0The synodal letter of the council of Valence (374) to the bishops of Gaul introduces its rulings on long-tolerated abuses.
1Henceforth no man married twice, or married to a woman previously married, may be ordained, whether the marriages were before or after baptism; those already ordained are left undisturbed.
2Virgins vowed to God who marry are not to be admitted to penance at once, and their communion is deferred until they have made full satisfaction.
3Baptized Christians who sacrifice to idols or accept rebaptism may do penance until death, with hope of God's forgiveness.
4Candidates who declare themselves guilty of a mortal sin at their ordination, truly or falsely, are to be excluded from orders.
About this work
Author
Anonymous
Attribution
authentic · Council of Gaulish bishops dealing largely with penance for the lapsed and discipline of the clergy.
Standing
A local council, not counted here as received by the Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant traditions as a whole. Anonymous or pseudonymous work read and used in the church of its time.
Date
374 (probable) · Held in Valence in Gaul in 374.
Written at
Valence, Gaul (Viennensis)
Language
Latin
Genre
canon/council
Reference system
ref 0 is the preamble, then canons 1–4 as numbered by Lauchert; the text Lauchert prints next (the Council of Nîmes, 394) is a separate work on this site
SBL abbreviation
Conc. Valent.Not yet checked
Text from
Friedrich Lauchert, ed., Die Kanones der wichtigsten altkirchlichen Concilien nebst den Apostolischen Kanones (Freiburg i. B. and Leipzig: Mohr, 1896); text read from a Tesseract OCR of the archive.org scan (Printed edition in the public domain)
Critical editions
Hermann Theodor Bruns, ed., Canones apostolorum et conciliorum veterum selecti, vol. 1 (Berlin: Reimer, 1839); Friedrich Lauchert, ed., Die Kanones der wichtigsten altkirchlichen Concilien (Freiburg i. B.: Mohr, 1896); Périclès-Pierre Joannou, ed., Discipline générale antique (IVe-IXe s.), vol. 1.2 (Grottaferrata: Tipografia Italo-Orientale, 1962) (cited, not reproduced)