Canons of the Council of Elvira

When the holy and devout bishops had taken their seats in the church of Eliberris, namely: Felix, bishop of Acci; Osius, bishop of Corduba; Sabinus, bishop of Hispalis; Camerimnus, bishop of Tucci; Sinagius, bishop of Epagro; Secundinus, bishop of Castulo; Pardus, bishop of Mentesa; Flavianus, bishop of Eliberris; Cantonius, bishop of Urci; Liberius, bishop of Emerita; Valerius, bishop of Caesaraugusta; Decentius, bishop of Legio; Melantius, bishop of Toletum; Januarius, bishop of Fibularia; Vincentius, bishop of Ossonoba; Quintianus, bishop of Elbora; Succesus, bishop of Eliocroca; Eutychianus, bishop of Basti; Patricius, bishop of Malaca; likewise the presbyters: Restitutus, presbyter of Epora; Natalis, presbyter of Ursona; Maurus, presbyter of Iliturgi; Lamponianus of Carbula; Barbatus of Astigi; Felicissimus of Ateva; Leo of Acinippo; Liberalis of Eliocroca; Januarius of Laurum; Januarianus of Barbe; Victorinus of Egabrum; Titus of Ajune; Eucharius of Municipium; Silvanus of Segalvinia; Victor of Ulia; Januarius of Urci; Leo of Gemella; Turrinus of Castelona; Luxurius of Drona; Emeritus of Baria; Eumantius of Solia; Clementianus of Ossigi; Eutyches of Carthago; Julianus of Corduba: on the day of the Ides of May, all being seated at Eliberris, with the deacons and all the people standing by, all the bishops said:

It was decided among them: whoever, after the faith of saving baptism, being of adult age, has gone to the temple of an idol to commit idolatry, and has done what is a capital crime, since it is of the highest wickedness, it is decided that he shall not receive communion even at the end.

Flamens who, after the faith of the washing and of regeneration, have sacrificed, because they have doubled their crimes, with murder added, or tripled the offense, with adultery joined to it, it is decided that they shall not receive communion even at the end.

Likewise, flamens who have not offered sacrifice but have only provided a public show, since they have abstained from the deadly sacrifices, it is decided that communion be granted to them at the end, after the lawful penance has been done. Likewise, if after penance they have committed adultery, it is decided that communion is not to be given to them any further, lest they seem to have made sport of the Lord's communion.

Likewise, flamens who are catechumens and have abstained from sacrifices, it is decided that after a period of three years they ought to be admitted to baptism.

If any woman, inflamed by the fury of jealousy, has beaten her slave woman with whips so that she pours out her life in agony within three days: since it is uncertain whether she killed her intentionally or by accident, if intentionally, it is decided that she be admitted to communion after seven years, if by accident, after a period of five years, the lawful penance having been done; but if she falls ill within the appointed periods, let her receive communion.

If anyone kills another by sorcery, since he could not accomplish the crime without idolatry, communion is not to be granted to him even at the end.

If by chance any of the faithful, after a lapse into adultery, and after doing penance for the appointed periods, has again committed sexual immorality, it is decided that he shall not have communion even at the end.

Likewise, women who, with no cause preceding, have left their husbands and joined themselves to others shall not receive communion even at the end.

Likewise, a believing woman who has left a believing husband who is an adulterer and takes another is to be forbidden to take him; if she has taken him, let her not receive communion until the one she left has departed from this world, unless perhaps the necessity of illness compels it to be given.

If the woman whom a catechumen leaves has taken a husband, she can be admitted to the font of washing. This is also to be observed with regard to women catechumens. But if the woman who is taken by a man who leaves a blameless wife is one of the faithful, and she knew that he had a wife whom he left without cause, it is decided that communion be given to such a woman at the end.

Within the period of five years, however, if a woman catechumen has fallen gravely ill, it is decided that baptism is to be given to her, not refused.

A mother or parent or any believing woman, if she has practiced procuring, since she has sold another's body, or rather her own, it is decided that she shall not receive communion even at the end.

Virgins who have dedicated themselves to God, if they have broken the covenant of virginity and served that same lust, not understanding what they have committed, it is decided that communion is not to be given to them even at the end. But if, having been persuaded once, or corrupted by the fall of a weak body, such women do penance for the whole time of their life, so as to abstain from intercourse, since they seem rather to have fallen, it is decided that they ought to receive communion at the end.

Virgins who have not guarded their virginity, if they marry and keep as husbands the same men who violated them, since they have violated only the marriage, shall be reconciled after a year without penance; or if they have known other men, since they have committed adultery, it is decided that they ought to be admitted to communion after a period of five years, the lawful penance having been done.

Because of the great number of girls, Christian virgins are by no means to be given in marriage to pagans, lest youth, swelling in its bloom, dissolve into adultery of the soul.

Heretics, if they will not cross over to the catholic church, are not to be given catholic girls; and it is decided that they are not to be given either to Jews or to heretics, because there can be no fellowship of a believer with an unbeliever. If parents act against this prohibition, it is decided that they be excluded for five years.

If any have joined their daughters to priests of idols, it is decided that communion is not to be given to them even at the end.

Bishops, presbyters, and deacons, if, while placed in the ministry, they are found to have committed adultery, it is decided that because of the scandal and because of the profane crime they ought not to receive communion even at the end.

Bishops, presbyters, and deacons are not to leave their places for the sake of trade, nor go round the provinces chasing profitable markets. Certainly, to obtain their livelihood, let them send a son or a freedman or a hired man or a friend or anyone; and if they wish to trade, let them trade within the province.

If any of the clergy is found taking interest, it is decided that he be degraded and excluded. If also a layman is proved to have taken interest, and promises, when rebuked, that he will now stop and not exact it any further, it is decided that pardon be granted him; but if he persists in that wickedness, he is to be cast out of the church.

If anyone living in a city has not come to church for three Sundays, let him be excluded for a short time, so that he may be seen to have been rebuked.

If anyone has gone over from the catholic church to a heresy and has come back again, it is decided that penance is not to be refused him, since he has recognized his sin; let him also do penance for ten years, and after ten years communion ought to be granted him. But if they were taken over as infants, since they did not sin by their own fault, they ought to be received without hesitation.

It is decided that extended fasts be kept every month, except the days of the two months of July and August, because of the weakness of some.

All who have been baptized abroad, since their life is hardly known, it is decided, are not to be promoted to the clergy in foreign provinces.

Everyone who brings confessors' letters, the confessor's name being removed, is to be given letters of communion, because under the glory of this name everyone everywhere unsettles the simple.

It is decided that an error be corrected, so that we keep extended fasts on every Sabbath day.

A bishop, or any other cleric, may have with him only a sister or a daughter who is a virgin dedicated to God; it is decided that he may by no means have a woman from outside the family.

It is decided that a bishop ought not to accept an offering from one who does not communicate.

An energumen who is driven about by a wandering spirit: his name is not to be recited at the altar with the offering, nor is he to be allowed to minister with his own hand in the church.

Those who committed adultery in their youth ought not to be ordained subdeacons, since afterward they might be promoted by stealth to a higher rank; or if any have been ordained in the past, let them be removed.

Young men who after the faith of saving washing have committed adultery, when they have married wives, it is decided, after doing the lawful penance, are to be admitted to communion.

If anyone has fallen through a grave lapse into the ruin of death, it is decided that he ought not to do penance before a presbyter but rather before the bishop; yet when illness compels it, the presbyter must grant communion, and the deacon too, if the priest has ordered him.

It is decided to forbid entirely bishops, presbyters, and deacons, and all clerics placed in the ministry, to abstain from their wives and not to beget children; whoever does so is to be banished from the honor of the clergy.

It is decided that candles are not to be lit by day in a cemetery, for the spirits of the saints are not to be disturbed. Those who do not observe this are to be kept from the communion of the church.

It is decided that women be forbidden to keep night vigils in a cemetery, since often, under the pretext of prayer, they secretly commit wicked deeds.

It is decided that there ought not to be pictures in the church, lest what is worshiped and adored be painted on the walls.

Those who are troubled by unclean spirits, if they are at the point of death, it is decided are to be baptized; if they are believers, communion is to be given them. They are also to be forbidden to light lamps publicly; if they wish to act against the prohibition, let them be kept from communion.

In a place abroad, when sailing, or if there is no church nearby, a believer who has kept his own washing intact and is not twice married may, in the necessity of illness, baptize a catechumen; on condition that, if he survives, he bring him to the bishop, so that he may be perfected through the laying on of hands.

Pagans, if in illness they desire hands to be laid on them, if their life has been in some measure honorable, it is decided that hands be laid on them and that they become Christians.

It is decided to forbid that, when landowners receive their accounts, they credit as received anything that has been given to an idol; if they do so after the prohibition, they are to be kept from communion for a space of five years.

It is decided that the faithful be admonished to forbid, as far as they can, that idols be kept in their houses; but if they fear violence from their slaves, let them at least keep themselves pure; if they do not do this, let them be considered strangers to the church.

Those who come to the first faith of belief, if they are of good conduct, it is decided ought to be admitted to the grace of baptism within a period of two years, unless, when illness compels it, reason requires help to be given more quickly to one in danger or asking for the grace.

It is decided that a wrong practice be corrected according to the authority of the Scriptures, so that we all celebrate the day of Pentecost, lest anyone who does not do so be marked as having introduced a new heresy.

A woman who was once a prostitute and afterward has had a husband, if she has later come to belief, it is decided is to be received without hesitation.

One who was once a catechumen and for an endless time never came to church, if any of the clergy knows him to be a Christian, or some believing witnesses have appeared, it is decided that baptism is not to be denied him, since he seems to have left the old man behind.

If any believer, an apostate, has not come to church for an endless time, yet if he has at some time returned and has not been an idolater, it is decided that he receive communion after ten years.

If any believer who has a wife has committed adultery not once but often, he is to be approached at the end of life; if he promises that he will stop, let communion be given him; if, having recovered, he again commits adultery, it is decided that he may not make sport of the communion of peace any further.

It is decided to correct this, that those who are baptized do not, as used to be done, put coins in the shell, lest the priest seem to sell for a price what he received freely; nor are their feet to be washed by priests or clergy.

It is decided that landowners be admonished not to allow their crops, which they receive from God with thanksgiving, to be blessed by Jews, lest they make our blessing void and weak. If anyone presumes to do so after the prohibition, let him be wholly cast out of the church.

But if any cleric or believer has taken food with Jews, it is decided that he be kept from communion, so that he may be corrected.

If a believer has come from any heresy, he is by no means to be promoted to the clergy; or if any have been ordained in the past, let them without doubt be deposed.

Those who are found to have put up libels in the church are to be anathematized.

It is decided by all that a person receive communion from the bishop by whom he was excluded for some crime; but if another bishop has presumed to admit him, while the one by whom he was deprived of communion has not yet done so or consented, let him know that he will have to answer for such cases among the brothers at the risk of his own standing.

If any parents have broken the faith of a betrothal, let them be excluded for a period of three years; yet if that same bridegroom or bride has been caught in a grave crime, the parents will be excused; if the fault was in them and they have polluted themselves, let the former sentence be kept.

Priests who only wear crowns, and neither sacrifice nor provide anything from their own means for the idols, it is decided are to receive communion after two years.

A magistrate, during the one year in which he holds the duumvirate, it is decided should be forbidden, so that he keep himself away from the church.

Matrons or their husbands are not to give their garments to adorn a worldly procession; and if they do so, let them be excluded for three years.

It is decided that everywhere, and especially in the place where the first see of the episcopate is established, those who present letters of communion be questioned whether all is in order, confirmed by their testimony.

It is to be forbidden that any Christian, like a pagan, go up to the idol of the Capitol for the sake of sacrificing and watch; if he does so, let him be held guilty of the same crime; if he is a believer, let him be received after ten years, the penance having been done.

If anyone has broken idols and been killed on the spot, since it is not written in the Gospel nor will it be found to have ever been done under the apostles, it is decided that he is not to be received into the number of the martyrs.

If anyone after the death of his wife has married her sister, and she is a believer, it is decided that he be kept from communion for five years, unless perhaps the necessity of illness compels peace to be given sooner.

If a charioteer or a pantomime actor wishes to believe, it is decided that they first renounce their arts and only then be received, on condition that they not return to them afterward; if they try to act against the prohibition, let them be cast out of the church.

If any woman, in her husband's absence, has conceived through adultery and after the crime has killed the child, it is decided that communion is not to be given her even at the end, since she has doubled the crime.

If any woman has continued in adultery with another woman's husband until the end of her life, it is decided that communion is not to be given her even at the end; but if she has left him, let her receive communion after ten years, the lawful penance having been done.

If the wife of any cleric has committed adultery, and her husband knew that she was committing adultery and did not immediately cast her out, let him not receive communion even at the end, lest from those who ought to be an example of good conduct there seem to come instruction in wickedness.

If anyone has married his stepdaughter, since it is incest, it is decided that communion is not to be given him even at the end.

It is to be forbidden that any believing woman have either long-haired men or hairdressers; whatever women do this are to be kept from communion.

A woman catechumen, if she has conceived through adultery and has smothered the child, it is decided is to be baptized at the end.

If anyone who has a wife has by chance fallen once, it is decided that he ought to do penance for five years and so be reconciled, unless the necessity of illness compels communion to be given before the time. This is also to be observed with regard to women.

If a wife has committed adultery with her husband's knowledge, it is decided that communion is not to be given to him even at the end; but if he has left her, let him receive communion after ten years, if, knowing her to be an adulteress, he kept her in his house for some time.

To abusers of boys communion is not to be given even at the end.

If any widow has committed adultery and afterward has had the same man as her husband, it is decided that she be reconciled to communion after a period of five years, the lawful penance having been done; if she has left him and married another, communion is not to be given her even at the end; or if the man whom she took is a believer, he shall not receive communion except after ten years, the lawful penance having been done, or if illness compels communion to be given sooner.

If any believer has been an informer, and through his information someone has been proscribed or killed, it is decided that he shall not receive communion even at the end; if the case was lighter, he may receive communion within five years; if he was a catechumen, he shall be admitted to baptism after a period of five years.

A false witness shall be excluded according to the crime; yet if what he alleged was not deadly, and he has proved that he did not keep silent, he shall be excluded for a period of two years; but if he has not proved it, it is decided, when the clergy has been assembled, that he be excluded for five years.

If anyone has attacked a bishop or presbyter or deacon with false charges and has not been able to prove them, communion is not to be given him even at the end.

If anyone has allowed himself to be ordained deacon and afterward has been found out in a deadly crime that he once committed, if he has confessed of his own accord, it is decided that, after doing the lawful penance, he receive communion after three years; but if another has found him out, after five years, having done penance, he ought to receive lay communion.

If any deacon governing a congregation without a bishop or presbyter has baptized some, the bishop ought to perfect them through the blessing; but if they have departed this world beforehand, under the faith by which each believed, he can be righteous.

If any believer who has a wife has committed adultery with a Jewish or pagan woman, let him be kept from communion; but if another has found him out, after five years, the lawful penance having been done, he may be joined to the Lord's communion.

If any believer has played at dice, that is, at the board, for money, it is decided that he be excluded; and if, having amended, he has stopped, he may be reconciled to communion after a year.

It is to be forbidden that freedmen whose patrons are in the world be promoted to the clergy.

Women are not to presume to write to lay persons in their own name rather than without their husbands' names; and those who are believers are not to receive anyone's letters of peace written to their name alone.