CHURCH CANONS 4
THE 8 CANONS OF THE HOLY AND ECUMENICAL THIRD COUNCIL
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CANON I
Since those
who for any reason, whether of an ecclesiastical or of
corporeal nature, are absent from the holy Council and
have remained in their own town or district, ought not to
be left in ignorance of the Council’s regulations
regarding them, we make known to your holiness and love
that if any Metropolitan of the province has apostatized
from the holy and ecumenical Council and joined the
convocation of the apostasy, or has joined it thereafter,
or has adopted the sentiments of Celestius or intends to
adopt them, he shall have no power whatsoever to
perpetrate anything against the Bishops of the province
being already expelled and bereft of every function and
of all ecclesiastical communion by the Council here.
Moreover, he shall be liable in any case to be expelled
from the rank of the episcopate by the very Bishops of
the province and by surrounding Metropolitans who adhere
to the beliefs of Orthodoxy.
CANON II
If, on the other hand, any provincial Bishops have failed
to attend the holy Council and have joined the apostasy,
or should attempt to do so, or even after subscribing to
the deposition of Nestorius have receded to the
convocation of apostasy, all such persons, in the
judgment that has seemed best to the Holy Council, have
alienated themselves from holy orders and have forfeited
their rank
CANON III
If some of the clergymen in any city or district have
been shorn of holy orders by Nestorius and his party on
account of their believing rightly, we have adjudged it
right and just that they be restored to their own rank.
We collectively bid the clergymen who agree in their
beliefs with the orthodox and ecumenical Council not to
submit in any way whatever to the Bishops who have
apostatized or have deserted us.
CANON IV
If any of the clergymen should apostatize and dare,
either publicly or privately, to hold the beliefs of
Nestorius or of Celestius, the holy Council has deemed it
just and right that these men too should be deposed from
office.
CANON V
As for all those who have been condemned by the holy
Council, or by their own Bishops, for improper acts, and
to whom Nestorius and those sharing his views and beliefs
have sought, or should seek, to give back communion or
rank, uncanonically and in accordance with the
indifference shown by Nestorius in all matters, we have
deemed it right and just that they too remain without
benefit and that they be left nevertheless deposed from
office.
CANON VI
Likewise in regard to any persons who should wish to
alter in any way whatsoever anything that has been
enacted in the holy Council in Ephesus concerning anyone,
the holy Council has prescribed that if they be Bishops
or clergymen, they are to lose their own rank entirely,
while if they be laymen, they are to be excluded from
communion.
CANON VII
These things having been read aloud, the holy Council
then decreed that no one should be permitted to offer any
different belief or faith, or in any case to write or
compose any other, than the one defined by the Holy
Fathers who convened in the city of Nicaea, with Holy
Spirit. As for those who dare either to compose a
different belief or faith, or to present one, or to offer
one to those who wish to return to recognition of the
truth, whether they be Greeks or Jews, or they be members
of any heresy whatever, they, if Bishops or Clergymen,
shall be deprived as Bishops of their Episcopate, and as
Clergymen of their Clericate; but if they are Laymen,
they shall be anathematized. In an equally applicable
way, if any persons be detected or caught, whether
Bishops or Clergymen or Laymen, in the act of believing
or teaching the things embodied in the exposition (or
dissertation) presented by Charisius the Presbyter
concerning the inhomination (i.e., incarnation) of the
Only-begotten Son of God, or, by any chance, the unholy
and perverse dogmas of Nestorius, which have even been
subjoined, let them stand liable to the judgment of this
holy and Ecumenical Council. As a consequence, that is to
say, the Bishop shall be deprived of his Episcopate, and
be left deposed from office, while the Clergyman shall
likewise forfeit his Clericate. If, on the other hand,
any such person be a layman, let him too be
anathematized, as aforesaid.
CANON VIII
Our fellow Bishop Reginus, most beloved by God, and with
him the most God-beloved Bishops of the province of the
Cypriotes Zeno and Evagrius, has announced an innovation,
a thing which is contrary to the ecclesiastical laws and
the Canons of the Holy Apostles, and one which touches
the freedom of all. Hence, since common ailments require
more drastic treatment, on the ground that they do
greater damage, and especially in view of the fact that
the Bishop of Antioch, far from following the ancient
custom, has been performing the ordinations in Cyprus,
according to information given in libelli and by oral
statements made by most pious gentlemen who have
approached the Holy Council; therefore those who preside
over the churches in Cyprus shall retain their privilege
unaffected and inviolate, according to the Canons of the
Holy Fathers and ancient custom, whereby they shall
themselves perform the ordinations of the most reverent
Bishops. The same rule shall hold good also with regard
to the other diocese and churches everywhere, so that
none of the Bishops most beloved by God shall take hold
of any other province that was not formerly and from the
beginning in his jurisdiction, or was not, that is to
say, held by his predecessors. But if anyone has taken
possession of any and has forcibly subjected it to his
authority, he shall regive it back to its rightful
possessor, in order that the Canons of the Fathers be not
transgressed, nor the secular fastus be introduced, under
the pretext of divine services; lest imperceptibly and
little by little we lose the freedom which our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Liberator of all men, has given us as a free
gift by His own blood. It has therefore seemed best to
the holy and Ecumenical Council that the rights of every
province, formerly and from the beginning belonging to
it, be preserved clear and inviolable, in accordance with
the custom which prevailed of yore; each Metropolitan
having permission to take copies of the proceedings for
his own security. If, on the other hand, anyone introduce
any form conflicting with the decrees which have now been
sanctioned, it has seemed best to the entire holy and
Ecumenical Council that it be invalid and of no effect.
Letter of the same Holy and Ecumenical Third Council addressed to the sacred Synod in Pamphylia in favor of Eustathius who had become their Metropolitan.
Seeing that the God-inspired Bible says, "Do everything heedfully" (Prov. 25:29 Seirach), those who have had the fortune to be admitted to holy orders ought indeed to give especial consideration to what is to be done in every case with all exactitude. For thus will they live through life with their affairs hopefully arranged and will be carried onward as though by a favorable wind to the goal which is the most desirable; and it seems that this argument is reasonable enough. Yet in the course of time a bitter and unendurable sorrow overwhelmed the mind and terribly muddled it, and failing to reap its expectations, it found little of benefit to comfort it in regard to the unjust circumstances of its plight. We have seen some such misfortune overtake most reverent and most godly Eustathius. For though he was indeed ordained canonically, as has been attested, yet, having been embarrassed, as he says, by some persons, and having met with unseemly circumstances, and owing to his being too much accustomed to idleness he got tired of the cares heaped upon him, and being unable to put up with the fear of incurring defamation as a result of developments, we know not how, he turned in an account. For, once having accepted the responsibility of sacerdotal cares, he ought to have kept on with spiritual staunchness and to have made every effort to discharge his duties even at the expense of much pain and perspiration voluntarily as one receiving remuneration. But since, once having failed to cope with the situation, he proved incapable, though rather as a result of idleness than of laziness and indolence, your godliness necessarily ordained our most reverent and most godly brother and fellow Bishop Theodore to take care of the church. For the position could not be left open and remain without anyone to look after the flocks of the Savior. But inasmuch as he came back weeping, not about losing the city or by way of quarreling over the fact that the church was turned over to the said most godly Bishop Theodore, but begging for the honor and title of bishop he had been enjoying up till then, we all felt sorry for him because of his being an old man, and deeming his tears a common ground of sympathy, we hastened to learn whether the man had suffered any legal deposition or had been charged by other persons with improprieties while muttering things to the detriment of his reputation, and, indeed, we learned that nothing of the sort had occurred, but that instead of any indictment being brought against him the man himself had submitted his resignation. Hence we could not blame your godliness for dutifully replacing him by the said most reverent Bishop Theodore. But since there is no strong reason to quarrel with his incapacity, we ought rather to have mercy on the old man, who had been away from his city and far from home for a long time, we have deemed just and have decreed without any argument that he should retain both the name of bishop and the honor and communion of the episcopate; but in such manner as not to permit him to perform ordinations nor to officiate in divine services in church on his own account, unless by any chance taken along or allowed lo do so by a brother and fellow bishop, in pursuance of affection and love in Christ. But if you care to give him a better position of any kind, either now or hereafter, this will please the holy Council.
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