To Nicetas of Aquileia, on Captives, Their Wives and Their Baptism

Leo the bishop to Nicetas, bishop of Aquileia, greeting.

My son Adeodatus, a deacon of our see, has returned to us and delivered your request, beloved, to receive from us the authority of the Apostolic See on matters that do seem hard to decide. But we must make provision for them with an eye to the needs of the times, so that the wounds inflicted by the enemy’s attacks may be healed chiefly by the work of religion. [a]

You say that through the disasters of war and the grievous raids of the enemy, families have in some cases been so broken up that the husbands have been carried off into captivity and their wives are left forsaken. These women, thinking their husbands either dead or never likely to be freed from their masters, have entered into another marriage under the pressure of loneliness. And now that, with the Lord’s help, things have improved, some of those who were thought to have perished have come back. So, dear brother, you are naturally in doubt about what we should decide concerning women who have been joined in this way to other husbands. But because we know that it is written, “A woman is joined to a man by God,” and we know too the command, “What God has joined, man may not separate,” we are bound to hold that the bond of the lawful marriage must be renewed. Once the evils inflicted by the enemy have been removed, what each man lawfully had must be given back to him, and we must take every care that each recovers what is his own. [b]

Nevertheless, the man who took the place of the husband, who was thought to be no longer alive, should not be held to blame or treated as one who seized another man’s rights. For in the same way many things that belonged to those led into captivity happened to pass into the possession of others, and yet it is entirely fair that their property should be given back to them on their return. And if this is rightly done in the case of slaves or of lands, or even of houses and goods, how much more ought it to be done in giving back wives, so that what was disturbed by the necessities of war may be restored by the remedy of peace?

And so, if husbands who have come back after a long captivity still feel such love for their wives that they want them to return to their partnership, what necessity brought about must be passed over and judged blameless, and what faithfulness demands must be done. [c]

And if any women are so taken with love for their later husbands that they would rather stay with them than return to their lawful partners, they are rightly to be branded, so that they are even deprived of the church’s communion. For in a matter that could be pardoned they have chosen to stain themselves with crime, showing that they have sought their own pleasure in their lack of self-control, when a rightful restoration could have won them forgiveness. So let them return to their former state and make amends of their own free will, and let what a condition of necessity forced from them not be turned in any way into disgrace through evil desires. For just as the women who refuse to return to their husbands are to be held unholy, so those who return to a love begun with God’s approval are rightly to be praised.

Concerning those Christians who are said to have been defiled by food offered in sacrifice while among those who had taken them prisoner, we have thought it right to give this answer to your inquiry, dear brother. They are to be cleansed by a penance that makes amends, to be measured not so much by how long it lasts as by the depth of feeling. And whether their giving in was forced from them by terror or by hunger, there need be no hesitation in acquitting them, since the food was taken out of fear or want, not out of superstitious reverence.

You thought, beloved, that we ought likewise to be consulted about those who were either forced by fear or led by mistake to repeat their baptism, and who now understand that they acted against the ordinances of the catholic faith. Toward them such moderation must be kept that they are received into full communion with us, but not without the healing of penance and the laying on of the bishop’s hands. The length of the penance, with due regard to moderation, is left to your judgment, as you see how the minds of the penitents are disposed. In this you must not forget to take account of old age, illness and other dangers. For if a man is in such danger that his life is despaired of while he is still doing penance, he should receive the gracious help of communion through the priest’s tender care. [d]

For those who have received baptism from heretics, not having been baptized before, are to be confirmed by the laying on of hands with only the calling down of the Holy Spirit, because they have received the bare form of baptism without the power of sanctification. And this rule, as you know, we require to be kept in all the churches, so that the font, once entered, may not be defiled by being repeated, as the Lord says: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” That washing must not be polluted by repetition; but, as we have said, only the sanctification of the Holy Spirit is to be called down, so that what no one can receive from heretics may be obtained from catholic priests. You are to bring this letter of ours, which we have sent in reply to the inquiries of the brotherhood, to the knowledge of all your brothers and fellow bishops of the province, so that our authority, now that it has been given, may be effective for general observance. Dated the 21st of March, in the consulship of Majorian Augustus (in the year 458). [e]