Letters of Innocent I

Contents

Reading pages: 1.1–2.3 · 2.4–5.1 · 6.0–37.5 · 38.0–43.1

1. 1.1Innocent announces his election to Anysius of Thessalonica and confirms the authority over the churches of the region that his predecessors Damasus, Siricius and Anastasius had entrusted to him.
2. 2.0Innocent sends Victricius of Rouen a book of Roman rules for church discipline, not as new laws but as apostolic tradition that some have neglected.
3. 2.1No bishop may ordain without the metropolitan’s knowledge, nor may a single bishop ordain alone, as Nicaea decreed.
4. 2.2A man who served as a soldier after baptism may not become a cleric.
5. 2.3Disputes among clerics are to be settled by the bishops of the province, with greater cases referred afterwards to the apostolic see.
6. 2.4A cleric may not marry a widow or a divorced woman, since the law requires a priest to marry a virgin.
7. 2.5A man who married a widow or divorced woman, even as a layman and before baptism, cannot be ordained, because baptism forgives sins but does not dissolve a marriage.
8. 2.6A man married twice, even if the first marriage was before baptism, cannot be ordained, because marriage is not a sin that baptism washes away.
9. 2.7No bishop may ordain a cleric of another church without his own bishop’s consent, as Nicaea decreed.
10. 2.8Converts baptized by Novatianists or Montenses are received by laying on of hands, but catholics who were rebaptized by them must do long penance.
11. 2.9Priests and deacons must abstain from intercourse with their wives after ordination, since their ministry is daily and continual.
12. 2.10Monks who become clerics keep their former commitment, and a monk who lost his virginity before baptism may not marry after ordination.
13. 2.12Bishops should not ordain curials or public officials, who are bound to public duties and shows and may be reclaimed by the emperor.
14. 2.13Veiled virgins who marry or are seduced may not do penance while the man lives, just as a woman who marries another while her husband lives is an adulteress.
15. 2.14Virgins who had promised virginity but were not yet veiled must do penance for a time if they marry, as Paul condemns widows who abandon their pledge; the letter closes with an exhortation and its date (15 February 404).
16. 3.0Innocent tells the bishops at Toledo that Hilary and Elpidius have reported schism and breaches of the canons in Spain, which he must now remedy.
17. 3.1Innocent rebukes the bishops who broke communion because converted Priscillianists such as Symphosius and Dictinius were received and kept their rank, and urges unity.
18. 3.2Innocent orders an inquiry into the bishops Rufinus and Minicius, who ordained bishops in other churches against the canons of Nicaea.
19. 3.3Bishop John and others whose communion is in doubt must either accept the Toledo settlement or be excommunicated.
20. 3.4Past irregular ordinations of lawyers, officials, curials and sponsors of shows are let stand for peace, but future ones will be void and their ordainers deposed.
21. 3.5The complaint of Gregory, bishop of Mérida, is to be heard and any wrong done to him redressed.
22. 3.6Innocent sets out who may not be ordained (soldiers, advocates, officials, curials after baptism) and who may, excluding men married to a non-virgin or twice married, since a marriage before baptism still counts.
23. 5.1Innocent tells Theophilus of Alexandria that he remains in communion with John Chrysostom and that Theophilus must prove his charges at a proper synod under the Nicene canons.
24. 6.0Innocent I opens his letter to Exsuperius of Toulouse (405) by commending his consultation of the apostolic see.
25. 6.1Innocent rules that deacons and presbyters who continued marital relations after ordination are to be deposed if they knew Siricius's ruling, and otherwise kept in their grade without promotion.
26. 6.2Innocent rules that those who lived incontinently after baptism and ask for penance at death are to receive both penance and final communion.
27. 6.3Innocent declines to censure baptized magistrates who used torture or passed death sentences, since the sword is granted by God, leaving their deeds to God's judgment.
28. 6.4Innocent explains that adultery is condemned equally in both sexes, and that adulterous wives are more often excommunicated only because husbands report them while wives do not accuse their husbands.
29. 6.5Innocent rules that a baptized person who drafts a petition asking for a criminal's punishment is not guilty, since the courts decide the case.
30. 6.6Innocent rules that those who marry again after a repudiation, while the former spouse lives, are adulterers, as are their new partners, and all are to be kept from communion.
31. 6.7Innocent lists the books of the canon, including Tobit, Judith, Maccabees and two books of Esdras, and condemns apocryphal books under the names of apostles; the letter is dated 20 February 405.
32. 7.0Innocent greets the clergy and people of Constantinople loyal to John Chrysostom.
33. 7.1Innocent consoles the Constantinopolitan clergy loyal to John, praising the patience their own letter already showed.
34. 7.2Innocent condemns the installation of a new bishop of Constantinople while John was alive and unheard, declaring such an ordination null.
35. 7.3Only the canons of Nicaea are binding; canons composed by heretics, already condemned at Sardica, are to be rejected.
36. 7.4Innocent says only an ecumenical synod can settle the crisis and urges patience until one can be assembled.
37. 10.0Innocent sends greetings by the returning presbyter Germanus and asks for prayers.
38. 12.0Innocent greets John Chrysostom.
39. 12.1Innocent encourages the exiled John Chrysostom to endure with patience, trusting in a clear conscience as the saints did.
40. 13.0Innocent greets Rufus, bishop of Thessalonica.
41. 13.1Innocent cites Moses’ appointment of judges, the apostles’ deacons and Paul’s delegates Titus and Timothy as precedents for delegating authority.
42. 13.2Innocent appoints Rufus of Thessalonica his vicar for the churches of eastern Illyricum, as his predecessors had appointed Acholius and Anysius.
43. 13.3Innocent gives Rufus authority to hear church cases in eastern Illyricum with bishops of his choice, and dates the letter 17 June 412.
44. 14.1Innocent proposes 22 March as the date of Easter for the coming year, since on 29 March the moon would be in its twenty-third day, and asks the bishop to confirm it in synod.
45. 15.0Title of Innocent’s letter to Juliana.
46. 15.1Innocent praises the noblewoman Juliana for preferring Christian devotion to noble rank and urges her to persevere.
47. 16.0Innocent greets Marcian, bishop of Naissus (Niš).
48. 16.1Innocent tells Marcian of Naissus to receive clerics ordained by Bonosus before his condemnation, if their claim is true.
49. 17.0Innocent replies to the Macedonian bishops, whose letter seemed to call into question rulings of the apostolic see.
50. 17.1Innocent rebukes the Macedonian bishops for ordaining, even as bishops, men who married widows, against Lev 21:13–14.
51. 17.2Innocent refutes the view that a marriage contracted before baptism does not count toward digamy, since marriage is not a sin that baptism forgives, and the sons of such a marriage are legitimate.
52. 17.3Innocent argues that those ordained by heretics received not honour but condemnation through the laying on of hands, and so cannot hold clerical rank.
53. 17.4Innocent rejects the claim that a lawful ordination cleanses an invalid one: converts baptized among heretics receive only lay communion, and lapsed Catholics only penance.
54. 17.5Innocent argues that receiving Bonosus’s clergy in their orders was a temporary concession, that the Nicene canon on the Novatianists applies to them alone, and that those who went over to Bonosus after his condemnation cannot be clerics.
55. 17.6Past irregular ordinations are left to God’s judgment, but they must not be repeated now that there is peace.
56. 17.7Innocent reverses an earlier sentence on Bishop Photinus at the Macedonian bishops’ request, defends the deacon Eustathius, and asks them to end the quarrels against him.
57. 18.1Innocent answers a renewed complaint about Bubalius and Taurianus, saying that a re-examined judgment only makes the truth plainer.
58. 18.2Innocent dismisses a letter Bubalius forged in his name and asks that his ruling be sent to the bishops of Crete.
59. 19.1Innocent restores communion with Alexander of Antioch, who has reconciled the followers of Paulinus and Evagrius, restored Elpidius and Pappus, and satisfied the conditions concerning John Chrysostom.
60. 19.2Innocent conditionally restores communion with Acacius of Beroea if he accepts the settlement, and the letter is signed by twenty Italian bishops.
61. 20.0Innocent greets Alexander, bishop of Antioch.
62. 20.1Innocent thanks Alexander of Antioch for his embassy and asks for frequent letters.
63. 21.1Innocent offers communion to a bishop who has accepted the Antiochene settlement, provided he renounces all hostility to John Chrysostom’s name before Alexander of Antioch.
64. 22.0Innocent greets Bishop Maximian.
65. 22.1Innocent refuses to write to Atticus of Constantinople until Atticus himself asks for communion and shows he has met the conditions concerning John Chrysostom, as Antioch did.
66. 23.1Innocent reports that Antioch has made peace with Rome, receiving the Evagrians and John Chrysostom’s followers and restoring John’s name among the departed bishops.
67. 24.0Innocent greets Alexander, bishop of Antioch.
68. 24.1Innocent affirms that Nicaea gave Antioch authority over its whole diocese, as Peter’s first see, and that no bishop there should be ordained without its bishop’s consent.
69. 24.2Church provinces are not to follow imperial divisions; Cyprus must keep the Nicene canons on ordination; Arian clergy are received only as laymen, since heretics cannot give the Spirit in ordination.
70. 25.0Writing to Decentius of Gubbio, Innocent argues that the Western churches, founded by Peter or his successors, must follow Roman liturgical custom.
71. 25.1The kiss of peace is to be given after the eucharistic prayer, as a seal of the people’s consent, not before.
72. 25.2The names of those who bring offerings are to be read within the eucharistic prayer, after the offerings are commended, not before.
73. 25.3Only bishops may sign the forehead of the baptized with chrism to give the Holy Spirit; presbyters may anoint with chrism the bishop has consecrated.
74. 25.4Saturday must be a fast day each week, like Friday, because the apostles mourned on both days before the joy of the resurrection.
75. 25.5Innocent explains that the Roman bishop sends the consecrated fermentum to the city’s titular churches on Sundays as a sign of communion, but not to distant parishes.
76. 25.6Presbyters and other clerics may lay hands on baptized demoniacs only with the bishop’s authorization.
77. 25.7Penitents are reconciled on Maundy Thursday, at the priest’s judgment of their satisfaction, or earlier if in danger of death.
78. 25.8Innocent rules that the anointing of the sick in James 5 may be given with the bishop’s oil by presbyters, by the bishop himself, and even by lay Christians, but not to penitents, and dates the letter 19 March 416.
79. 29.1Innocent praises the African bishops for referring the case of Pelagius and Caelestius to the apostolic see, which, he says, confirms the judgments of all the churches.
80. 29.2Innocent agrees that the Pelagian error must be cut out quickly, like a festering wound, before it spreads through the church.
81. 29.3Innocent argues that those who owe their very existence to God cannot deny that they owe their daily goodness to his grace.
82. 29.4Innocent argues that we need God’s help daily, whether to live better or to return from error, and that free will alone cannot resist sin.
83. 29.5Citing David’s prayer for God’s help in Psalm 27, Innocent asks how Pelagius and Caelestius can claim that we need no divine help.
84. 29.6Adam, using free will heedlessly, fell beyond self-recovery; Christ restores through baptism and gives daily grace, without which we are again overcome.
85. 29.7Innocent declares those who deny the need for divine help enemies of the catholic faith and excludes Pelagius and Caelestius from communion.
86. 29.8If Pelagius and Caelestius acknowledge their need of God’s help and condemn their teaching, the bishops may receive them back into the fold.
87. 29.9Innocent closes, saying the African bishops’ report needs nothing added, and dates the letter 27 January 417.
88. 30.0Innocent greets the bishops of the Council of Milevis (416).
89. 30.1Innocent praises the bishops of Milevis and Carthage for both separating those who persist in error and receiving those who return.
90. 30.2Innocent says that questions of faith are rightly referred to Peter’s see and that its sentence on the authors of the new heresy will benefit the whole church.
91. 30.3Denying God’s help abolishes prayer; Adam fell by trusting his liberty, and David prays for God’s help in the Psalms.
92. 30.4Since Scripture always joins God’s help to free will, Pelagius and Caelestius err in claiming free will suffices; grace is needed even after baptism.
93. 30.5Innocent rejects the Pelagian claim that unbaptized infants can have eternal life, citing John 6 and Christ’s call to the children.
94. 30.6Innocent excommunicates Pelagius and Caelestius and all who obstinately defend them, while allowing their reception if they repent, and dates the letter 27 January 417.
95. 31.1Innocent thanks five African bishops for their letter on grace and says that one who denies receiving anything from God leaves himself no hope.
96. 31.2Those misled by Pelagius, whether at Rome or elsewhere, are to be won back gently, and his condemnation should correct them.
97. 31.3Innocent doubts the acts of the Synod of Diospolis (415) brought to him, since they came without an official letter and show Pelagius evading the charges.
98. 31.4Innocent neither approves nor condemns the Diospolis judgment; Pelagius should come himself, or by letter condemn his errors and seek pardon.
99. 31.5Innocent condemns the book attributed to Pelagius and calls on him to anathematize his views, so that his followers may be recalled.
100. 32.0Innocent greets Aurelius of Carthage.
101. 32.1Innocent sends Aurelius a personal note by Julius along with the rulings on the reports of the two African synods.
102. 33.1Innocent asks Aurelius to forward quickly a letter to Jerome, whose sufferings he shares.
103. 34.0Heading of Innocent’s letter to Jerome.
104. 34.1Innocent consoles Jerome after the attack on his monasteries, offers judges if he names the culprits, and says he has warned Bishop John of Jerusalem.
105. 35.0Innocent greets John, bishop of Jerusalem.
106. 35.1Innocent rebukes John of Jerusalem for failing to protect Jerome’s communities, as reported by Eustochium and Paula, after an armed attack and arson.
107. 36.1Innocent rules that when Ursa returned from barbarian captivity, her marriage to Fortunius stood, and his later marriage to Restituta could not be lawful while she lived.
108. 37.0Innocent answers Felix of Nuceria, who asked whether mutilated or twice-married men may be ordained for his new churches.
109. 37.1Men who mutilated themselves deliberately may not be ordained, but those injured by accident may.
110. 37.2Twice-married men may not be ordained, nor men who married a widow or a divorced woman.
111. 37.3Innocent lists the laymen who may not be ordained: soldiers, advocates, and officials after baptism, and, with caution, curials.
112. 37.4Married laymen of good reputation, baptized as married men and attached to clergy or monasteries, may be ordained if they have had no concubine.
113. 37.5Candidates must pass through the lower orders over the set intervals before the priesthood, and Felix is to choose only men beyond reproach.
114. 38.0Innocent greets two bishops of Bruttium.
115. 38.1Innocent orders two bishops to try presbyters accused of begetting children after ordination and to remove them if convicted.
116. 39.0Innocent greets three bishops of Apulia.
117. 39.1Innocent orders the Apulian bishops to examine Modestus, a former penitent made a cleric and seeking a bishopric, and to depose him if the charges are true.
118. 40.0Innocent greets Florentinus, bishop of Tivoli.
119. 40.1Innocent orders Florentinus of Tivoli to stop exercising jurisdiction in a parish claimed by Ursus and to appear at Rome after Easter.
120. 41.0Innocent greets Laurence, bishop of Siena.
121. 41.1Innocent orders Bishop Laurence to act against the Photinian heretics led by Marcus, who deny that Christ was begotten from the Father before the ages.
122. 43.1A confession of faith ascribed to Innocent: the divine Word formed his own body in Mary’s womb and his divinity was never separated from his humanity, from conception to the cross and the ascension.