To the Bishops of Campania, Picenum and Etruria, on Unfit Clergy

Leo, bishop of the city of Rome, to all the bishops appointed in Campania, Picenum, Etruria and all the provinces, greeting in the Lord.

As the peaceful order of the churches gives us satisfaction, so we are saddened with no slight sorrow whenever we learn that anything has been presumed or done against the ordinances of the canons and the discipline of the church. If we do not check such things with the vigilance we owe, we cannot excuse ourselves before him who meant us to be watchmen, for letting the pure body of the church, which we ought to keep clean from every stain, be defiled by contact with wicked schemers; for by such hypocrisy the framework of the members loses its harmony. [a]

Men are commonly admitted to the sacred order who are qualified by no dignity of birth or character. Even some who have not obtained their freedom from their masters are raised to the rank of the priesthood, as though wretched slaves were fit for that honor; and it is believed that a man can be approved by God who has not yet been able to win his master’s approval. So the cause for complaint here is twofold: the sacred ministry is polluted by such poor partners in it, and the rights of masters are infringed, insofar as possession of these men is rashly and unlawfully taken. From these men, therefore, beloved brothers, let all the priests of your province keep away. And not only from them: we want you also to keep away from others who are bound by their birth or by some other condition of service, unless perhaps those who claim some authority over them make their request or consent known. For he who is to be enrolled in the divine service ought to be free of other ties, so that no other bonds of duty draw him away from the Lord’s camp, in which his name is entered. [b]

Again, once each man’s respectable birth and conduct has been established, we have learned what sort of person should be joined to the ministry of the sacred altar from the teaching of the apostle, from the divine precepts, and from the regulations of the canons; and we find that very many of the brothers have turned aside from these and gone quite out of the way. For it is well known that husbands of widows have reached the priesthood. Certain men, too, who have had several wives and have led a life given over to all licentiousness, have had every path smoothed for them and have been admitted to the sacred order. This is against that saying of the blessed apostle in which he declares, of such men, “the husband of one wife,” and against that precept of the ancient law which warns: “Let the priest take a virgin as his wife, not a widow, not a divorced woman.” [e]

All such men who have been admitted, therefore, we order to be removed from their offices in the church and from the title of priest, by the authority of the Apostolic See. For they will have no claim to what they were not eligible for, because of the obstacle in question. And we specially claim for ourselves the duty of settling this, so that, if any of these irregularities have been committed, they may be corrected and not allowed to happen again, and so that no excuse may arise from ignorance; though a priest has never been allowed to be ignorant of what the rules of the canons have laid down. We have sent these writings to your provinces, therefore, by the hand of Innocent, Legitimus and Segetius, our brothers and fellow bishops, so that the evil shoots known to have sprung up may be torn out by the roots, and no weeds may spoil the Lord’s harvest. For in this way all that is genuine will bear much fruit, if what has usually killed the growing crop is carefully cleared away.

This point too we have thought must not be passed over: certain men, possessed by the love of shameful gain, lend out their money at interest and want to get rich as moneylenders. We are grieved that this is practiced not only by those who belong to the clergy, but also by laymen who wish to be called Christians. And we decree that those who have been convicted be sharply punished, so that every occasion of sinning may be removed. [i]

We have also thought fit to give this warning: no cleric should try to make money in another’s name any more than in his own, for it is unbecoming to shield one’s crime under another man’s gains. Indeed, the only interest we ought to look to and aim at is that by which what we give in mercy here we may recover from the Lord, who will repay a thousandfold what will last forever. [j]

This admonition of ours, therefore, proclaims that if any of our brothers tries to go against these rules and dares to do what they forbid, he is to know that he is liable to be deposed from his office, and that he who refuses to share our discipline will not share our communion. But lest anything should be thought to have been left out by us, we bid you, beloved, to keep all the rules laid down in the decrees of Innocent of blessed memory, and of all our predecessors, that have been published about the orders of the church and the discipline of the canons; and to keep them in such a way that anyone who has broken them may know at once that all leniency is denied him. [k]

Dated the 10th of October, in the consulship of the illustrious Maximus, for the second time, and Paterius (in the year 443).