The Popes and the Church of Rome in Late Antiquity by Moorhead John;

Author:Moorhead, John; [John Moorhead]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781317578253
Publisher: Routledge

Deacons and the Clerical Establishment

Of the five popes who followed Gregory in such quick succession three were deacons at the time they were elected pope, whereas only Deusdedit is known to have been a priest beforehand. The pattern was not new, for most of the 20 popes between Leo and Gregory are known to have been deacons immediately before assuming episcopal office, and others may have been.29 As the seventh century progressed the tendency would weaken, although more deacons continued to become popes than one may have thought likely, for the elevation of a deacon to the episcopate without passing through the intermediate rank of priest is contrary not only to the practice of modern times, but that of many churches in late antiquity as well. Indeed, the standard practice of the Roman church during much of late antiquity flew in the face of the decrees of more than one pope. Centuries after he lived, pope Silvester (314–335) was believed to have laid down that anyone who wished to serve in a church or advance within it was to serve as a reader for 30 years, an exorcist for 30 days, an acolyte for five years, a subdeacon for five years, a guardian of the martyrs for five years, a deacon for seven years, and a priest for three years. Having been tested in every way, and being the husband of one wife who had been blessed by a bishop, such a person could advance to the rank of the episcopate. One has the sense of a precisely defined career structure, perhaps similar to that enjoyed by members of the civil service in Constantinople, where appointment to the position of assistant came after a period of nine years probation, although it was at variance with the pattern of advancement among the clergy that was current in Byzantium, where Justinian had prescribed that readers were to be at least 18. For a clergyman, a successful career would culminate in a passage from priesthood to episcopacy when he was some way into his 50s or older, and the legislation of popes in around 400 shows that this was the expected pattern.30 Yet in Rome, until some way into the seventh century, bishops tended to be former deacons who had leapfrogged the rank of priest. In about 600, a patriarch of Alexandria was of the opinion that, since the time that pope Cornelius had chosen Novatian to be archdeacon, popes had been succeeded by their archdeacons. Whereas his understanding of events that took place in the middle of the third century was not accurate, the claim suggests that the accession of the senior deacon to episcopal office had come to thought of as a characteristic of the church of Rome, which is what one might have expected of someone described in a liturgical text as the vicar of the pope. The standard letters that were sent to the emperor and other interested parties after a new pope had been elected assumed that he would be an archdeacon.

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