[Page 53] Celebrated on the third day of the month of March, MDXLVII.
Proem.
For the completion of the salutary doctrine on Justification, which waspromulgated with the unanimous consent of the Fathers in the last precedingSession, it hath seemed suitable to treat of the most holy Sacraments ofthe Church, through which all true justice either begins, or being begun isincreased, or being lost is repaired. With this view, in order to destroythe errors and to extirpate the heresies, which have appeared[Page 54] in these ourdays on the subject of the said most holy sacraments,-as well those whichhave been revived from the heresies condemned of old by our Fathers, asalso those newly invented, and which are exceedingly prejudicial to thepurity of the Catholic Church, and to the salvation of souls,-the sacredand holy, oecumenical and general Synod of Trent, lawfully assembled in theHoly Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding therein,adhering to the doctrine of the holy Scriptures, to the apostolictraditions, and to the consent of other councils and of the Fathers, hasthought fit that these present canons be established and decreed;intending, the divine Spirit aiding, to publish later the remaining canonswhich are wanting for the completion of the work which It has begun.
CANON I.-If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law were not allinstituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or, that they are more, or less, thanseven, to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, ExtremeUnction, Order, and Matrimony; or even that any one of these seven is nottruly and properly a sacrament; let him be anathema.
CANON II.-If any one saith, that these said sacraments of the New Law donot differ from the sacramnets of the Old Law, save that the ceremonies aredifferent, and different the outward rites; let him be anathema.
CANON III.-If any one saith, that these seven sacraments are in such wiseequal to each other, as that one is not in any way more worthy thananother; let him be anathema.
CANON IV.-If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law are notnecessary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that, without them, orwithout the desire thereof, men obtain of God, through faith alone, thegrace of justification;-though all (the sacraments) are not ineed necessaryfor every individual; let him be anathema.
CANON V.-If any one saith, that these sacraments were instituted for thesake of nourishing faith alone; let him be anathema.
[Page 55] CANON VI.-If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law do notcontain the grace which they signify; or, that they do not confer thatgrace on those who do not place an obstacle thereunto; as though they weremerely outward signs of grace or justice received through faith, andcertain marks of the Christian profession, whereby believers aredistinguished amongst men from unbelievers; let him be anathema.
CANON VII.-If any one saith, that grace, as far as God's part is concerned,is not given through the said sacraments, always, and to all men, eventhough they receive them rightly, but (only) sometimes, and to somepersons; let him be anathema.
CANON VIII.-If any one saith, that by the said sacraments of the New Lawgrace is not conferred through the act performed, but that faith alone inthe divine promise suffices for the obtaining of grace; let him beanathema.
CANON IX.-If any one saith, that, in the three sacrments, Baptism, to wit,Confirmation, and Order, there is not imprinted in the soul a character,that is, a certain spiritual and indelible Sign, on account of which theycannot be repeated; let him be anathema.
CANON X.-If any one saith, that all Christians have power to administer theword, and all the sacraments; let him be anathema.
CANON XI.-If any one saith, that, in ministers, when they effect, andconfer the sacraments, there is not required the intention at least ofdoing what the Church does; let him be anathema.
CANON XII.-If any one saith, that a minister, being in mortal sin,-if so bethat he observe all the essentials which belong to the effecting, orconferring of, the sacrament,-neither effects, nor confers the sacrament;let him be anathema.
CANON XIII.-If any one saith, that the received and approved rites of theCatholic Church, wont to be used in the solemn[Page 56] administration of thesacraments, may be contemned, or without sin be omitted at pleasure by theministers, or be changed, by every pastor of the churches, into other newones; let him be anathema.
CANON I.-If any one saith, that the baptism of John had the same force asthe baptism of Christ; let him be anathema.
CANON II.-If any one saith, that true and natural water is not of necessityfor baptism, and, on that account, wrests, to some sort of metaphor, thosewords of our Lord Jesus Christ; Unless a man be born again of water and theHoly Ghost; let him be anathema.
CANON III.-If any one saith, that in the Roman church, which is the motherand mistress of all churches, there is not the true doctrine concerning thesacrament of baptism; let him be anathema.
CANON IV.-If any one saith, that the baptism which is even given byheretics in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,with the intention of doing what the Church doth, is not true baptism; lethim be anathema.
CANON V.-If any one saith, that baptism is free, that is, not necessaryunto salvation; let him be anathema.
CANON VI.-If any one saith, that one who has been baptized cannot, even ifhe would, lose grace, let him sin ever so much, unless he will not believe;let him be anathema.
CANON VII.-If any one saith, that the baptized are, by baptism itself, madedebtors but to faith alone, and not to the observance of the whole law ofChrist; let him be anathema.
CANON VIII.-If any one saith, that the baptized are freed from all theprecepts, whether written or transmitted, of holy Church, in such wise thatthey are not bound to observe them, unless they have chosen of their ownaccord to submit themselves thereunto; let him be anathema.
[Page 57] CANON IX.-If any one saith, that the resemblance of the baptism which theyhave received is so to be recalled unto men, as that they are tounderstand, that all vows made after baptism are void, in virtue of thepromise already made in that baptism; as if, by those vows, they bothderogated from that faith which they have professed, and from that baptismitself; let him be anathema.
CANON X.-If any one saith, that by the sole remembrance and the faith ofthe baptism which has been received, all sins committed after baptism areeither remitted, or made venial; let him be anathema.
CANON XI.-If any one saith, that baptism, which was true and rightlyconferred, is to be repeated, for him who has denied the faith of Christamongst Infidels, when he is converted unto penitence; let him be anathema.
CANON XII.-If any one saith, that no one is to be baptized save at that ageat which Christ was baptized, or in the very article of death; let him beanathema.
CANON XIII.-If any one saith, that little children, for that they have notactual faith, are not, after having received baptism, to be reckonedamongst the faithful; and that, for this cause, they are to be rebaptizedwhen they have attained to years of discretion; or, that it is better thatthe baptism of such be omitted, than that, while not believing by their ownact, they should be bapized in the faith alone of the Church; let him beanathema.
CANON XIV.-If any one saith, that those who have been thus baptized whenchildren, are, when they have grown up, to be asked whether they willratify what their sponsors promised in their names when they were baptized;and that, in case they answer that they will not, they are to be left totheir own will; and are not to be compelled meanwhile to a Christian lifeby any other penalty, save that they be excluded from the participation ofthe Eucharist, and of the other sacraments, until they repent; let him beanathema.
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CANON I.-If any one saith, that the confirmation of those who have beenbaptized is an idle ceremony, and not rather a true and proper sacrament;or that of old it was nothing more than a kind of catechism, whereby theywho were near adolescence gave an account of their faith in the face of theChurch; let him be anathema.
CANON II.-If any one saith, that they who ascribe any virtue to the sacredchrism of confirmation, offer an outrage to the Holy Ghost; let him beanathema.
CANON III.-If any one saith, that the ordinary minister of holyconfirmation is not the bishop alone, but any simple priest soever; let himbe anathema.
The same sacred and holy Synod, the same legates also presiding, purposingto prosecute, unto the praise of God, and the increase of the Christianreligion, the work which It hath begun touching residence and reformation,has thought good to ordain as follows,-saving always, in all things, theauthority of the Apostolic See.
No one shall be assumed unto the government of Cathedral churches, but onethat is born of lawful wedlock, is of mature age, and endowed with gravityof manners, and skill in letters, agreeably to the constitution ofAlexander III., which begins, Cum in cunctis, promulgated in the Council ofLateran.
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No one, by whatsoever dignity, grade, or pre-eminence distinguished, shallpresume, in contravention of the institutes of the sacred canons, to acceptand to hold at the same time several Metropolitan, or Cathedral, churches,whether by title, or in commendam, or under any other name whatsoever;seeing that he is to be accounted exceedingly fortunate whose lot it is torule one church well and fruitfully, and unto the salvation of the soulscommitted to him. But as to those who now hold several churches contraryto the tenor of the present decree, they shall be bound, retaining the onewhich they may prefer, to resign the rest, within six months if they are atthe free disposal of the Apostolic See, in other cases within the year;otherwise those churches, the one last obtained only excepted, shall befrom that moment deemed vacant.
CHAPTER III.
Benefices shall be conferred solely on capable individuals.
Inferior Ecclesiastical Benefices, especially such as have the cure ofsouls, shall be conferred on persons worthy and capable, and who can resideon the spot and exercise personally the said cure; in accordance with theConstitution of Alexander IIl., in the Council of Lateran, which begins,Quia nonnulli; and that other of Gregory X., published in the GeneralCouncil of Lyons, which begins, Licet Canon. A collation, or provision,made otherwise, shall be wholly annulled: and let the ordinary collatorknow, that he will himself incur the penalties set down in the Constitutionof the General Council (of Lateran), which begins, Grave nimis.
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Whosoever shall for the future presume to accept, or to retain at the sametime several cures, or otherwise incompatible Ecclesiastical Benefices,whether by way of union for life, or in perpetual commendam, or under anyother name or title whatsoever, in contravention of the appointment of thesacred Canons, and especially of the Constitution of Innocent III.,beginning, De multa, shall be ipso jure deprived of the said benefices,according to the disposition of the said constitution, and also by virtueof the present Canon.
CHAPTER V.
The holders of several Benefices with cure of souls shall exhibit theirdispensations to the Ordinary, who shall provide the churches with a Vicar,assigning a suitable portion of the fruits.
The Ordinaries of the places shall strictly compel all those who holdseveral cures, or otherwise incompatible, Ecclesiastical Benefices toexhibit their dispensations; and they shall otherwise proceed according tothe Constitution of Gregory X., published in the General Council of Lyons,beginning Ordinarii, which (Constitution) this holy Synod thinks ought tobe renewed, and doth renew; adding further, that the said Ordinaries are byall means to provide, even by deputing fit vicars and by assigning asuitable portion of the fruits, that the cure of souls be not in any wayneglected, and that the said benfices be nowise defrauded of the servicesdue to them: no appeals, privileges, or exemptions whatsoever, even with acommission of special judges, and inhibitions from the same, being of availto any one in the matters aforenamed.
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Unions in perpetuity, made within forty years, may be examined into by theOrdinaries, as delegated by the Apostolic See, and such as shall have beenobtained by surreption or obreption shall be declared null. Now those areto be presumed to have been surreptitiously obtained, which having beengranted within the aforenamed period, have not as yet been carried intoeffect wholly, or in part, as also those which shall henceforth be made atthe instance of any person soever, unless it shall be certain that theyhave been made for lawful, or otherwise reasonable causes, which are to beverified before the Ordinary of the place, those persons being summonedwhose interests are concerned: and therefore (such unions) shall bealtogether of no force, unless the Apostolic See shall have declaredotherwise.
Ecclesiastical Benefices with cures, which are found to have been alwaysunited and annexed to Cathedral, Collegiate, or other churches, or tomonasteries, benefices, colleges, or otherpious places of what sort soever, shall be visited every year by theOrdinaries of those places; who shall apply themselves sedulously toprovide that the cure of souls be laudably exercised by competent vicars,and those even perpetual, unless the said Ordinaries shall deem itexpedient for the good of the churches that it be otherwise,-which (vicars)shall be deputed thereunto by those Ordinaries, with a provision consistingof a third part of the fruits, or of a greater or less proportion, at thediscretion[Page 62] of the said Ordinaries, which (portion) is to be assigned evenupon a specific property; no appeals, privileges, exemptions, even with acommission of judges, and inhibitions from the same, being of any avail inthe matters abovenamed.
The Ordinaries of the places shall be bound to visit every year, withapostolic authority, all churches whatsoever, in whatsoever mannerexempted; and to provide by suitable legal remedies that whatever needsrepairs, be repaired; and that those churches be not in any way defraudedof the Cure of souls, if such be annexed thereunto, or of other servicesdue to them;-all appeals, privileges, customs, even those that have aprescription from time immemorial, commission of judges, and inhibitionsfrom the same, being utterly set aside.
Those who have been promoted to the greater churches shall receive the riteof consecration within the time prescribed by law, and any delays granted,extending beyond the period of six months, shall be of no avail to any one.
It shall not be lawful for Chapters of churches, when a see is vacant, togrant,-whether by ordinance of common law, or by virtue of any privilege orcustom whatsoever,-a license for[Page 63] ordination, or letters dimissory, or "reverend," as some call them, withina year from the day of that vacancy, to any one who is not straitened (fortime), by occasion of some ecclesistical benefice received, or about to bereceived. Otherwise, the contravening Chapter shall be subjected to anecclesiastical interdict; and the persons so ordained, if they have beenconstituted in minor orders, shall not enjoy any clerical privilege,especially in criminal causes; whilst those constituted in the greaterorders shall be, ipso jure, suspended from the exercise thereof, during thepleasure of the next appointed prelate.
Faculties, for being promoted (to orders) by any prelate whatsoever, shallbe of no avail but to those who have a lawful cause-which is to beexpressed in their letters-why they cannot be ordained by their ownbishops; and even then they shall not be ordained but by a bishop who isresident in his own diocese, or by him who exercises the pontificalfunctions for him, and after having undergone a previous carefulexamination.
Faculties granted for not being promoted (to orders) shall avail for a yearonly, except in the cases by law provided.
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Persons presented, or elected, or nominated by any ecclesiastics soever,even by Nuncios of the Apostolic See, shall not be instituted, or confirmedin, or admitted to any ecclesiastical benefices whatsoever, even under theplea of any privilege soever, or custom, which may even have a prescriptionfrom time immemorial, unless they shall have been first examined, and foundfit, by the Ordinaries of the places. And no one shall be able to screenhimself, by means of an appeal, from being bound to undergo thatexamination. Those, however, are to be excepted, who are presented,elected, or nominated by universities, or by colleges for general studies.
In the causes of exempted persons, the Constitution of Innocent IV.,beginning Volentes, set forth in the general Council of Lyons, shall beobserved,-which Constitution this sacred and holy Synod hath thought oughtto be renewed, and doth hereby renew it; adding further, that, in civilcauses relative to wages, and to persons in distress, clerics, whetherSeculars, or Regulars who live out of their monasteries,-howsoeverexempted, and even though they may have upon the spot a special judgedeputed by the Apostolic See; and in other causes, if they have no suchjudge,-may be brought before the Ordinaries of the places, and beconstrained and compelled by course of law to[Page 65] pay what they owe; noprivileges, exemptions, commissions of conservators, and inhibitionstherefrom, being of any force whatever in opposition to the (regulations)aforesaid.
The Ordinaries shall take care that all hospitals whatsoever be faithfullyand diligently governed by their own administrators, by what namessoever called, and in what way soever exempted: observing herein the formof the Constitution of the Council of Vienne, which begins, Quia contingit,which this holy Synod hath thought fit to renew, and doth hereby renew,together with the derogations therein contained.
This sacred and holy Synod hath also resolved and decreed that the nextensuing Session be held and celebrated on Thursday, the fifth day after thecoming Sunday in Albis (Low Sunday), which will be the twenty-first of themonth of April of the present year, MDXLVII.
Paul, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to our venerable brotherGiammaria, bishop of Palaestrina, and to our beloved sons, Marcellus of thetitle of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem,priest, and Reginald of Saint Mary in Cosmedin, deacon, cardinals, ourLegates, a latere, and those of the Apostolic See, health and apostolicalbenediction.
We, by the providence of God, presiding over the government of theuniversal Church, though with merits unequal thereunto, account it a partof our office that, if anything of more than common moment have to besettled touching the Christian[Page 66] commonweal, it be done not only at asuitable season, but also in a convenient and fit place. Wherefore,whereas We lately, with the advice and consent of our venerable brethrenthe cardinals of the holy Roman Church,-upon hearing that peace had beenmade between our most dear sons in Christ, Charles the Emperor of theRomans, ever august, and Francis the most Christian King of theFrench,-took off and removed the suspension of the celebration of thesacred oecumenical and universal Council, which we had on another occasion,for reasons then stated, indicted with the advice and consent aforesaid,for the city of Trent, and which was, for certain other reasons at thattime also named, suspended, upon the like advice and consent, unto anothermore opportune and suitable time to be declared by us: being ourselvesunable, from being at that time lawfully hindered, to repair to theabove-named city in person, and to be present at that Council, We, by thesame advice, appointed and deputed you as Legates a latere on our behalfand that of the Apostolic See, in that Council; and we sent you unto thatsame city as angels of peace, as in divers our letters thereupon is morefully set forth: wishing to provide seasonably that so holy a work as thecelebration of such a Council may not be hindered through theincommodiousness of the place, or otherwise in any other manner, We, of ourproper motion, and certain knowledge, and the plenitude of apostolicauthority, and with the advice and consent aforesaid, by the tenor of thesepresents do, with apostolic authority, concede to you all together, or totwo of you, upon the other being detained by a lawful impediment, or maybeabsent therefrom, full and unrestrained power and faculty, to transfer andchange, when soever you shall see cause, the aforesaid Council from thecity of Trent to any other more Convenient, suitable, or safe City, as toyou shall seem fit, and to suppress and dissolve that which is held in thesaid city of Trent; as also to prohibit, even under ecclesiastical painsand censures, the prelates and other members of the said Council, fromproceeding to any further measures therein in the said sity of Trent; andalso to continue, hold, and celebrate the same Council in the other city asaforesaid unto which it shall have been transferred and changed, and[Page 67] tosummon thereunto the prelates and other members of the said Council ofTrent, even under the pain of perjury and of the other penalties named inthe letters of Indiction of that Council; to preside and proceed, in theCouncil thus translated and changed, in the name and by the authorityaforesaid, and to perform, regulate, ordain, and execute the other thingsmentioned above, and the things thereunto necessary and suitable inaccordance with the contents and tenor of the previous letters which havebeen on other occasion addressed unto you: declaring that We will hold asratified and pleasing whatsoever by you shall have been done, regulated,ordained, in the matters aforesaid, and will, with God's help, cause it tobe inviolably observed; any apostolical Constitutions and ordinances, andother things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. Wherefore, let noone soever infringe this letter of our grant, or with rash daring gocontrary thereto. But if any one shall presume to attempt this, let himknow that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of the blessedPeter and Paul, His apostles.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year of the Lord's IncarnationMDXLVII, on the eighth of the calends of March, in the eleventh year of ourPontificate.
FAB. BISH. OF SPOL. B. MOTTA.
