Agde, Council Of
Agde, Council of
Held in 506 at Agatha or Agde in Languedoc, under the presidency of St. Caesarius of Arlos. It was attended by thirty-five bishops, and its forty-seven genuine canons deal with ecclesiastical discipline. One of its canons (the seventh), forbidding ecclesiastics to sell or alienate the property of the church whence they drew their living, seems to be the earliest indication of the later system of benefices. In general, its canons shed light on the moral conditions of the clergy and laity in southern France at the beginning of the transition from the Graeco-Roman social order to that of the new barbarian conquerors. They are also of some importance for the study of certain early ecclesiastical institutions.
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Mansl, VIII, 323 sq; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, 2d. ed. II, 649-660.
THOMAS J. SHAHAN Transcribed by Sonya Warren
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Agde, Council Of
(Concilium Agathense), was held on Sept. 10 or 11, 506. Twenty -four bishop: were present, and ten deputies of absent bishops from different provinces of Gaul, which at this time was under the dominion of the Visigoths. Coesarius, bishop of Aries, presided. In this council the discipline of the Church was treated of, and forty-seven canons were drawn up, confirming the discipline already established in many other councils. Of these, the 12th enjoins fasting every day in Lent, Sundays excepted. The 16th forbids the making any person deacon under twenty-five years of age without the consent’ of his wife, and a promise of continence. The 17th forbids ordination of bishops or priests under thirty years of age. The 18th orders all lay persons to communicate at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. The 19th forbids any woman to take the veil under forty years of age. The 20th forbids the clergy to wear long hair, and orders the archdeacon to cause that of the disobedient to be cut. The 27th forbids the establishment of any monastery without the consent of the bishop, and the. ordination of a monk without the consent of his abbot. The 31st orders that those persons who, having been at variance for a long time, shall refuse to be reconciled, shall be excommunicated. The 34th orders that converted Jews shall remain eight months in the rank of catechumens before they are baptized. The 39th forbids persons in holy orders to attend wedding festivities. The 44th forbids a priest to bless the people or a penitent in church. See Labbe and Cossart, Concilia Sacrosanta, iv,1381.