Canons of the Council of Antioch (in Encaeniis)

All who dare to set aside the decree of the holy and great synod assembled at Nicaea, in the presence of the piety of the most God-beloved emperor Constantine, concerning the holy feast of the saving Pascha, are to be excommunicated and cast out of the church, if they persist in contentiously opposing what has been well decided; and let this be said concerning the laity. But if any of those who preside in the church, a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, after this decree dares, to the perversion of the peoples and the disturbance of the churches, to separate himself and to celebrate Pascha with the Jews, the holy synod has judged him from this moment to be a stranger to the church, as one who not only heaps up sins upon himself but also becomes to many a cause of ruin and perversion; and it deposes from the ministry not only such persons, but also those who dare to communicate with them after their deposition. And those deposed are to be deprived also of the outward honor in which the holy canon and the priesthood of God have a share.

All who come into the church and hear the holy Scriptures, but do not share in the prayer together with the people, or who turn away from the holy reception of the eucharist through some disorder, are to be cast out of the church, until, having confessed and shown fruits of repentance and made entreaty, they are able to obtain pardon. And it is not permitted to communicate with the excommunicated, nor to gather in houses and pray with those who do not pray with the church, nor to receive in one church those who do not assemble in another church. And if any of the bishops, or presbyters, or deacons, or anyone of the canon, is found communicating with the excommunicated, he too is to be excommunicated, as one who throws the canon of the church into confusion.

If any presbyter or deacon, or anyone at all of the priesthood, leaves his own district and goes off to another, and then, having moved altogether, tries to stay in another district for a long time, he is no longer to minister, especially if he does not obey his own bishop when he calls him and urges him to return to his own district. And if he persists in the disorder, he is to be deposed from the ministry altogether, so that he no longer has any room for restoration. And if another bishop receives one deposed for this reason, he too is to receive a penalty from a common synod, as one who sets aside the ordinances of the church.

If any bishop deposed by a synod, or a presbyter or deacon deposed by his own bishop, dares to perform any act of the ministry, whether the bishop according to his former custom, or the presbyter, or the deacon, it shall no longer be permitted to him to have hope of restoration, even in another synod, nor to have room for a defense; but all who communicate with him are also to be cast out of the church, especially if, having learned of the sentence pronounced against the persons named, they dare to communicate with them.

If any presbyter or deacon, despising his own bishop, has separated himself from the church, and gathered a congregation on his own, and set up an altar, and, when the bishop summons him, disobeys and will not obey him or heed him when he calls him a first and a second time, he is to be deposed altogether and no longer to receive any remedy, nor to be able to recover his own rank. And if he continues to disturb and unsettle the church, he is to be brought to order by the outside authority as a seditious person.

If anyone has been excommunicated by his own bishop, he is not to be received by others before he is readmitted by his own bishop himself, or until, when a synod is held, he appears and makes his defense and, having persuaded the synod, receives a different sentence. And the same rule holds for laity, and presbyters and deacons, and all who are in the canon.

No one is to receive any of the strangers without letters of peace.

Nor are presbyters in the country districts to give canonical letters, except that they may send letters to the neighboring bishops only; but chorepiscopi who are above reproach may give letters of peace.

The bishops in each province must recognize that the bishop who presides in the metropolis also takes on the care of the whole province, because all who have business come together from every quarter to the metropolis. Hence it has seemed good that he also have precedence in honor, and that the other bishops do nothing beyond the ordinary without him, according to the ancient canon of our fathers that has prevailed, except only those things that pertain to each one's own district and the country areas under it. For each bishop has authority over his own district, to govern it according to the reverence fitting for each, and to provide for the whole countryside under his own city, so as even to ordain presbyters and deacons and to settle each matter with judgment; but he is not to attempt anything further without the bishop of the metropolis, nor is the latter to do so without the counsel of the rest.

It has seemed good to the holy synod that those in the villages or the country districts, or those called chorepiscopi, even if they have received the laying on of hands as bishops, should know their own limits and govern the churches subject to them, and be content with the care and oversight of these; and they may appoint readers and subdeacons and exorcists and be content with the promotion of these; but they are not to dare to ordain either a presbyter or a deacon without the bishop in the city to which both he and the district are subject. And if anyone dares to transgress what has been decreed, he is to be deposed even from the rank he holds. And a chorepiscopus is to be appointed by the bishop of the city to which he is subject.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or anyone at all of the canon, sets out to go to the emperor without the consent and letters of the bishops in the province, and especially of the bishop of the metropolis, he is to be publicly condemned and cast out not only from communion but also from the rank he holds, as one who dares to trouble the ears of our most God-beloved emperor contrary to the law of the church. But if a necessary need calls him to go to the emperor, he is to do this with the deliberation and consent of the bishop of the metropolis of the province and of those in it, and to be furnished with their letters.

If any presbyter or deacon deposed by his own bishop, or a bishop deposed by a synod, dares to trouble the emperor's ears, when he ought to turn to a greater synod of bishops and lay before more bishops what he thinks are his just claims, and await their examination and judgment; if instead, disregarding these, he troubles the emperor, he too is to be deemed worthy of no pardon, nor to have room for a defense, nor to look for hope of future restoration.

No bishop is to dare to pass over from one province into another and ordain persons in a church for advancement in the ministry, not even if he brings others with him, unless he comes at the invitation of letters from the metropolitan and the bishops with him into whose territory he is passing. But if, with no one inviting him, he goes in a disorderly way to lay hands on some and to settle church affairs that do not concern him, what he does is invalid, and he himself is to undergo the fitting penalty for his disorder and his unreasonable undertaking, being deposed from this moment by the holy synod.

If a bishop is tried on certain charges, and it then happens that the bishops in the province disagree about him, some declaring the accused innocent and others guilty, then, for the removal of all dispute, it has seemed good to the holy synod that the bishop of the metropolis call in certain others from the neighboring province, who are to judge further and resolve the dispute, so as to confirm, together with those of the province, what is found right.

If a bishop accused on certain charges is judged by all the bishops in the province, and all unanimously pronounce one verdict against him, he is no longer to be tried by others, but the unanimous sentence of the bishops of the province is to stand firm.

If a bishop without a see throws himself upon a vacant church and seizes its throne without a full synod, he is to be cast out, even if all the people whom he has seized should choose him. And that is a full synod at which the bishop of the metropolis is also present.

If any bishop, having received the laying on of hands as bishop and been appointed to preside over a people, does not accept the ministry and will not be persuaded to go to the church entrusted to him, he is to be excommunicated until, being compelled, he accepts it, or until the full synod of the bishops of the province determines something about him.

If a bishop ordained to a district does not go to the one for which he was ordained, not through his own fault, but either because of the people's refusal or for another reason that did not arise from himself, he is to share in the honor and the ministry, provided only that he does not trouble the affairs of the church where he may be assembling; and he is to await whatever the full synod of the province, having judged the case, determines.

A bishop is not to be ordained without a synod and the presence of the bishop in the metropolis of the province. And when he is certainly present, it is better that all his fellow ministers in the province be with him, whom it is also proper for the bishop in the metropolis to summon by letter. And if all come, that is better; but if this is difficult, the greater number must certainly be present or give their vote by letter, and so the appointment is to take place with either the presence or the vote of the majority. But if it is done otherwise, contrary to what has been decreed, the ordination is to have no force. And if the appointment is made according to the established canon, but some object out of their own contentiousness, the vote of the majority is to prevail.

Because of the needs of the church and the settling of disputes, it has seemed good that synods of the bishops be held in each province twice a year: once after the third week of the feast of Pascha, so that the synod is completed in the fourth week of Pentecost, the bishop in the metropolis reminding those of the province; and the second synod on the Ides of October, which is the tenth of Hyperberetaeus; so that at these very synods presbyters and deacons and all who think themselves wronged may come forward and obtain a judgment from the synod. And it is not permitted for any to hold synods by themselves without those who have been entrusted with the metropolises.

A bishop is not to move from one district to another, neither thrusting himself in of his own accord, nor forced by the peoples, nor compelled by bishops; but he is to remain in the church to which he was allotted by God from the beginning, and not move from it, according to the decree already issued earlier on this matter.

A bishop is not to intrude on another city not subject to him, nor on a country district not belonging to him, to ordain anyone, nor to appoint presbyters or deacons to places subject to another bishop, except with the consent of the proper bishop of the district. And if anyone dares to do such a thing, the laying on of hands is to be invalid, and he himself is to receive a penalty from the synod.

It is not permitted for a bishop to appoint another as his own successor in his place, even if he is at the end of his life; and if any such thing is done, the appointment is to be invalid. And the law of the church is to be kept, which provides that a bishop must not be made otherwise than with a synod and the judgment of the bishops who, after the falling asleep of the one who has gone to his rest, have the authority to promote the worthy man.

The things of the church must be well kept for the church with all care and a good conscience and faith in God, the overseer and judge of all. They must also be managed with the judgment and authority of the bishop, who has been entrusted with all the people and the souls of those who assemble. And what belongs to the church is to be made known, with the knowledge of the presbyters and deacons around him, so that they may know and not be ignorant of what the church's own property is, so that nothing escapes them; so that, if the bishop should happen to depart this life, the property belonging to the church being known, it may neither be scattered and lost, nor the bishop's own property be harassed on the pretext of the church's affairs. For it is just and pleasing before God and men that the bishop's own property be left to whomever he wishes, but that what is the church's be kept for it; and that neither the church suffer any loss, nor the bishop's goods be confiscated on the pretext of the church, nor those connected with him fall into lawsuits, with the result that he himself after his death is also covered with ill repute.

The bishop is to have authority over the church's property, so as to dispense it to all who are in need, with all reverence and fear of God; and he himself may also partake of what is needed, if he needs it, for his own necessary uses and those of the brothers staying with him as guests, so that they are in no way deprived, according to the divine apostle, who says, “Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” But if he is not content with these, but turns the property to his own private uses, and does not manage the revenues of the church or the produce of the fields with the consent of the presbyters or the deacons, but gives the authority to his own household and relatives, or brothers, or sons, so that through such persons the accounts of the church are secretly harmed, he is to give account to the synod of the province. And if, on the other hand, the bishop or the presbyters with him are accused of appropriating to themselves what belongs to the church, whether from fields or from any other church source, so that the poor are oppressed, and slander and ill repute are brought upon the accounts and upon those who so manage them, they too are to be corrected, the holy synod determining what is fitting.