# Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent/Session XXIII/Reformation

DECREE CONCERNING REFORMATION.
The same sacred and holy Synod of Trent, pursuing the matter of Reformation, ordains and decrees that the things following be at present decreed.
CHAPTER I.
The Negligence of Pastors of Churches in residing is variously punished: Provision is made for the care of souls.
Whereas it is by divine precept enjoined on all, to whom the cure of souls is committed, to know their own ​sheep; to offer sacrifice for them; and, by the preaching of the divine word, by the administration of the sacraments, and by the example of all good works, to feed them; to have a fatherly care for the poor and for other distressed persons, and to apply themselves to all other pastoral duties; all which [offices] cannot be rendered and fulfilled by those who neither watch over nor stand by their own flock, but, after the manner of hirelings, abandon it; the sacred and holy synod admonishes and exhorts, that, mindful of the divine precepts, and made ensamples to the flock, they feed and rule in judgment and in truth. And lest those things which have been already elsewhere holily and usefully sanctioned, concerning residence, under Paul III., of happy memory, may be wrested to meanings alien from the mind of the sacred and holy synod, as if by force of that decree it were lawful to be absent during five continuous months; the sacred and holy synod, adhering to those [decrees], declares, that all persons who are, under what name and title soever, even though they be cardinals of the holy Roman Church, set over any patriarchal, primatial, metropolitan, and cathedral churches whatsoever, are obliged to personal residence in their own church, or diocese, where they shall be bound to discharge the office enjoined them; and may not absent themselves save for the causes and in the manner below stated. For whereas Christian charity, urgent necessity, due obedience, and the evident utility of the Church, or of the commonwealth, require and demand that some at certain times be absent, this same sacred and holy synod ordains, that these causes of lawful absence are to be approved of in writing by the most blessed Roman Pontiff, or by the metropolitan, or, in his absence, by the oldest resident suffragan bishop, who shall also be bound to approve of the absence of the metropolitan; except when such absence happens on account of some employment and office in the state attached to the bishoprics; the causes of which absence being notorious, and sometimes sudden, it will not be necessary even that these be notified to the metropolitan. To the same, however, it shall belong, conjointly with the provincial council, to judge of the permissions granted by ​self, or by his suffragan, and to see that no one abuse that right, and that transgressors are punished with the canonical penalties. Meanwhile let those about to depart remember to make such provision for their sheep, as that, as far as is possible, they may sustain no injury through their absence. But, inasmuch as those who are only absent for a short period, are, according to the expression of the ancient canons, not considered to be absent, in that they are about to return immediately; the sacred and holy synod wills, that that term of absence, whether continuous or interrupted, ought by no means to exceed two, or at most three, months; except for the above-mentioned causes; and that regard be had that it be done from a just cause, and without any detriment to the flock: which, whether it be so, the synod leaves to the conscience of those who withdraw themselves, which it hopes will be religious and timorous; seeing that their hearts are open before God, whose work they are bound, at their peril, not to do deceitfully. In the mean time it admonishes and exhorts the same in the Lord, that, unless their episcopal duties call them to some other part of their own diocese, they on no account be absent from their own cathedral church during the period of the Advent of the Lord, of Lent, the Nativity, of the Lord's Ressurection, of Pentecost, and of Corpus Christi, on which days especially the sheep ought to be refreshed, and to rejoice in the Lord at the presence of the shepherd.
But if any one, which it is to be hoped will never happen, shall be absent, contrary to the regulation of this decree, the sacred and holy synod ordains, that, in addition to the other penalties imposed upon and renewed against non-residents, under Paul III., and the guilt of deadly sin which [such offender] incurs, he acquires no fruits, in proportion to the time of his absence, and that he cannot, even though no other declaration follow, retain them as his with a safe conscience; but that he is bound, or, in his default, his ecclesiastical superior for him, to apply them unto the fabric of the churches, or to the poor of the place; every kind of agreement, or composition as it is called, in regard of ill-gotten fruits, being prohibited, whereby the aforesaid fruits even ​might be wholly, or in part, restored to him; any privileges soever, granted to any college or fabric, notwithstanding.
The same also, both as regards the guilt, the loss of fruits, and the penalties, the sacred and holy synod wholly declares and decrees, in regard to inferior curates, and all others soever who hold any ecclesiastical benefice having cure of souls; in such wise however, as that, whensoever it shall happen that they are absent for a cause that has been first made known to, and approved by, the bishop, they shall leave, with a due assignment of stipend, a suitable vicar, to be approved of by the said ordinary. And they shall not obtain permission to be absent, which is to be granted in writing and gratuitously, beyond a period of two months, except for some weighty cause. And if, after having been cited, even though not personally, by an edict, they shall be contumacious, [the synod] wills, that the ordinaries be at liberty to constrain them by ecclesiastical censures, and by the sequestration and subtraction of fruits, and by other legal remedies, even as far as deprivation; and that the execution hereof shall not be able to be suspended by any privilege soever, license, claim as a domestic, exemption, though even upon the ground of any maimer of benefice, by any compact, or statute, even though confirmed by oath or by what authority soever, by any custom, even though immemorial (which is to be looked upon rather as a corruption), or by any appeal, or inhibition, even in the Roman Court, or by virtue of the constitution of Eugenius. Finally, the holy synod commands, that both that decree under Paul III., and this present, shall be published in the provincial and episcopal councils; for it desires that things which so nearly concern the office of pastors, and the salvation of souls, be frequently impressed upon the ears and minds of all men; that so, with God's help, they may never hereafter be abolished through the injury of time, the forgetfulness of men, or by desuetude.
CHAPTER II.
Those set over Churches shall receive the Rite of Consecration within Three Months; in which Place the Consecration is to be performed.
Those who, under what name or title soever, even though they be cardinals of the holy Roman Church, have been set over cathedral, or superior churches, if they shall not have received the rite of consecration within three months, shall be bound to the restoration of the fruits received; if they shall have neglected to do this within three other months afterwards, they shall be by the very fact deprived of their churches. And their consecration, if performed out of the Court of Rome, shall be celebrated in the church to which they have been promoted, or in the province, if it can conveniently be done.
CHAPTER III.
Bishops, except in Cases of Illness, shall confer Orders in person.
Bishops shall confer orders in person; but, should they be hindered by illness, they shall not send their subjects to another bishop for ordination, unless they have been already approved and examined.
CHAPTER IV.
Who are to he initiated hy the first Tonsure.
None shall be initiated by the first tonsure, who have not received the sacrament of Confirmation, and who have not been taught the rudiments of the faith; and who do not know how to read and write; and concerning whom there is not a probable conjecture, that they have chosen this manner of life, not that they may fraudulently withdraw themselves from secular jurisdiction, but that they may render unto God a faithful service.
CHAPTER V.
Touching the Matters which which those who are to he ordained ought to he furnished.
Those who are to be promoted to minor orders shall have a good testimonial from their parish priest, and from the ​master of the school in which they are educated. But those who are to be raised to any one of the greater orders, shall, a month before ordination, repair to the bishop, who shall commission the parish priest, or such other person as may seem to be more expedient, haying stated publicly in the church the names and the desire of those who wish to be promoted, diligently to inform himself, from persons worthy of credit, touching the birth, age, morals, and life of those to be ordained, and to transmit to the bishop himself, as soon as possible, letters testimonial, containing the actual inquiry that has been made.
CHAPTER VI
The Age of Fourteen Tears is required for on Ecclesiastical Benefice; who is to enjoy the Privilege of the Court,
No one, after being initiated by the first tonsure, or even after being constituted in minor orders, shall be able to hold a benefice before his fourteenth year. Furthermore, he shall not enjoy the privilege of the court, unless he have an ecclesiastical benefice; or, wearing the ecclesiastical dress and tonsure, he serves in some church by the bishop's command, or lives with the bishop's permission in an ecclesiastical seminary, or in some school, or university, on the way as it were to receive the greater orders. But as regards married clerks, the constitution of Boniface VIII., which begins, Clerici qui cum tmicis, shall be observed; provided these clerks, being deputed by the bishop to the service or ministry of some church, serve and minister therein, and make use of the clerical dress and tonsure: no privilege, or custom, even immemorial, herein availing any one.
CHAPTER VII.
Those to be ordained are to be examined by Persons skilled in Divine and Human Law.
The holy synod, adhering to the footsteps of the ancient canons, decrees, that when a bishop has arranged to hold an ordination, all who may wish to be received into the sacred ministry shall be summoned to the city, on the Thursday ​before the said ordination, or when the bishop shall think fit. And the bishop, taking to his aid priests and other prudent persons, skilled in the divine law, and practised in the sanctions of the Church, shall diligently investigate and examine the parentage, person, age, education, morals, doctrine, and faith of those to be ordained.
CHAPTER VIII.
How, and by whom, each ought to be ordained.
Ordinations of sacred orders shall be celebrated publicly, at the times ordained by law, and in the cathedral church, the canons of that church being invited and present for that purpose; but, if they are celebrated in some other place of the diocese, the clergy of the place are to be present; and the leading church shall always, as far as is possible, be made use of. But each one shall be ordained by his own bishop. And if any one seek to be promoted by another [bishop], this shall by no means be allowed him, even under the pretext of any general or special rescript or privilege soever, even at the appointed times; unless his probity and morals be recommended by the testimony of his own ordinary. If it be otherwise, he who ordains him shall be suspended from the conferring of orders during a year, and he who has been ordained from exercising the orders received, for as long a period as shall seem expedient to his ordinary.
CHAPTER IX.
A Bishop ordaining one of his own Household shall forthwith and really confer upon him, a Benefice.
A bishop may not ordain one of his own household, who is not his subject, unless he has lived with him for the space of three years; and he shall really, and without fraud of any kind, straightway confer on him a benefice; any custom, even though immemorial, to the contrary notwithstanding.
CHAPTER X.
It shall not hereafter be lawful for abbots, or for any other persons soever, howsoever exempted, being within the limits of any diocese, even though they be said to be of no diocese, or to be exempted, to confer the tonsure, or minor orders, upon any one who is not a regular subject to them; nor shall the said abbots, and other exempted persons, or any colleges, or chapters soever, even those of cathedral churches, grant letters dimissory to any secular clerks, that they may be ordained by others. But the ordination of all these persons shall appertain to the bishops within the limits of whose diocese they are, all things which are contained in the decrees of this holy synod being observed; any privileges, prescriptions, or customs, even though immemorial, notwithstanding. And [the synod] ordains, that the penalty imposed on those, who, contrary to the decree of this holy synod under Paul III., obtain, during the vacancy of the episcopal see, letters dimissory from the chapter, be also extended to those who shall obtain the said letters, not from the chapter, but from any other persons soever, who, during the vacancy of the see, succeed to the jurisdiction of the bishop, in place of the chapter. And they who grant letters dimissory contrary to the form of this decree, shall be by the very fact suspended from their office and benefice during a year.
CHAPTER XI.
The Interstices, and certain other Precepts to he observed in the receiving of Minor Orders.
The minor orders shall be given to such as at least understand the Latin language, but with the appointed interstices of time, unless the bishop shall think it more expedient otherwise; that so they may be taught the more accurately how great is the responsibility of this their state of life; and may exercise themselves in each office, according to the appointment of the bishop; and this in that church to ​which they shall be assigned, unless they chance to be absent on account of their studies; and may thus ascend from step to step: that so with their age their worthiness of life and greater learning may increase; of which they will give proof both by the example of their good conduct, by their assiduous ministry in the church, and their greater reverence towards priests and the superior orders, as well as by a more frequent communion than heretofore of the Body of Christ. And whereas from hence is the entrance unto higher grades and to the most sacred mysteries, no one shall be initiated therein, whom the promise of knowledge does not show to be worthy of the greater orders. And such shall not be promoted to sacred orders till a year after the reception of the last degree of minor orders; unless necessity, or the advantage of the Church, according to the bishop's judgment, shall require otherwise.
CHAPTER XII.
Age required for the Greater Orders; the Worthy only to be admitted.
No one shall for the future be promoted to the order of subdeaconship before his twenty-second year; to that of deaconship before his twenty-third; to that of priesthood before his twenty-fifth. Nevertheless, bishops are to know, that not all who have attained to that age must needs be admitted to these orders, but those only who are worthy, and whose approved life is an old age. Regulars likewise shall not be ordained under the above age, nor without a diligent examination by the bishop; all privileges soever in this regard being entirely set aside.
CHAPTER XIII.
On the Manner of Ordination of a Subdeacon and Deacon: on no one shall two Sacred Orders be conferred on the same day.
Such as possess a good testimonial, and have been already approved in minor orders, and are instructed in letters, and in those things which pertain to the exercise of their orders, shall be ordained subdeacons and deacons. They shall have ​a hope, with God's help, to be able to live continently; they shall serve in the churches to which they may be assigned; and are to know that it is most highly becoming that, after having ministered at the altar, they should receive the sacred communion, at least on the Lord's days and solemnities. Those who have been promoted to the sacred order of the subdeaconship shall not, until they have been employed therein during at least a year, be permitted to ascend to a higher grade, unless it shall seem otherwise to the bishop. Two sacred orders shall not be conferred on the same day, even upon regulars; any privileges and indults soever, to whomsoever granted, notwithstanding.
CHAPTER XIV.
Who are to be admitted to the Priesthood: the Office of those to be admitted.
CHAPTER XV.
No one shall hear Confessions unless approved by the Ordinary.
Although priests in their ordination receive the power of absolving from sins; nevertheless, the holy snoyd decrees, that no one, even a regular, is able to hear the confessions of seculars, not even of priests, and that he is not to be reputed fit thereunto, unless he either holds a parochial benefice, or is, by the bishops, through an examination, if they shall think it necessary, or in some other manner, judged competent; and has obtained their approval, which shall be granted gratuitously; any privileges, and custom soever, though immemorial, notwithstanding.
CHAPTER XVI.
The Uselees and the Vagrant are hindered from the Orders of the Church.
Whereas no one ought to be ordained, who, in the judgment of his own bishop, is not useful or necessary for his churches, the holy synod, adhering to the footsteps of the sixth canon of the Council of Chalcedon, ordains, that no one shall hereafter be ordained, unless he be attached to that church, or pious place, for the need, or utility whereof he is promoted; there to discharge his duties, and not wander about without any certain abode. And if he shall quit that place without consulting the bishop, he shall be interdicted the exercise of sacred [orders]. Furthermore, no clerk, who is a stranger, shall, without letters commendatory from his own ordinary, be admitted by any bishop to celebrate divine service, and to administer the sacraments.
CHAPTER XVII.
In what Manner the Exercise of the Minor Orders is to be restored.
That the functions of holy orders, from the deacon to the door-keeper, which have been laudably received in the Church from the times of the apostles, and which have been for some time interrupted in many places, may again be brought into use according to the sacred canons; and that they may not be traduced by heretics as idle; the holy ​synod, burning with the desire of restoring that pristine usage, decrees that, for the future, such ministries shall not be exercised but by those who are constituted in the said orders; and it exhorts in the Lord all and each of the prelates of the churches, and enjoins them, that they take care to restore such functions, as far as can conveniently be done, in the cathedral, collegiate, and parochial churches of their dioceses, where the number of the people and the revenues of the church shall be able to support it; and, to those who exercise those functions, they snail assign stipeends out of some part of the revenues of any simple benfices, or those of the fabric of the church, if the revenues allow of it, or out of the revenues of both together, of which [stipends] they may, if they be negligent, be mulcted in a part, or be wholly deprived thereof, according to the judgment of the Ordinary. And if there should not be immarried clerks at hand to exercise the functions of the four minor orders, their place may be supplied by married clerks of approved life; provided they have not been twice married, be competent to discharge those duties, and wear the tonsure and the clerical dress in church.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Whereas the age of youth, unless it be rightly trained, is prone to pursue the pleasures of the world; and unless it be formed, from its tender years, unto piety and religion, before habits of vice have wholly taken possession of men, it never will perfectly, and without the greatest, and almost singular, help of Almighty God, persevere in ecclesiastical discipline; the holy synod ordains, that all cathedral, metropolitan, and other churches greater than these, shall be bound, each according to the measure of its means and the extent of the diocese, to maintain, to educate religiously, and to instruct in ecclesiastical discipline, a certain number of youths of their city and diocese, or, if [that number] cannot there be found, of that province, in a college to be chosen by the bishop for this purpose near the said churches, ​or in some other convenient place. And into this college shall be received such as are at least twelve years old, born in lawful wedlock, and who know how to read and write competently, and whose disposition and inclination afford a hope that they will always serve in the ecclesiastical ministries. And it wishes that the children of the poor be principally selected; though it does not however exclude those of the more wealthy, provided they be maintained at their own expense, and carry before them a desire of serving God and the Church. The bishop, having divided these youths into as many classes as shall seem fit to him, according to their number, age, and progress in ecclesiastical discipline, shall, when it seems convenient to him, assign some of them to the ministry of the churches, [and] keep the others in the college to be instructed; and shall supply the place of those who have been withdrawn, by others; that so this college may be a perpetual seminary of ministers of God. And to the end that the youths may be the more conveniently trained in the aforesaid ecclesiastical discipline, they shall always at once wear the tonsure and the clerical dress; they shall learn grammar, singing, ecclesiastical computation, and the other liberal arts; they shall be instructed in sacred Scripture; ecclesiastical books; the homilies of the saints; the manner of administering the sacraments, especially those things which shall seem suited unto hearing confessions; and the forms of the rites and ceremonies. The bishop shall take care that they be every day present at the sacrifice of the mass, and that they confess their sins at least once a month; and receive the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the judgment of their confessor; and on festivals serve in the cathedral and other churches of the place. All which, and other things advantageous and needful unto this object, all bishops shall ordain, with the advice of two of the senior and most discreet canons whom themselves have chosen, as the Holy Spirit shall have suggested; and shall make it their care, by frequent visitation, that the same be always observed. The froward, and incorrigible, and the disseminators of evil morals, they shall punish sharply, even, if necessary by expulsion; and, ​removing all hindrances, they shall carefully attend to whatsoever things appear to tend to preserve and advance so pious and holy an institution. And inasmuch as some certain revenues will be necessary, for raising the fabric of the college, and for paying their salaries to the teachers and servants, and for maintaining the youths, and for other expenses; besides those [funds] which are, in some churches and places, set apart for instructing; or maintaining youths, and which are to be hereby looked upon as applied to this seminary under the said charge of the bishop; the same bishops, with the advice of two of the chapter, of whom one snail be chosen by the bishop, and the other by the chapter itself, and also of two of the clergy of the city, the election of one of whom shall in like manner appertain to the bishop, and of the other to the clergy, shall take away a certain part or portion, out of the entire fruits of the episcopal income, and of the chapter, and of all dignities soever, personates, offices, prebends, portions, abbeys, and priories, of what order soever, even though regular, or of what quality or condition soever they may be, and of hospitals which are conferred under title or administration, according to the constitution of the Council of Vienne, which begins Quia contingit; and of all benefices soever, even those belonging to regulars, even if they be under any right of patronage, even if they be exempted, even if they be of no diocese, or are annexed to other churches, monasteries, hospitals, or to any other pious places, even such as are exempted; as also of [the revenues devoted to] the fabrics of churches, and of other places, and likewise of all other ecclesiastical revenues or proceeds soever, even those of other colleges; in which, however, there are not actually seminaries of scholars, or of teachers, for promoting the common good of the church; (for [the synod] wills that such places be exempted,) except in regard of such revenues as may remain superfluous over and above the fitting support of the said seminaries; or of bodies, or confraternities, which in some places are called schools, and of all monasteries, with the exception of the mendicants; also of the tithes in any way appertaining to laymen, out of which ecclesiastical subsidies are wont to be paid, and to the soldiers of any military body, or order, the brethren of Saint ​John of Jerusalem alone excepted; and they shall apply to, and incorporate with, the said college that portion so deducted, as also certain simple benefices, of what quality and dignity soever they may be, or even prestimonies, or prestimonial portions, as they are called, even before they fall vacant, without prejudice to the divine service, or to those who hold them. And this shall have effect, even if the benefices be reserved or appropriated; nor shall these unions and applications of the said benefices be suspended, or in any way hindered, by the resignation thereof, but shall still in any case have effect, any way in which they may be vacated, even be it in the [Roman] court, and any constitution whatsoever notwithstanding.
And they shall be compelled by the bishop of the place, by ecclesiastical censures, and other legal remedies, even by calling in for this purpose, if it shall seem fit, the help of the secular arm, to pay this portion of benefices, dignities, personates, and of all and each the above-named [revenues], not merely on their own account, but also on account of what pensions soever they may chance to have to pay to others, out of the said revenues or fruits, keeping back, however, a sum equivalent to what they have to pay on account of those said pensions: any privileges, as regards all and singular the above-mentioned premises, exemptions, even such as might require a special derogation, any custom, even immemorial, or any appeal and allegation, which might hinder the execution hereof, notwithstanding. But in case it should happen that, by means of the said unions obtaining their effect, or from some other cause, the said seminary should be found to be wholly or in part endowed, then shall the portion, deducted as above from all benefices, and incorporated by the bishop, be remitted, either wholly or in part, as the actual circumstances shall require. But if the prelates of cathedral and other greater churches should be negligent in erecting the said seminary, and in preserving the same, and should refuse to pay their share; it will be the duty of the archbishop sharply to rebuke the bishop, and to compel him to comply with all the matters aforesaid, and of the provincial synod [to rebuke and compel in like manner] the archbishop, and earnestly to take care that this holy and pious work be, wherever it is possible, as soon as possible ​proceeded with. But the bishop shall annually receive the accounts of the revenues of the said seminary, two deputies from the chapter, and the same number deputed from the celrgy of the city, being present.
Furthermore, in order that provision may be made for the teaching in schools of this nature at less expense, the holy synod ordains, that bishops, archbishops, primates, and other ordinaries of places, shall constrain and compel, even by the subtraction of their fruits, those who possess any professorships of theology, and others to whom is attached the office or lecturing or teaching, to teach those who are to be educated in the said schools, personally, if they be competent, otherwise by competent substitutes to be chosen by the same professors, and to be approved of by the ordinary. And if, in the judgment of the bishop, they be not fit, they shall nominate another who is fit, all power of appeal being set aside. But should they neglect this, the bishop himself shall depute one. And the aforesaid [masters] shall teach those things which shall seem expedient to the Bishop. And, henceforth, those offices, or divinities, which are called professorships of theology, shall not be conferred on any but doctors, or masters, or licentiates in sacred letters or canon law, or on other competent persons, and such as can personally discharge that office; and any provision made otherwise shall be null and void; all privliges and customs soever, even though immemorial, notwithstanding.
But if the churches in any province labour under so great poverty, that, in some of them, a college cannot be erected; the provincial synod, or the metropolitan, with the two oldest suffragans, shall take care to erect one or more colleges, as shall be judged convenient, in the metropolitan church, or in some other more convenient church of the province, out of the revenues of two or more churches, in which singly a college cannot conveniently be established, where the youths of these churches shall be educated.
But in churches which possess ample dioceses, the bishop may have one or more seminaries in the diocese, as shall seem expedient to him; which shall however be entirely ​dependent in all things on the one erected and established in the [episcopal] city.
Lastly, if, either upon occasion of the said unions, or the taxation, or assignment, and incorporation of the said portions, or from some other cause, any difficulty should happen to arise by reason of which the institution, or maintenance of the said seminary may be hindered or disturbed, the bishop, with the deputies as above, or the provincial synod, according to the custom of the country, shall have power, according to the character of the churches and benefices, to regulate and order all and each the matters which shall seem necessary and expedient for the advancement of the said seminary, even so as to modify or enlarge them, if need be.
* ↑ See John x. 14, xxi. 15, seq.
* ↑ Peter v. 3.
* ↑ Jer, xlviii. 10. See Sess. xxii. ch. ix. after the decrees.
* ↑ I e. the ecclesiastical court
* ↑ Cf. 1 Tim. ill. 7.
* ↑ Literally, "at a leap" i. e. omitting some inferior gradation of orders.
* ↑ Dyscolos.
* ↑ Scholasterias. See the abridged edition of Du Cange, vol. vi. p. 117, ed. Halens.