The ''Directa''

decretal Decretals ( la, litterae decretales) are letters of a pope that formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church.McGurk. ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms''. p. 10 They are generally given in answer to consultations but are sometimes ...

was written by

Pope Siricius Pope Siricius (334 – 26 November 399) was the bishop of Rome from December 384 to his death. In response to inquiries from Bishop Himerius of Tarragona, Siricius issued the ''Directa'' decretal, containing decrees of baptism, church discipline ...

in February AD 385. It took the form of a long letter to Spanish bishop Himerius of Tarragona replying to the bishop’s requests for ''directa'' on various subjects sent several months earlier to

Pope Damasus I Pope Damasus I (; c. 305 – 11 December 384) was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death. He presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list of sacred scripture. He spoke out against major heresies ( ...

. It became the first of a series of documents published by the

Magisterium The magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church is the church's authority or office to give authentic interpretation of the Word of God, "whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition." According to the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Chu ...

that claimed apostolic origin for clerical celibacy and reminded ministers of the altar of the perpetual

continence Continence may refer to: *Fecal continence, the ability to control defecation, see Fecal incontinence *Urinary continence, the ability to control urination, see Urinary incontinence, the involuntary excretion of urine *Sexual continence, a synony ...

required of them.

Background

It is known that the

First Ecumenical Council The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effor ...

which took place at

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and s ...

included in its legislation a discipline of the priesthood known as clerical 'continence' or celibacy. This was the requirement of all priests and bishops to refrain from sexual contact with their wives or with any other woman. Thus, for a married man to become a priest, his wife had to agree to abstain from all sexual relations. This discipline added to the legislation of various councils, particularly the

Council of Elvira The Synod of Elvira ( la, Concilium Eliberritanum, es, Concilio de Elvira) was an ecclesiastical synod held at Elvira in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica, now Granada in southern Spain.. Its date has not been exactly determined but is belie ...

, the date of which cannot be determined with precision, but believed to have been in the first quarter of the fourth century, in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. While priests of the East and West were required to refrain from all sexual contact by virtue of their presiding at sacrifices, this was an exceedingly difficult discipline to maintain. Just as the Levite priests of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem had been required to abstain from sexual contact (in order to achieve ritual purity) merely ''for a lengthy period prior to'' the periodic performance of the sacrifices of the temple, so the priests of the Early Church were required by ecclesiastical law to abstain from sexual contact. However, Christian priests presided at the sacrifice of the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

every Sunday as well as the annual feasts of the various martyrs. Thus, the Christian calendar did not afford Christian priests periods in which they could be sexually active with their wives.

The ''Directa'' Decretal

In the ''Directa'', the Pope dealt with the fact that clerics (deacons, priests, and bishops) were still living with their wives and having children, thus contravening the

and the

. Priests were justifying this by referring to the traditions of the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament. Siricius was emphatic that clerical continence belonged to immemorial, even apostolic, tradition. He declared that priests had been under a duty to observe ''temporary'' continence when serving in the Temple, but that the coming of Christ had brought the old priesthood to completion, and by this fact the duty of temporary continence had become an obligation to ''perpetual'' continence. Fifteen points are studied in the decretal, but the key passage is:

Continence Continence may refer to: *Fecal continence, the ability to control defecation, see Fecal incontinence *Urinary continence, the ability to control urination, see Urinary incontinence, the involuntary excretion of urine *Sexual continence, a synony ...

was required of all Christian priests by ecclesiastical law until the great schism, and is still required of Catholic priests today; many

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

do not require celibacy of their priests.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', ''s.v.'' "Papal Decretals"

Background

The ''Directa'' Decretal

References

External links

See also