Letter 13

From: [Visigothic church official] To: [Visigothic church official] Date: ~602 AD Context: Epistulae Wisigothicae letter 13; on church discipline, specifically addressing the problem of clergy who have accumulated excessive personal wealth in violation of the obligations of their office. To my dear brother and colleague, The situation you describe — a priest who has accumulated substantial personal wealth over twenty years of ministry, in a parish community that is itself quite poor, through means that are not clearly improper but that have generated significant resentment — is one of those cases where the canonical law does not give a clear answer but pastoral wisdom must. The canonical obligations of the clergy regarding personal wealth are real but not always specific. Priests are not required to be poor; they are required not to use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of those they serve. The line between legitimate compensation and exploitation is one that has to be drawn case by case. What I would say about this specific case: the resentment in the parish community is itself pastorally significant. Whether or not the priest has violated specific canonical rules, if his manner of life is causing his parishioners to regard the church with contempt or the clergy with suspicion, he is failing in his ministry regardless of the technical legality of what he has done. The conversation you need to have with him is not primarily about accounting. It is about whether he understands his calling and whether the life he is living reflects it. Your brother in Christ