Clerical celibacy and continence in the early church

Whether clergy may marry or must live in continence, and clergy married more than once. Part of Church office.

Miscellanies 3.6.53Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Peter and Philip had children, and Paul had a wife; the apostles took their wives along as sisters and fellow ministers to women; the kingdom is not food and drink; the ascetics do not match the prophets, who lived austerely yet thanked the Creator.
Miscellanies 3.12.90Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul accepts the husband of one wife, whether presbyter, deacon, or layman; Christ called the Jews adulterous for abandoning the law's intent; the man who excused himself from the supper because of marriage illustrates preferring pleasure to God, not a condemnation of marriage.
To His Wife 1.7Tertullian · ca. 200–206 · A husband's death by God's will ends the marriage; the church's rules barring the twice-married from office and enrolled widows show how second marriage detracts from holiness.
Exhortation to Chastity 7Tertullian · ca. 208 · Since clergy must be married only once, and laypeople are also priests who may have to baptize or offer in need, laypeople too must keep to one marriage.
On Monogamy 7Tertullian · ca. 210–217 · The law of levirate marriage served reasons that have now ceased; the law's rules for priests, which forbade them to remarry, apply to Christians, whom Christ has made priests.
On Monogamy 11Tertullian · ca. 210–217 · Tertullian argues that Paul's permission for a widow to marry “in the Lord” (1 Cor 7:39) applies only to someone widowed before coming to faith, not to Christians who lose a spouse.
On Monogamy 12Tertullian · ca. 210–217 · Against the claim that monogamy binds only the clergy: the clergy are chosen from the laity, and if monogamy were for bishops alone, so would be all the other virtues Paul lists with it.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.22Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus complains that under Callistus men married more than once were ordained, and clergy who married after ordination kept their office, justified by Rom 14:4 and the parable of the weeds.
On the Singleness of Clerics 1Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The author, a bishop absent from his clergy, writes because some clerics have disgraced themselves by living with women, and warns the negligent with Prov 1:24–31.
On the Singleness of Clerics 2Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The author urges his clergy to learn from others' falls and not to trust that chastity can survive when men and women live together, any more than one can carry fire without being burned.
On the Singleness of Clerics 3Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · In the battle against the allurements of women, prudent fear and flight, not confident faith, bring victory; the clergy must separate themselves from women.
On the Singleness of Clerics 4Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Living with a woman exposes a cleric to constant temptation, since death entered through a woman; many bishops, clergy, and confessors have been shipwrecked this way.
On the Singleness of Clerics 6Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · A cleric's living with a woman bound to him by no marriage is more dangerous than marriage itself, which Paul says divides the mind; such companionship breeds only conflict and temptation.
On the Singleness of Clerics 7Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · A cleric who refuses marriage but lives with a woman shows hidden desire, like one who abstains from wine but keeps it about him; even if chaste, he brings scandal and blasphemy on the faith.
On the Singleness of Clerics 9Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · No cleric should seek the challenge of living with a woman to prove his chastity; his own flesh is enough to fight, and Scripture commends bearing the yoke alone.
On the Singleness of Clerics 10Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Paul's “bear one another's burdens” does not license cohabitation; Christ himself left celibacy to those to whom it is given, and the daily intimacies of a shared household inflame desire.
On the Singleness of Clerics 11Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Even a steadfast cleric endangers the women who live with him and gives occasion of sin to others; Paul's rule of not offending the weak and Christ's woe on those who cause offense forbid it.
On the Singleness of Clerics 12Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Paul's saying that each will bear his own load means that a cleric who takes a woman into his house becomes accountable for her, like one who keeps another's goods carelessly.
On the Singleness of Clerics 13Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The objection that men and women should not then even worship together is heretical sophistry; women have their proper places with family and in church, but not in a cleric's house.
On the Singleness of Clerics 15Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · If temptation can arise even in church, where God's command gathers and protects us, how much more in a private household, which God's command forbids.
On the Singleness of Clerics 16Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Only what God commands is just; God commands men and women to worship together but forbids clergy and consecrated virgins to share a dwelling, which kindles sin even where nothing shameful occurs.
On the Singleness of Clerics 18Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Keeping a woman in one's house to master temptation is like locking a thief in with treasure; every opening must be closed to the devil.
On the Singleness of Clerics 19Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The devil lures clergy into cohabitation with women through apparent usefulness and calm, nursing their friendship until he can destroy both at once in an unlawful love.
On the Singleness of Clerics 22Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Paul, though he labored more than all, refused to take a woman companion lest he fall into temptation; clerics must not overrate their strength, since each has his own gift.
On the Singleness of Clerics 23Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Those who appeal to the saints should rather fear the example of the adulterous elders of Susanna; misusing the stories of Scripture to excuse sin defames the saints.
On the Singleness of Clerics 26Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The examples cited do not support cohabitation: the women with Jesus served openly and modestly, the disciples marveled that he spoke with a woman, Mary was uniquely the Lord's mother, and Elijah's stay with the widow was a famine-time miracle.
On the Singleness of Clerics 27Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The saints' dealings with women were chaste and give no refuge to those who abuse their example; Paul commands the church to avoid such men.
On the Singleness of Clerics 28Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Even angels fell through women; clerics who cannot bear separation from women are ruled by the insatiable lust of the eyes, which Scripture condemns.
On the Singleness of Clerics 29Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Clerics who justify cohabitation as spiritual love counterfeit true love, which harms no one and obeys God's commands, while theirs defames the church's virgins.
On the Singleness of Clerics 31Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Married Christians who vow continence often live apart, yet celibate clergy (“eunuchs”) cannot bear to sleep without a woman's company.
On the Singleness of Clerics 32Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Married couples separate for continence out of love, while clerics claim “love” to keep unrelated women; Israel in Ezra put away unlawful wives, but these clerics would sooner deny their parents than leave their women.
On the Singleness of Clerics 33Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Those who castrate themselves, Jews who circumcise, and the self-mutilating priests of Cybele all shame clerics who will not even part from a woman; their hidden sins will be exposed.
On the Singleness of Clerics 37Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The author commands his clergy, with authority, to reject such sophistries, to avoid every occasion of impurity, and to prefer the labor of living alone to disgrace.
On the Singleness of Clerics 40Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Solitary chastity makes clerics spiritual eunuchs and anticipates the angelic life of the resurrection, in which there is no marriage.
On the Singleness of Clerics 41Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Only living alone keeps a cleric's reputation unclouded, as Paul requires of overseers; the clergy should embrace it before desire takes hold.
On the Singleness of Clerics 44Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Higher office brings greater temptation; clergy may live only with close female relatives, and then without maidservants or visitors, and must take no unrelated woman into their household, however old or plain.
Against Celsus 3.48Origen · ca. 248 · “Not many wise” does not mean none; Paul requires a bishop to be able to teach and refute opponents, so the church welcomes the educated as well as the ignorant.
Commentary on Matthew 14.22Origen · ca. 246–248 · Origen asks why Paul excludes twice-married men from church office, even when they may be more chaste than the once-married, and suggests that the rule is symbolic of the soul that has not been divorced from Christ.
Canon 27Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Clergy may live only with a sister or daughter who is a dedicated virgin, not with an unrelated woman.
Canon 33Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · The canon on clerical continence requires married clergy to abstain from their wives on pain of removal.
Church History 3.30.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Clement (quoted), against those who reject marriage, notes that Peter and Philip had children, and that Paul addresses his own wife.
Church History 7.30.12Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The synod accuses Paul and his clergy of keeping women companions, and of buying their silence.
Church History 7.30.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Even if innocent, a bishop should avoid the scandal of living with women.
Church History 7.30.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · How can Paul warn others when he keeps two young, beautiful women with him?
Canon 10Anonymous · 314 · Deacons who declared at ordination that they intended to marry may do so; those who accepted celibacy at ordination and later marry lose their office.
Canon 1Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · A presbyter who marries after ordination is removed from his rank; one guilty of sexual sin is expelled and put to penance.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.9.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Teachers of the church abstain from marriage to devote themselves to spiritual children.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.9.20Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Eusebius refers to his other work on the patriarchs’ polygamy, and notes that the new covenant does not forbid children: a bishop is to be the husband of one wife.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.9.21Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Clergy should abstain from marital relations once ordained; for others marriage remains honorable.
Demonstration of the Gospel 3.5.75Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The apostles renounced even their lawful wives for the sake of spiritual offspring.
Canon 3Anonymous · 325 · Clergy may not keep unrelated women in their houses, only close relatives above suspicion.
Demonstration 18.6Aphrahat · 337-345 · The law's requirement that priests marry only virgins, Israel's abstinence at Sinai, and Moses' forty years of continence show the excellence of virginity; many children born brought only harm.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · A bishop must be blameless and the husband of one wife: a second marriage is lawful, but a candidate for bishop should forgo even lawful things.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul lists the bishop’s virtues; one who has dedicated himself to God by not marrying is even more worthy.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:12–13Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Deacons must have had only one wife, since God blesses only one marriage, and clergy who serve daily must abstain from their wives; the church, ruled today by Damasus, is God’s house, and the mystery of Christ is unfolded from incarnation to ascension.
Question 127, section 33Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Peter was married with children and yet received the primacy among the apostles, so marriage does not hinder holiness.
Question 127, section 34Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Paul allows married men to become priests, has no command against marriage, and, when asked about marrying and divorcing, forbade a wife to leave her husband rather than forbidding marriage.
Question 127, section 35Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Ordained clergy abstain from marital relations because some lawful things are forbidden to certain persons or at certain times, as lay Christians also abstain for prayer on holy days.
Question 127, section 36Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Bishops and deacons, who daily act in Christ’s place at prayer, the offering, and baptism, must keep a purity beyond that of lay people, as courtiers do in the emperor’s presence.
Letter 49.9Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome distinguishes not condemning from praising and cites passages where he rejected the Encratite condemnation of marriage and set out three grades of chastity.
Letter 49.21Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome closes by pointing to the virginity of Christ and the perpetual virginity of Mary, and to the continence required of clergy.
Letter 69.4Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome contrasts the honourable first marriage of the accused bishop with the sexual sins of his accusers, which baptism has forgiven.
Letter 123.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Reading 1 Corinthians 7 and 1 Timothy 5, Jerome argues that widowhood is a freedom, that Paul counsels widows to remain unmarried, that young widows should support themselves, and that the once-married rule binds laity as well as clergy.
Letter 123.6Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome distinguishes what Paul wills (remaining unmarried) from what he is compelled to allow (second marriage), and cites the Levitical rules on the priests’ widowed daughters.
Canon 1Anonymous · 374 · Henceforth no man married twice, or married to a woman previously married, may be ordained, whether the marriages were before or after baptism; those already ordained are left undisturbed.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 48.9.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Priesthood is given chiefly to the once-married living in continence and to virgins.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The twice-married are not admitted to the priesthood.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Clergy must be continent or widowed where the canons are strict.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Married clergy begetting children is a lapse, not the canon.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · If laity abstain for prayer, how much more priests.
Apostolic Canon 5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may not put away their wives on the pretext of piety.
Apostolic Canon 17Anonymous · ca. 380 · A man twice married after baptism, or with a concubine, cannot be ordained.
Apostolic Canon 18Anonymous · ca. 380 · A man married to a widow, a divorced woman, a courtesan, a slave or an actress cannot be ordained.
Apostolic Canon 26Anonymous · ca. 380 · Only readers and singers may marry after entering the clergy.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.2.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be the husband of one wife who herself has married only once, and rule his household well.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.17.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops, presbyters and deacons must have married only once and may not marry or remarry after ordination.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.17.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The lower clergy must also have married once, but may marry after entering the clergy.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.17.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may not marry a courtesan, a slave, a widow or a divorced woman.
Letter 63 (to the church of Vercelli), section 62Ambrose · ca. 377 · Ambrose explains that “the husband of one wife” does not forbid a bishop to be married, but requires him to keep his baptismal grace by conjugal chastity, not to beget children in office, and not to marry again.
Letter 63 (to the church of Vercelli), section 63Ambrose · ca. 377 · Ambrose rejects the view that a marriage before baptism does not count: baptism forgives sins, but marriage is a law, not a fault, so a twice-married man cannot be ordained though he is not guilty.
Letter 63 (to the church of Vercelli), section 64Ambrose · ca. 377 · Ambrose adds that Nicaea also excluded the twice married from the clergy, and argues that a cleric who exhorts widows not to remarry must himself have kept faith with his first marriage.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 7Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Siricius condemns priests and deacons who beget children after ordination, arguing from the Levitical priests' temple service that clergy must be continent, and sets penalties.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 8Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Siricius rebukes the Spanish metropolitans for ordaining men married several times, contrary to the law's and Paul's rule of one wife.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 11Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · A cleric who marries a widow or a second wife loses his rank and is reduced to lay communion.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 12Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Clerics may have in their houses only the women Nicaea allowed, their close relatives.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 15Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Penitents, twice-married men, and husbands of widows already ordained may keep their grade without promotion; Himerius is to circulate the decretal through Spain.
Letter 5 to the bishops of Africa, chapter 3Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · The council urges that priests and deacons abstain from intercourse with their wives, since they must always be ready to offer the sacrifice or baptize; 'husband of one wife' (1 Tim 3:2) is read as looking to future continence.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 5Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Bishops, presbyters and deacons, who baptize and consecrate the body of Christ, are bound by Scripture and the fathers to bodily continence; a married cleric who begets children cannot preach chastity.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 6Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Presbyters, deacons and bishops must be continent always, since they may at any moment have to baptize or offer the sacrifice; if even pagans and the old priests abstained, married clergy who continue relations are unworthy of the mysteries.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 8Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Only those who have kept chaste since baptism, or who are 'the husband of one wife', may be ordained; a man who sinned sexually after baptism owes penance and cannot become a priest, even if he later married.
On the Duties of the Clergy 1.50Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · The clergy, like the Levites whose portion is God, must be free of greed, married only once, continent, and guardians of the mysteries, exercising the four virtues and discerning when duties change.
Canon 2Anonymous · 390 · Bishops, presbyters, and deacons, as servants of the altar, are to abstain from their wives.
Homily on 1 Cor, 19.1John Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom introduces 1 Cor 7: continence is better but marriage is safer; Paul speaks to all, not only to priests; husband and wife each owe the other the body, and neither may abstain without the other's consent.
Homily 10.1 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains Paul's qualifications for an overseer, reading “the husband of one wife” as restraining the excess of second or plural marriage rather than requiring marriage.
Homily 10.2 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains why Paul asks for a measured virtue in overseers, a well-ruled household, no recent convert, and a good name among outsiders, and suggests “the husband of one wife” was meant not to narrow the choice.
Homily 1.4 on TitusJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains Paul's charge to Titus to appoint bishops in every Cretan city, reading “the husband of one wife” as both honouring marriage against heretics and barring the twice married from office.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:2 (1)Theodore of Mopsuestia · 392–428 · Theodore rejects the common practice of barring a chaste man who has married twice from the clergy while admitting a licentious man with one wife, or a man married twice before baptism.
Against Jovinianus 1.14Jerome · 393 · Jerome argues from 1 Cor 7:39–40 and other texts that second marriage is permitted only as a concession and ranks below a single marriage.
Against Jovinianus 1.20Jerome · 393 · Jerome turns Jovinian's examples from Judah to Moses, and cites the laws of Sinai, the bread of the Presence, and priestly marriage as showing the precedence of chastity.
Against Jovinianus 1.23Jerome · 393 · Jerome answers Jovinian's examples of Samson, Deborah, Jephthah, Samuel, and Boaz and Ruth.
Against Jovinianus 1.34Jerome · 393 · Jerome answers the objection that Paul appointed married clergy: Paul's requirements were a concession to new converts, and married clergy are bound to continence.
Against Jovinianus 1.35Jerome · 393 · Jerome expounds the qualifications for a bishop in 1 Tim 3, stressing chastity, and argues that rank in the clergy does not determine merit before Christ.
Canon 17Anonymous · 397 · Clergy may live only with close female relatives and household women already there before their ordination.
Canon 1Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Married deacons who live continently may serve, but deacons and presbyters who had relations with their wives (even before the Lusitanian prohibition) may not be promoted.
Canon 4Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · A subdeacon who remarries after his wife's death is reduced to door-keeper or reader; one who marries a third time is suspended for two years and then restored only as a layman.
Canon 8Anonymous · ca. 398 · Clergy ordained against the prohibition, or who have fathered children while in the ministry, are not to be promoted to higher orders.
On the Good of Marriage 21Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Monogamy now signifies the future unity of the church under Christ; hence a cleric must be the husband of one wife, and a wife may never pass from a living husband to another.
Canon 70 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Bishops, presbyters, and deacons must abstain from relations with their wives or be removed from office; lower clergy follow local custom.
Letter 2 to Victricius of Rouen, chapter 4Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · A cleric may not marry a widow or a divorced woman, since the law requires a priest to marry a virgin.
Letter 2 to Victricius of Rouen, chapter 6Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · A man married twice, even if the first marriage was before baptism, cannot be ordained, because marriage is not a sin that baptism washes away.
Letter 2, chapter 9Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Priests and deacons must abstain from intercourse with their wives after ordination, since their ministry is daily and continual.
Letter 3 to the bishops of Spain, chapter 6Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent sets out who may not be ordained (soldiers, advocates, officials, curials after baptism) and who may, excluding men married to a non-virgin or twice married, since a marriage before baptism still counts.
Letter 6 to Exsuperius, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent rules that deacons and presbyters who continued marital relations after ordination are to be deposed if they knew Siricius's ruling, and otherwise kept in their grade without promotion.
Letter 17 to the bishops of Macedonia, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent rebukes the Macedonian bishops for ordaining, even as bishops, men who married widows, against Lev 21:13–14.
Letter 37 to Felix of Nuceria, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Twice-married men may not be ordained, nor men who married a widow or a divorced woman.
Letter 38, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent orders two bishops to try presbyters accused of begetting children after ordination and to remove them if convicted.
Against Vigilantius 2Jerome · 406 · Jerome attacks the bishops who side with Vigilantius by ordaining only married men, contrasting the churches of the East, Egypt, and Rome.
Letter 9, chapter 3Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus sets the intervals for advancing through the clerical orders and excludes the twice-married and penitents from ordination; the letter is dated 21 February 418.
On Adulterous Marriages 2.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · Augustine points to clergy who were ordained against their will and yet kept continence, urging those separated from spouses to do the same out of fear of judgment.
On 1 Tim 3.2Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret explains “the husband of one wife” as excluding polygamy, not a second marriage after a wife's death, while a man who put away his first wife and married another is blameworthy.
Letter 4 to the bishops of Campania, Picenum and Tuscany, chapter 2Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Leo orders that husbands of widows and men married more than once be removed from clerical office, as the Apostle and Leviticus require.
Letter 5 to the bishops of Illyricum, chapter 3Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Clergy must be married once and to a virgin; a man who remarried after baptism, his first wife having died before it, is still twice married.
Letter 6 to Anastasius of Thessalonica, chapter 3Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Leo tells Anastasius of Thessalonica to ordain only proven men married once to a virgin, counting a marriage before baptism.
Letter 12 to the bishops of Mauretania Caesariensis, chapter 3Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Leo rules that neither a man married twice nor a man whose wife had been married before may be ordained, because priestly marriage figures Christ's marriage to the one church.
Letter 167 to Rusticus of Narbonne, inquiry 3Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Deacons, like bishops and presbyters, must live in continence with their wives after ordination, without putting them away.
Canon 22Anonymous · 441 · Married men may not be ordained deacons unless they first profess continence.
Canon 23Anonymous · 441 · A deacon who has relations with his wife after ordination is removed from office.
Canon 24Anonymous · 441 · Deacons ordained earlier who fail in continence are not to be promoted, following the synod of Turin.
Canon 2Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · A married man may not be ordained priest unless he has first undertaken continence.
Canon 3Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Clerics from deacon upward may not keep women in their homes other than close relatives or a wife living in continence with them.
Canon 4Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Clergy may not admit girls or women servants into their private rooms.
Canon 43Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Repeats Orange (441), canon 22, on married deacons.
Canon 44Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Repeats Orange (441), canon 23, on deacons who are incontinent with their wives.
Canon 45Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Men married to a widow or married twice may not be ordained above subdeacon, and are removed if ordained.