The Canonical Position of Pope Leo the Great in the Case of Chelidonius: The Issue of Lay Ordination
this research was carried out under the State Assignment of the Institute of History and Archaeology of Byzantium and the Black Sea Region, Sevastopol State University: “Comprehensive Historical and Archaeological Study of Byzantium and the Black Sea Region in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages” (FEFM-2025-0002)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2026-53-3-552-564Keywords:
Late Antiquity, papacy, Pope Leo the Great, Saint Hilary of Arles, bishop Chelidonius, ecclesiastical court, appellate process, canons, conciliar decisionsAbstract
The article examines the appellate process of 444–445 AD concerning Bishop Helidonius, who was deposed by a council chaired by Hilary of Arles for having married a widow and for having been ordained from the laity. Pope Leo the Great acquitted Helidonius, lifting the first charge while completely ignoring the second one. The author discusses the reliability of the Life of Saint Hilary of Arles – the sole source that mentions the charge of ordination from the laity. The key evidence supporting Honoratus of Massilia, the author of the Life, is Leo’s letter dated 446, in which the Pope affirms the inadmissibility of a second marriage but allows ordination from the laity as a temporary exception. This confirms that the pontiff deliberately passed over the second charge in Helidonius's case. The aim of the study is to reconstruct Pope Leo's canonical position on this matter based on all available sources. The case of Cheldonius thus vividly illustrates the legal practice of the Roman Church in that period, which in this instance may be characterised as rather inconsistent.
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Список литературы
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Hoskin M.J.J. 2022. The Manuscripts of Leo the Great’s Letters. The Transmission and Reception of Papal Documents in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages [Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia. Research on the Inheritance of Early and Medieval Christianity; 83]. Turnhout, Brepols, 516.
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Langgärtner G. 1964. Die Gallienpolitik der Päpste im 5. und 6. Jahrhundert. Eine Studie über den apostolischen Vikariat von Arles [Theophaneia. Beiträge zur Religions- und Kirchengeschichte des Altertums]. Bonn: Peter Hanstein Verlag, 198.
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Martine F. (ed.). 1968. Vita s. Romani. In: Vie des pères du Jura [Sources chrétiennes, 142]. Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 534.
Mathisen R.W. 1989. Ecclesiastical Factionalism and Religious Controversy in Fifth-Century Gaul. Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, XX+347.
Metzger M. (ed.). 1987. Les constitutions apostoliques [Sources chrétiennes, 336]. T. 3. Livres VII–VIII. Paris, Les éditions du Cerf, 360.
Migne J.-P. (ed.). 1845. Sancti Innocentii papae Epistulae et decretal [Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina, 20]. Parisiis: 463–638.
Migne J.-P. (ed.). 1845. Sancti Siricii papae epistolae et decreta [Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina, 13]. Paris: 1131–1196.
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Migne J.-P. (ed.). 1846. Sancti Leonis Magni Romani pontificis operum genuinorum pars altera, continens S. Patris epistolas [Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina, 54]. Parisiis: 551–1218.
Migne J.-P. (ed.). 1865. Sancti Coelestini papae Epistulae et decreta [Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina, 50]. Parisiis: 417–566.
Mommsen Th., Meyer P.M. (eds). 1905. Novella XVII Theodosii et Valentiniani. A. 445 Iul. 8. De episcoporum ordinatione. In: Leges novellae ad Theodosianum pertinentes. Berolini, Apud Weidemannos: 101–103.
Munier C. (ed.). 1963. Concilia Galliae a. 314 – a. 506 [Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina, 148]. Turnhout, Brepols, XI+282.
Munier C. (ed.). 1974. Concilia Africae. A. 345 – A. 525. Turnhout, Brepols, XXXVIII+425.
Pietri L., Heijmans M. (eds). 2013. Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314–614) [Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 4]. Vol. 1. Paris, Association des amis du Centre d’histoire et civilisation de Byzance, 1031.
Prinz F. 1965. Frühes Mönchtum im Frankenreich: Kultur und Gesellschaft in Gallien am Beispiel der monastischen Entwicklung (4–8. Jahrhundert). München, Wien, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 633.
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