The Celibacy of the Clergy first proposed in the Council of Elvira.
As Priests and Deacons are commanded, by the Seventh Article of this Letter, to abstain from Marriage, and this is the first Opportunity that has offered of mentioning the Celibacy of the Clergy, a short Digression on such a material Point of Discipline in the Church may not, perhaps, be unacceptable to the Reader. The laying of this heavy Burdens on the Shoulders of the Clergy, a Burden too heavy for most of them to bear, as Experience has shewn, was first moved in the Council of Elvira, held about the Year 300. according to the most probable Opinion; and, being warmly promoted by the celebrated Osius of Cordoua, and Felix of Acci, now Guadix in Andalusia, who presided at that Assembly, it passed into a Law; and all Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons, and Subdeacons, were commanded, on Pain of Deposition; to abstain from Wives; and the begetting of Children. These are the very Words of the 33d Canon of that Council[[1238]]. That, till this time, the Clergy were allowed to marry, even in Spain, is manifest from the 65th Canon of the same Council, excluding from the Communion of the Church, even at the Point of Death, such Ecclesiastics, as, knowing their Wives to be guilty of Adultery, should not, upon the first Notice of their Crime, immediately turn them out of Doors[[1239]]. How long the 33d Canon continued in Vigour, is uncertain; nay, it may be questioned whether it ever took place: if it ever did, it was out of Date, or at least not generally observed by the Spanish Clergy, in the Time of Syricius, as evidently appears from the Words of his Letter, or Answer to Himerius of Tarragon. I said, by the Spanish Clergy, for no such Injunction had yet been laid on the Ecclesiastics of any other Country or Nation. About Fifteen Years after, was held the Council of Ancyra, in which it was decreed, That if any Deacon did not declare at his Ordination, that he designed to marry, he ought not to be allowed to marry after but might, if he made such a Declaration, because, in that Case, the Bishop tacitly consented to it. The Council of Neocæfarea, which assembled soon after that of Ancyra, and consisted, in great Part, of the same Bishops, commanded such Presbyters as married after their Ordination to be degraded. In the Year 325. was held the Council of Nice; and, in that great Assembly, it was moved, perhaps by Osius, who acted a chief Part there, that Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons, and Subdeacons, should be debarred from all Commerce with the Wives they had married before their Ordination. But this Motion was warmly opposed by Paphnutius, who had himself ever led a chaste and single Life, and was one of the most eminent and illustrious Prelates, at that time, in the Church. He represented, that the Burden they proposed laying on the Clergy, was too heavy; that few had sufficient Strength to bear it; that the Women, thus abandoned by their Husbands, would be exposed to great Dangers; that Marriage was no Pollution, but, according to St. Paul, commendable; that those therefore, who were not married, when first admitted to the Sacerdotal Functions, should continue in that State; and such as were, should continue to live with their Wives. Thus Sozomen[[1240]], Socrates[[1241]], and Suidas[[1242]][[N22]].
[N22]. I am not unapprised, that this Account is rejected by Baronius[[1]], and Bellarmine[[2]], as fabulous; but, notwithstanding the Pains they have both taken to make it appear incredible, F. Lupus allows it to be true[[3]], though a no less zealous Stickler for the Discipline of the Church of Rome than either of them. Ruffinus, I own, takes no Notice of this Transaction, as Valesius well observes. But has no true Transaction been, either wilfully or ignorantly, omitted by that Writer? Valesius well knows, that many have; and had he perused that Author with a little more Attention, he would not have so positively affirmed, that no one ever named Paphnutius among the Bishops of Egypt, who assisted at the Council of Nice, since he is named among them by Ruffinus, and with great Commendations[[4]].
[1]. Bar. ad ann. 58. n. 21.
[2]. Bell. de cler. l. 1. c. 20.
[3]. Lup. in can. p. 114.
[4]. Ruf. l. 1. c. 4.