Part 40

[Sidenote: Year of Christ 402. _The Election of_ Innocent, _commended by the Antients_.]

On the Demise of _Anastasius_, _Innocent_ was immediately, and with one Consent, chosen by the Clergy, and the People[1392]. He was, according to _Anastasius_[1393], a Native of _Albano_, and the Son of another _Innocent_; but, according to _Jerom_, both the Son and Successor of _Anastasius_[1394]. _Theodoret_ styles him a Man of great Address, and a lively Genius[1395]; _Prosper_, a worthy Successor of St. _Peter_[1396]; and _Austin_ distinguishes him, after his Death, with the Title of the _Blessed_ Innocent[1397]. _Orosius_ says, that God withdrew that holy Bishop from _Rome_, when the City was taken, as he did _Lot_ from _Sodom_[1398]; and _Jerom_, in writing to _Demetrias_, exhorts her to adhere steadily to the Faith of _Innocent_[1399]. _Austin_, in the Letter he writ to him in the Name of the Council of _Milevum_, ascribes his Election to a particular Providence; and adds, that the Fathers of the Council thought it a Duty incumbent upon them to suggest to him what might be done for the Good of the Church, since they could not think him capable of hearing any thing of that Nature with Contempt or Indifference[1400].

[Sidenote: _He writes to_ Anysius _of_ Thessalonica.]

_Innocent_ was no sooner chosen and ordained, than he writ to _Anysius_ of _Thessalonica_, acquainting him with his Election, and charging him, as his Three immediate Predecessors had done, with the Care of the Churches of _East Illyricum_[1401]. In the End of the following Year 403. the Emperor _Honorius_ visited the City of _Rome_; and, during his Stay there, _Innocent_ went frequently to wait on him, in order to obtain, in Behalf of some Bishops, and other Ecclesiastics, an Exemption from executing certain Civil Offices hereditary in their Families. He succeeded in his Suit; but it cost him a great deal of Trouble and Uneasiness[1402]. [Sidenote: Innocent_’s Letter to_ Victricius.] _Victricius_ Bishop of _Rouen_, who happened to be then at _Rome_, having applied to him for Information, with respect to the Practice and Discipline of the _Roman_ Church, _Innocent_, to gratify him, and _that he might not seem to approve, by_ _his Silence, the Abuses that prevailed in some Churches_, sent him a _Book of Rules_, as he styled it, containing several Regulations, which had been originally established, says he, by the Authority of the Apostles and Fathers, but were now, in many Places, either quite unknown, or utterly neglected. He therefore intreats _Victricius_ to communicate them to the neighbouring Churches and Bishops, that they might be acquainted with the Discipline of the _Roman_ Church, and conform to it in instructing the new-converted Christians[1403].

[Sidenote: _The Articles it contains._]

This _Book of Rules_ contains Thirteen Regulations relating to different Points of Discipline, whereof the First forbids, and declares uncanonical, the Ordination of Bishops without the Knowlege and Approbation of their Metropolitans. The Second excludes from the Clerical Order such as have served, or shall continue to serve, in War after Baptism. The Third orders all Differences and Disputes, arising among the Ecclesiastics, to be decided by the Bishops of the Provinces, _saving the Rights of the_ Roman _Church_[N47]; and commands those to be deposed who shall recur to other Tribunals, except in Causes of the greatest Importance, when, after the Bishops have given Sentence, Recourse may be had to the Apostolical See, pursuant to the Order of the Council, meaning, no doubt, the Council of _Sardica_[1404]. The Three next relate to those who shall have married a Widow, a Woman that has been divorced, or a second Wife, either before or after Baptism; and they are all alike declared incapable of being ever admitted among the Clergy. The Seventh forbids Bishops to ordain Clerks of another Church, without the Permission of their own Bishops, or to admit those to serve one Church, who have been deposed in another. The Eighth allows the _Novatians_ and _Donatists_, who return to the Church, to be readmitted by the bare Imposition of Hands; but subjects those to a long Penance, who had quitted the Church to be rebaptized by them. The Ninth relates to the Celibacy of the Priests and Deacons, who are debarred by it from all Commerce with their Wives, after Ordination. The inferior Clergy were allowed to marry; but _Innocent_, by the Tenth Article of the present Letter, excepts those who, before they were admitted among the Clergy, had lived in Monasteries, and professed Continence there; it being fit, says he, they should observe in a higher Rank what they had observed when only Monks. In the same Article he observes, that those, who had lost their Virginity before Marriage, did not receive the Blessing of the Church when they afterwards married; and that it was the antient Practice of the Church, that such as had lost it before Baptism, should promise, before they were admitted to the Clerical Order, never to marry. The Eleventh forbids those to be ordained, who were not exempted from all Civil Offices and Employments, such Offices diverting them from the Functions of the Priesthood, and sometimes obliging them to exhibit Shews and public Sports, of which the Devil was, without all Doubt, the Author and Promoter. [Sidenote: Innocent _thinks the Marriage of a Woman with another Man valid, while her Husband is still alive_.] The Twelfth forbids Women, who have married a Second Husband, their First being still alive, to be admitted to Repentance, or allowed to do Penance, till one of the Two dies. The same Discipline is to be observed, according to this Article, with respect to the Virgins, who, after consecrating their Virginity to _Jesus Christ_, shall, either by a public Marriage, or by private Fornication, violate the Faith they had pledged to their immortal Spouse.

Footnote N47:

In some Editions this Clause is wanting.

[Sidenote: _The unchristian Severity of one of these Articles ill excused by_ Baronius.]

_Baronius_[1405], to answer the Objections which some _Innovators_, as he is pleased to style them, have offered against the unchristian Severity of this Article, tells us, that the Repentance of such a Virgin can by no means be sincere, so long as she continues with the Man she married; which is quite foreign to the Purpose, since _Innocent_ excludes her from Repentance, not only so long as she lives with him, but so long as he lives. _Innocent_ knew what _Baronius_ seems not to have known; _viz._ that the Marriage of Virgins, however solemnly consecrated, held good, even according to the Practice of the _Roman_ Church[1406]; and, consequently, that they could not abandon their Husbands; and hence he would not admit them to Repentance, or the Participation of the Sacred Mysteries, till the Death of their Husbands; which was keeping them, as it were, in a State of Excommunication, without any possible Means of redeeming themselves from it. And it is this uncharitable Severity, which some Divines of the _Reformed Churches_ have deservedly blamed. _Baronius_ stigmatizes such Marriages with the Name of _Adultery_; but he confounds the Time of _Innocent_ with his own; for, in his Time, the Vow of Chastity was declared a true Marriage; and, consequently, every subsequent Marriage void and null; but, in _Innocent_’s Time, the Marriage of a sacred Virgin was held valid, though commonly deemed sinful. Whether it be sinful or no, or whether a Vow of that kind can be lawfully made, I shall not take upon me to determine here; but I am very confident, that of most Persons, who debar themselves by a solemn Vow from ever marrying, we may say, with the Fathers of the Eighth Council of _Toledo_, that _they had better break a Vow, which they had rashly made, than fill up, by observing it, the Measure of their Sins_.

But to return to the Letter: The Thirteenth and last Article will have those Virgins to do Penance for some time, who shall marry after having promised to live Virgins, though they had not yet received the Sacred Veil[1407]. This Letter has been inserted by _Dionysius Exiguus_, in his Code of the _Roman_ Church, and is quoted by the Second Council of _Tours_, held in 567[1408]. and by several other Councils[1409][N48].

Footnote N48:

And yet some have been induced by the Date it bears, to question its Authenticity. For it is dated the 15th of _February_ 404. Now, it is manifest, say they, from the Letter itself, that _Victricius_ was at _Rome_ while the Emperor _Honorius_ was there; and it is no less certain, that _Honorius_ did not arrive at _Rome_ till the Month of _December_ 403. If therefore _Victricius_ was at _Rome_ in _December_ 403. it is not at all probable, that _Innocent_ should have written to him on the 15th of _February_ 404. To solve this Difficulty, some suppose _Victricius_ to have applied to _Innocent_, while he was still at _Rome_; and _Innocent_, instead of informing him, as he might, by Word of Mouth, to have given him in Writing the desired Instructions, that, having thus more Weight, they might the more readily be complied with by other Bishops. But it is manifest, from _Innocent_’s Words, that his Letter was an Answer to one from _Victricius_; and we cannot well suppose _Victricius_, who was at _Rome_ in _December_, to have returned to _Rouen_, to have written from thence to _Innocent_, and _Innocent_ to have returned him so full an Answer by the 15th of the following _January_. We may conclude the Year to have been, by some Mistake, altered, and 404. inserted in the Date instead of 405. since the Letter could not be written earlier, as I have just observed, than the Month of _January_ (if _January_ was the true Month) of the latter Year; and we have no Reason to think it was written later. The Mistake as to the Year might have been occasioned by the Transcriber’s omitting P. C. _Post Consulatum Honorii_, and thereby confounding the Year of the Emperor’s Sixth Consulship 404. with the Year after it 405.--Such Omissions frequently occur, and have led Writers, not aware of them, into great Mistakes, in point of Chronology, or made them suspect, nay, and condemn, as spurious, the most authentic Pieces of History. This Letter, in some Editions, bears no Date; and F. _Labbé_ assures us, that he has seen a manuscript Copy of it, in which the Date was wanting. Some therefore suppose the Date to have been afterwards added, nay, and the whole Conclusion of the Letter. For _Innocent_ closes it by saying, that the Observance of the Rules it contains will banish all Ambition among the Bishops, compose all Differences, prevent all Schisms, and leave no room for the Devil to insult the Flock of Christ. A Conclusion taken probably from some other Piece, and not at all adapted or applicable, with Truth, to this.

[Sidenote: _Letter of the Council of_ Carthage _to_ Innocent.]

In the Year 404. _Austin_ writ to _Innocent_, in the Name of the Bishops assembled in Council at _Carthage_, intreating him to apply to _Honorius_ for new Laws against the _Donatists_; whose Cruelties towards the Orthodox, if not magnified by _Austin_[1410], are scarce to be matched in History. The Emperor hearkened to _Innocent_’s Remonstrances, and severe Laws being issued against them, they began by that means to be convinced of their Errors, and to return daily in great Numbers to the Unity of the Church. This is what we read in one of _Austin_’s Letters[1411]; for the _Donatists_, as he would make us believe, finding themselves persecuted, began to inquire, which they had never done before, into the Grounds of the Religion, for which they suffered. This Inquiry had the desired Effect; their Eyes were opened; they discovered the Errors of their Sect; and, being sensible of their Folly in foregoing any temporal Advantage, or exposing themselves to the least Inconvenience, for the sake of such a Religion, they sincerely abjured it, and zealously embraced the Catholic Faith. An ingenious Term, I must own, to excuse, nay, and to authorize and sanctify, the greatest Barbarities! But daily Experience teaches us, that Persecution has a contrary Effect, and that the more Men are persecuted, the more obstinately they adhere to the Opinions, however absurd, for which they suffer; witness the great Number of Martyrs which almost every Church, as well as the Catholic, can boast of. And, where it has not that Effect, the most it can do is to make Men become Hypocrites, and profess a Religion they do not believe; but scarce ever changes their Hearts, or brings any to a sincere and efficacious Assent to a Faith which is thus violently forced on their Minds.

[Sidenote: Innocent _writes to the Bishops of_ Spain.]

About the same time, or not long after, _Innocent_ writ to the Bishops of _Spain_, and the chief Articles of his Letter were: 1. That they ought to cut off from their Communion such of their Brethren as refused to communicate with _Symphosius_, _Dictinius_, and other Bishops, who, having renounced the Errors of _Priscillian_, had been readmitted to the Communion of the Church by the Council held at _Toledo_, in the Year 400[1412]. 2. That those Bishops should be deposed who had been ordained without the Knowlege or Consent of their Metropolitan. 3. That such as presumed to ordain against the Canons should be likewise deposed, and all who had been thus ordained by them.

[Sidenote: Chrysostom _Bishop of_ Constantinople _recurs to_ Innocent.]

_Chrysostom_, the celebrated Bishop of _Constantinople_, having been unjustly deposed in 403 and driven from his See by _Theophilus_ Bishop of _Alexandria_, and the Council _ad Quercum_, or at _the Oak_, near _Chalcedon_, had, upon his Return to _Constantinople_, insisted upon a Council being summoned, to make his Innocence the more plainly appear to the World. This _Theophilus_, and the Bishops of his Party, not only strenuously opposed, but, by the great Interest they had at Court, prevailed upon the Emperor _Arcadius_ to drive him from _Constantinople_ a Second time, and banish him to _Cucusus_, an inhospitable Place in _Cilicia_. The News of these last Proceedings had not yet reached _Rome_, when _Theophilus_ sent one of his Lectors with a Letter to _Innocent_, acquainting him, that he had deposed _Chrysostom_. As, in this Letter, _Theophilus_ observed an intire Silence with respect to the Motives that had prompted him to take such a Step, _Innocent_ prudently forbore returning him an Answer. There happened to be then at _Rome_ a Deacon of the Church of _Constantinople_, who, hearing what _Theophilus_ had written, went immediately, and warned _Innocent_ to be upon his Guard, intreating him, at the same time, not to proceed but with the utmost Caution, in so nice and important an Affair, and assuring him, that the Truth could not remain long undiscovered. Accordingly, in Three Days, _Pansovius_, and Three other Bishops, arrived at _Rome_, with Three Letters for _Innocent_; _viz._ one from _Chrysostom_ himself, another from the Bishops of his Communion, and the Third from the whole Clergy of _Constantinople_. _Chrysostom_, in his Letter, which is still to be seen in his Works, and in those of _Palladius_, who writ the History of his Persecution, after giving _Innocent_ an Account of the Storm his Enemies had raised against him, intreats him to declare such wicked Proceedings void and null, to pronounce all who had any Share in them punishable, according to the Ecclesiastical Laws, and to continue to him the Marks of his Charity and Communion. In the Title and Close of the Letter, he addresses himself to one, but every-where else to more Persons, the Letter having been written, as appears from the Copy in _Palladius_[1413], not to _Innocent_ alone, but to him, to _Venerius_ of _Milan_, and _Chromatius_ of _Aquileia_, Bishops of the Three chief Sees in the West.

[Sidenote: Innocent_’s Answer to_ Chrysostom_’s Letter_.]

_Innocent_, acting with his usual Prudence and Circumspection, in his Answer to the above-mentioned Letters, declared, that he admitted the Bishops of both Parties to his Communion, from which he could exclude no Man till he was lawfully judged and condemned; and that therefore, to compose all Differences, and leave no room for Complaints on either Side, it was fit a Council should be assembled, consisting of the Western as well as the Eastern Bishops. The other Bishops of _Italy_, to whom _Chrysostom_ had written, returned much the same Answer[1414], following therein the Advice, which _Chrysostom_ himself had given to the Bishops of his Party; _viz._ that they should communicate with his Enemies, to prevent Divisions in the Church, but not sign his Condemnation, because he did not think himself guilty[1415]. _Innocent_’s Answer to _Theophilus_ was in Words to the same Effect. His Letter to _Chrysostom_ was carried into the East by _Demetrius_ Bishop of _Pessinus_, who took care to shew it every-where, to the end it might be every-where known, that the _Roman_ Church still communicated with that holy Bishop[1416].

[Sidenote: Theophilus _writes to_ Innocent.]

A few Days after _Innocent_ had answered _Chrysostom_’s Letter, _Petrus_, one of _Theophilus_’s Presbyters, and _Martyrius_ Deacon of the Church of _Constantinople_, arrived at _Rome_, with Letters from _Theophilus_, and the Acts of _Chrysostom_’s Deposition by the Council _ad Quercum_. From these it appeared, that the Council had consisted of Thirty-six Bishops, whereof Twenty-nine were _Egyptians_, and over these _Theophilus_ had, as their Metropolitan, too great an Influence; that _Chrysostom_ had been condemned without being heard, and that nothing had been laid to his Charge, deserving so severe and exemplary a Punishment. [Sidenote: Innocent_'s Answer to_ Theophilus.] _Innocent_ therefore, having read them, with the utmost Indignation, answered _Theophilus_ in a few Words; that he was determined, as he had notified to him by his former Letter, to communicate both with him and his Brother _John_; that he could by no means depart from the Communion of the latter, till he was lawfully judged and condemned; that a Council was to be soon held, before which it was incumbent upon _Theophilus_ to make good his Charge, and the Steps he had hitherto taken, by the Canons and Decrees of the Council of _Nice_, since the _Roman_ Church admitted no others[1417]. [Sidenote: _Letters from the Bishops of_ Chrysostom_’s Party to_ Innocent.] With this Letter _Petrus_ and _Martyrius_ returned to _Constantinople_, whence arrived at _Rome_, soon after their Departure from that City, _Theoctecnus_, a Presbyter of the Church of _Constantinople_, and one of _Chrysostom_’s Friends, with Letters from Twenty-five Bishops, informing _Innocent_, that _Chrysostom_ had been driven a Second time from his See; that he had been conducted by a Band of Soldiers to _Cucusus_, and confined to that Place; and that the great Church had been consumed by Fire, the very Day he was carried out of _Constantinople_. _Innocent_ was greatly affected with this Account, and shed many Tears in reading it. But as these Troubles and Disorders were fomented by some great Men at the Court either of _Arcadius_ or _Honorius_, and a Misunderstanding was then subsisting between the Two Brothers, or their Ministers, he concluded, that his Endeavours towards the restoring of Peace and Unity would prove unsuccessful, and might even blow the Fire, which already burnt with so much Violence, into a greater Flame. [Sidenote: _Who sends Letters of Communion to them._] On these Considerations he wisely forbore making any Application for the present to _Honorius_, and only sent Letters of Communion to _Chrysostom_, and the Bishops, who had espoused his Cause[1418]. [Sidenote: _Letters from_ Acacius _to_ Innocent.] These Letters were delivered to _Theoctecnus_, who was scarce gone, when one _Paternus_, who styled himself a Presbyter of the Church of _Constantinople_, arrived at _Rome_, with Letters from _Acacius_, who had been intruded into the See of _Constantinople_, and from some other Bishops of his Party, charging _Chrysostom_ with setting Fire to the _Basilic_ or Great Church. So barefaced a Calumny provoked _Innocent_ to such a Degree, that he would neither hear _Paternus_, nor return an Answer to the Letters he had brought.

[Sidenote: Chrysostom_’s Friends cruelly persecuted_.]

In the mean time a most cruel Persecution was railed at _Constantinople_, against _Chrysostom_’s Friends, refusing to communicate with _Acacius_, _Theophilus_, and _Porphyrius_, who had intruded himself into the vacant See of _Antioch_, and, in Defiance of the Canons, maintained, by Force of Arms, the Dignity he had usurped. This Persecution was carried on under a Christian Emperor, with as much Cruelty as any had ever been under the most inveterate Enemies of the Christian Name. The Pretence they made use of was to discover the Authors of the late Fire; and as the Imperial Officers chiefly suspected, or pretended to suspect, _Chrysostom_’s Friends, _Optatus_, who was then Prefect or Governor of _Constantinople_, and a Pagan, laid hold of that Opportunity to vent upon them the implacable Hatred he bore to the Religion they professed. Many therefore, without Distinction of Sex or Condition, were, by his Orders, dragged to the public Gaols, and confined there to Dungeons; others tormented with such Barbarity as to expire on the Rack; and great Numbers, after having undergone repeated Tortures, stript of all their Effects, and banished to the most remote and desolate Places of the Empire.

[Sidenote: _Two Edicts enacted against them._]