have decreed that, whether he remains or whether he departs, they remain in the monastery according to his promise, unless the fault be the superior's.

We decree that from now on no double monastery be made, because this becomes a scandal and a stumbling-block to the many. And if some choose, with their kinsfolk, to renounce and to follow the monastic life, the men must go off to a men's monastery, and the women enter a women's monastery; for in this God is well pleased. And those that are double until now, let them continue according to the canon of our holy Father Basil, and according to his ordinance let them be regulated thus: Let monks and nuns not live in one monastery; for adultery intervenes in living together. Let a monk not have freedom to converse privately with a nun, or a nun with a monk; nor let a monk sleep in a women's monastery; nor let a nun eat with him alone. And when the necessities of life are carried from the men's part to the canonesses, let the abbess of the women's monastery receive them outside the gate, with some aged nun. And if it happens that a monk wishes to see some kinswoman, in the presence of the abbess let him converse with her in few and brief words, and let him withdraw from her quickly.

A monk or a nun must not leave their own monastery and go off into another. But if this happens, it is necessary to give him hospitality; but it is not fitting that he be admitted without the consent of his abbot.

To dedicate everything to God, and not to be enslaved to one's own wills, is a great thing. For whether you eat or drink, the divine Apostle says, do all things to the glory of God. And Christ our God, in his Gospels, has commanded to cut off the beginnings of sins; for not adultery alone is punished by him, but the movement of the thought toward the undertaking of adultery has also been condemned, he saying: He who has looked upon a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Having been taught from this, then, we ought to cast down thoughts. For even if all things are lawful, yet not all things are profitable, as we are taught by the apostolic voice. It is, then, of necessity for every man to eat in order to live. And for those whose life is one of marriage, and children, and lay condition, for men and women to eat together is among the things beyond reproach, only offering thanksgiving to the one who gives food; not with any theatrical practices, that is, satanic songs, and harps, and harlot-like contortions, against which comes the prophetic curse, which says thus: Woe to those who drink the wine with harp and psaltery, but do not look upon the works of the Lord, and do not consider the works of his hands. And if ever there be such among Christians, let them be corrected; and if not, let what was canonically set forth by those before us be in force upon them. But for those whose life is quiet and solitary, he who has pledged himself to the Lord God to take up a solitary yoke shall sit alone and keep silence. Moreover, for those who have chosen the priestly life it is by no means permitted to eat privately with women, unless perhaps with some God-fearing and devout men and women, so that the very meal in common may lead to spiritual edification. And let him do the same also in the case of relatives. And again, if it should happen on a journey that a monk or a priestly man does not have with him the things of necessary need, and he wishes, for the necessity, to lodge either in an inn or in someone's house, he is to have leave to do this, since the need presses, only with reverence.