Letter 31: so that ii, who M presbtjterio jilios genuernnl, removeri ab officio debeant.

[Rubric:] That those who have begotten sons while in the priesthood ought to be removed from office. Innocent to the bishops Maximus and Severus, throughout the Bruttii. The rule of the ecclesiastical canons ought to be unknown to none of the priests; for it is sufficiently unseemly that these things should be unknown to a bishop, especially since they are known even to religious men among the laity, and are held to be matters that must be kept. Recently indeed (Distinction 81, chapter 6) Maximilianus, our son, an agent in affairs [agens in rebus], has brought forward a complaint of this kind, as the contents of his petition, here annexed, declare. Led by zeal for the faith and for discipline, he does not suffer the Church to be polluted by unworthy priests, who, he asserts, have begotten sons while in the priesthood. I would set forth that this is not permitted, were it not that I know your prudence to have knowledge of the whole law. And therefore, dearest brothers, when the tenor of the petition which is here appended has been examined, you shall order those who are said to have perpetrated such things to be set in your midst; and once the objections that are charged against the priests themselves have been examined [...]. [Editorial note:] In the edition of the Councils, 5. This letter, in the Dionysian collection -- whence it was copied into the Spanish and Isidorian [collections] -- holds a place, and is inscribed as the twenty-eighth of the decretals or decrees of Innocent. [Footnote 1:] Thus the manuscripts of the Dionysian and Hadrianic collections. But others, together with the common editions, read "if they have been convicted"; and shortly after, "to treat" [tractare] for "to attempt" [tentare]. It does not escape me that others, in the Code of the canons of the African Church, chapter 4, decree that bishops, priests, and deacons, or those who handle the sacraments, being guardians of chastity, should abstain from their wives, and are bidden to favor the latter reading. But we have by no means thought we should depart from the manuscripts which we have set forth as more genuine; especially since here the discourse is concerning priests alone, and by the name "of the holy things" [sanctorum] are to be understood not the one sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, but whatever pertains to the ministry of the priests. Wherefore the word "to attempt" [tentare], inasmuch as it is more general, is by that very fact the more apt for expressing this. [Footnote 6:] In the edition of the Councils, 6. It was inserted into the Spanish and Isidorian collection according to Dionysius Exiguus, who placed it under the title of the twenty-eighth of the decretals of Innocent.

Vt ii, qui M presbtjterio jilios genuernnl, removeri ab officio debeant. Innocentius Maximo et Severo cpiscopis pev Bvitlios. Ecclcsiasiicoviim canoniim norma nulli essedebet " incognila sacevdoliim : quia nesciri luec a ponlifiee saiis est indecnrum, maxime cuin a laicis rcligiosis vivis ei sciatuv, et custodienda esse dncatuv. Nkiper quideui (Dist. 81 , c. C). Maximilianus (ilius nosier agens in rebus h cujusmodi querelam deiulerit, li- belli ejus series annexa dcclarat. Qui zdo (idei ac disiiplimc ductu* , nnn paiiluv Ecclesiam pollui ab indignis pvcsbylevis, quos in presbyterio lilios asse- vit pvocveasse. Qnod nmi liceve expnnercm, nisi iiossem vestr.im prudeniiam legis toiius liabere noii- li.im. Et ideo, fraires charissimi, libelli, qui subjec- tnscst, tenore pevspecto, eos qui lalia p.evpetvasse diciiniuv , jubebiiis in niedio collocari ; discu^siM|ue ohjeclionibus, quai ipsis presbyteris Impinguntiir, " In edit. Concil. 5. Hicc epistola in Dinnysiana eollcciione , unde in Hispana ct Isiib<riana IMu- scripta, locum oblinet, insCfibilurque Innocentii ii- tullis seu ilecrclum xxvm. 1 Ha niss. colt. Dion. et llailr. Alii voro cuni vul- galis, si convicti [iterint; ct mox tractitre, \irn tenture. Noii me ftigit qttod Alii Cod. ran. eccl. Afr. c. 4, t\ sancientcs, ut episcnpns, preslyter, el diaconns, vel qui sacramenta conthectant, pudicitice cnslodes ab vxoribns se nbsiincani, poslrehiae lectioni faverc \i- (lcanliir. At nCqUaquanl re< edcniluin dnxiiniis a inss. quos expoi ti suiiius sinccriores : masime cum liic de solis presbyieris sit sermo, ac uotnine sanctorwn non una cofporis ei sanguinis Chrisli sacr.unciila, sed qiuncumqiie ad presbyterofum mintsteriuui per- tinent, iiiiclligantiir. Quocirca verbum lentare, quo gcncralius est, co enam ad iil cnunliaiulum est aptius. 6 lu edit. Concil. 6. Collectioni Hispanrc et Isidori inseita esl secundum Dionysium Exiguum, qui cain sub liiulo wmv decretofiuti Innoceniii subjecii.