Bonaventure

Quaestio III. Utrum simoniacus episcopus aliquem ordinem possit vendere.

Tertio quaeritur, utrum simoniacus episcopus aliquem valeat ordinem vendere. Et quod sic, videtur:

1. Quoniam nihil prohibetur, nisi quod fieri est possibile, alioquin frustra prohibetur; sed sacri ordinis venditio prohibetur — Causa prima, quaestione prima¹ Calixtus prohibet: « Sanctorum, inquit, Patrum exempla sequentes, ordinari quemquam in Ecclesia Dei vel promoveri per pecuniam, auctoritate sedis apostolicae modis omnibus prohibemus » — ergo etc.

2. Item, quod potest furtive accipi potest etiam pecunia emi et vendi; sed ordo sacer potest furtive accipi, sicut dicitur Extra, de Eo qui furtive ordinem suscepit², ubi cum eis dispensatur, si ingrediantur religionem, quod possunt in susceptis ordinibus ministrare: ergo etc.

3. Item, illud quod in humana dispensatione consistit, potest emi et vendi, sicut etiam liberaliter ministrari³; sed ordinum collatio in humana dispensatione consistit: ergo potest emi et vendi: ergo simoniace dari.

4. Item, character ordinis stat cum quantacumque

culpa et malitia, ergo et potestas ordinandi et ordinem suscipiendi: ergo quantacumque sit in aliquo simoniaca⁴ pravitas, non videtur dationem vel susceptionem ordinis impedire.

Contra: 1. Gregorius dicit, et habetur Causa prima, quaestione prima⁵: « Quicumque studet pretii datione sacrum ordinem accipere, non est sacerdos; sed inaniter tantummodo dici concupiscit »: ergo per simoniam ordo non potest suscipi, ergo nec simoniacus dare.

2. Item, Leo Papa sic arguit, Causa prima, quaestione prima⁶: « Gratia, si non gratis datur vel accipitur, gratia non est; simoniaci autem non gratis accipiunt: igitur gratiam, quae maxime in ecclesiasticis ordinibus operatur, non accipiunt. Si autem non accipiunt, non habent; si autem non habent, nec gratis nec non gratis cuiquam dare possunt ».

3. Item, dona Spiritus sancti sunt in potestate Dei, non hominis — ideo enim sancti Spiritus dicuntur et sunt, quia ipse ea donat — ergo nemo potest ea habere nisi a Spiritu sancto; sed Spiritus sanctus, cum sit liberalissimus, nihil potest vendere neque vendit: ergo eius dona nec pecunia possunt vendi nec pretio comparari. Si ergo ordo donum Spiritus sancti est, impossibile est, ipsum pretio vendi vel emi: ergo nec ab aliquo simoniaco dari⁷.

4. Item, in sacris ordinibus, scilicet diaconatu et sacerdotio, Spiritus sanctus datur, quod patet per hoc quod dicitur ibi⁸: Accipite Spiritum sanctum; sed Spiritus sanctus non potest vendi: ergo nec ordines sacri, qui etiam eius datione conferuntur. Probatio minoris: quod potest emi et vendi potest in servitutem redigi; sed Spiritus sanctus non potest redigi in servitutem: ergo etc.

Quaeritur igitur, cum simonia sit studiosa voluntas emendi vel vendendi spirituale⁹, quomodo possit incidere in sacrorum ordinum collatione, vel aliorum spiritualium, cum illa, ut videtur, vendi non possint.

Conclusio.

Episcopus simoniacus simoniace ordines dare potest.

Respondeo: Ad praedictorum intelligentiam est notandum, quod spirituale dicitur dupliciter¹⁰: uno modo, quod est spirituale pure, ut gratia et virtutes et dona; et hoc nec de facto nec de iure vendi potest, immo si quis habens vellet emere, non solum non acquireret amplius, sed etiam quod haberet amitteret. — Alio modo spirituale est quod adiungitur, scilicet rei corporali; quae tamen ratione illius spiritualis consecratur et accipit rationem spiritualis; et hoc, quia spirituale, de iure non potest vendi, pro eo quod non potest poni sub pretio, de facto tamen ratione rei corporalis vendi potest; et talia sunt Sacramenta ecclesiastica. Quoddam est spirituale, quod adiungitur rei corporali, quae tamen habet rationem rei temporalis, ut calix consecratus, vel etiam ius patronatus; quia ibi consecratio iuncta est argento, et ius patronatus fundo; et illud dicitur spirituale, quia spirituali annexum; et hoc de facto vendi potest, de iure non potest vendi, tamen potest cum eo cui adiunctum est, in venditione transire. Calix enim consecratus vendi potest, ita tamen, quod consecratio non vendatur, sed argenti valor; et fundus vendi potest, cui annexum est ius patronatus, sed non ipsum ius patronatus de iure, quin committatur simonia¹¹.

His praenotatis, ad ordines veniendum est, in quibus est aliquid de primo genere, scilicet gratia sanctificans, aliquid de secundo, scilicet potestas ministerialis, per aliquod signum exterius dispensata, cui inseparabiliter est adiuncta¹². Primam impossibile est pretio comparare nec vendere; secundam vero possibile est pro pretio dari, quia inseparabiliter est adiuncta exteriori Sacramento; et cum illud possit pro pecunia dari, potest et illa potestas vendi. — Et sic patet, quod simoniacus simoniace ordines dare potest.

1. 2. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur de Gregorio et de Leone Papa, patet responsio, quod loquuntur de gratia gratum faciente, quae non potest nisi gratis dari, et haec est quae sacrum facit; non¹³ quantum ad potestatem, quae iuncta est rei exteriori positae in hominis dispensatione.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur de donis Spiritus sancti etc., dicendum, quod dupliciter est loqui de huiusmodi donis gratis datis¹⁴: aut ratione sui, aut ratione annexi; et secundum hoc duplicem habent dispensatorem: quantum ad se habent dispensatorem Spiritum sanctum, qui characterem imprimit, vel totam Trinitatem; quantum vero ad annexum

dispensatorem habent hominem purum. Et primus nunquam vendit, sed secundus vendere potest annexum illi quod est quodam modo spirituale, et propter illud emitur; et ideo ipsa dona dicitur vendere et potest, cum in eius potestate commissa sint temporalia dispensanda.

4. Ad illud quod obiicitur ultimo, quod Spiritus sanctus non potest redigi in servitutem; dicendum, quod in se ipso vendi non potest, tamen eius effectus vendi possunt, pro eo quod sunt in humano dominio constituti. — Et sic concedendum est, veros ordines a simoniacis posse dari quamvis non dentur nec recipiantur ad utilitatem, sed potius ad damnationem, et bonum convertatur eis in malum¹⁵.

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Question III. Whether a simoniac bishop can sell any order.

Thirdly it is asked, whether a simoniac bishop is able to sell any order. And that he can, it seems:

1. Because nothing is forbidden except what is possible to be done, otherwise it is forbidden in vain; but the selling of a sacred order is forbidden — for in Cause I, Question I¹ Calixtus forbids: "Following the examples of the holy Fathers, we forbid by every means, on the authority of the apostolic see, that anyone be ordained in the Church of God or promoted by money" — therefore etc.

2. Likewise, what can be received furtively can also be bought and sold for money; but a sacred order can be received furtively, as is said in the Extra [Decretals], "On one who furtively received an order"², where a dispensation is granted to such men, if they enter religion, that they can minister in the orders received: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, that which consists in human dispensation can be bought and sold, just as it can also be freely administered³; but the conferral of orders consists in human dispensation: therefore it can be bought and sold: therefore given simoniacally.

4. Likewise, the character of an order stands together with any culpability and malice whatsoever, therefore also the power of ordaining and of receiving an order: therefore however great the simoniacal⁴ depravity may be in someone, it does not seem to impede the giving or the reception of an order.

On the contrary: 1. Gregory says, and it is held in Cause I, Question I⁵: "Whoever strives to receive a sacred order by the giving of a price is not a priest; but only vainly does he desire to be called one": therefore an order cannot be received through simony, therefore neither can a simoniac give it.

2. Likewise, Pope Leo argues thus, Cause I, Question I⁶: "Grace, if it is not given or received freely, is not grace; but simoniacs do not receive freely: therefore the grace which operates most of all in ecclesiastical orders they do not receive. But if they do not receive it, they do not have it; and if they do not have it, they can give it to no one, neither freely nor not freely."

3. Likewise, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are in the power of God, not of man — for they are called and are the gifts of the Holy Spirit precisely because He gives them — therefore no one can have them except from the Holy Spirit; but the Holy Spirit, since He is most liberal, can sell nothing nor does He sell: therefore His gifts can neither be sold for money nor purchased for a price. If therefore an order is a gift of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for it to be sold or bought for a price: therefore neither can it be given by any simoniac⁷.

4. Likewise, in the sacred orders, namely the diaconate and the priesthood, the Holy Spirit is given, which is clear from what is said there⁸: Receive the Holy Spirit; but the Holy Spirit cannot be sold: therefore neither can the sacred orders, which are also conferred by His giving. Proof of the minor: what can be bought and sold can be reduced to servitude; but the Holy Spirit cannot be reduced to servitude: therefore etc.

It is asked therefore, since simony is the deliberate will of buying or selling something spiritual⁹, how it can occur in the conferral of sacred orders, or of other spiritual things, since these, as it seems, cannot be sold.

Conclusion.

A simoniac bishop can give orders simoniacally.

I respond: For the understanding of the aforesaid it must be noted that "spiritual" is said in two ways¹⁰: in one way, that which is purely spiritual, as grace and the virtues and gifts; and this can be sold neither in fact nor by right, indeed if someone possessing it should wish to buy it, not only would he acquire nothing more, but he would even lose what he had. — In another way, "spiritual" is that which is joined [to something], namely to a corporeal thing; which nevertheless by reason of that spiritual thing is consecrated and receives the character of the spiritual; and this, because it is spiritual, cannot by right be sold, for the reason that it cannot be set under a price, yet in fact by reason of the corporeal thing it can be sold; and such are the ecclesiastical Sacraments. There is a certain spiritual thing which is joined to a corporeal thing, which nevertheless has the character of a temporal thing, as a consecrated chalice, or also the right of patronage; because there the consecration is joined to the silver, and the right of patronage to the land; and that is called spiritual because it is annexed to something spiritual; and this can in fact be sold, by right it cannot be sold, yet it can pass in a sale together with that to which it is joined. For a consecrated chalice can be sold, yet in such a way that the consecration is not sold, but the value of the silver; and a piece of land can be sold to which the right of patronage is annexed, but not the right of patronage itself by right, without simony being committed¹¹.

These things being premised, we must come to orders, in which there is something of the first kind, namely sanctifying grace, and something of the second, namely the ministerial power, dispensed through some exterior sign, to which it is inseparably joined¹². The first it is impossible to purchase or sell for a price; but the second it is indeed possible to give for a price, because it is inseparably joined to the exterior Sacrament; and since that can be given for money, that power too can be sold. — And so it is clear that a simoniac can give orders simoniacally.

1. 2. To that, then, which is objected concerning Gregory and Pope Leo, the response is clear, that they are speaking of grace that makes pleasing [gratia gratum faciens], which cannot be given except freely, and this is what makes [the order] sacred; not¹³ as regards the power, which is joined to the exterior thing placed in the dispensation of man.

3. To that which is objected concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit etc., it must be said that there are two ways of speaking of gifts of this kind that are freely given¹⁴: either by reason of themselves, or by reason of what is annexed; and according to this they have a twofold dispenser: as regards themselves they have as dispenser the Holy Spirit, who imprints the character, or the whole Trinity; but as regards what is annexed

they have as dispenser a mere man. And the first never sells, but the second can sell what is annexed to that which is in a certain way spiritual, and on account of which it is bought; and therefore the gifts themselves are said to be sold, and he can [sell them], since temporal things to be dispensed have been committed to his power.

4. To that which is objected lastly, that the Holy Spirit cannot be reduced to servitude; it must be said that in Himself He cannot be sold, yet His effects can be sold, for the reason that they are established under human dominion. — And so it must be conceded that true orders can be given by simoniacs, although they are neither given nor received unto benefit, but rather unto damnation, and the good is turned for them into evil¹⁵.

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