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Third Ecumenical Council
03 Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus 431ad
Emperors.--Theodosius II. and Valentinian III.
Pope.--Celestine I.
Canon I.
Whereas it is needful that they who were detained from the holy Synod
and remained in their own district or city, for any reason,
ecclesiastical or personal, should not be ignorant of the matters which
were thereby decreed; we, therefore, notify your holiness and charity
that if any Metropolitan of a Province, forsaking the holy and
Ecumenical Synod, has joined the assembly of the apostates, or shall
join the same hereafter; or, if he has adopted, or shall hereafter
adopt, the doctrines of Celestius, he has no power in any way to do
anything in opposition to the bishops of the province, since he is
already cast forth from all ecclesiastical communion and made incapable
of exercising his ministry; but he shall himself be subject in all
things to those very bishops of the province and to the neighbouring
orthodox metropolitans, and shall be degraded from his episcopal rank.
Canon II.
If any provincial bishops were not present at the holy Synod and have
joined or attempted to join the apostacy; or if, after subscribing the
deposition of Nestorius, they went back into the assembly of apostates;
these men, according to the decree of the holy Synod, are to be deposed
from the priesthood and degraded from their rank.
Canon III.
If any of the city or country clergy have been inhibited by Nestorius
or his followers from the exercise of the priesthood, on account of
their orthodoxy, we have declared it just that these should be restored
to their proper rank. And in general we forbid all the clergy who
adhere to the Orthodox and Ecumenical Synod in any way to submit to the
bishops who have already apostatized or shall hereafter apostatize.
Canon IV.
If any of the clergy should fall away, and publicly or privately
presume to maintain the doctrines of Nestorius or Celestius, it is
declared just by the holy Synod that these also should be deposed.
Canon V.
If any have been condemned for evil practices by the holy Synod, or by
their own bishops; and if, with his usual lack of discrimination,
Nestorius (or his followers) has attempted, or shall hereafter attempt,
uncanonically to restore such persons to communion and to their former
rank, we have declared that they shall not be profited thereby, but
shall remain deposed nevertheless.
Canon VI.
Likewise, if any should in any way attempt to set aside the orders in
each case made by the holy Synod at Ephesus, the holy Synod decrees
that, if they be bishops or clergymen, they shall absolutely forfeit
their office; and, if laymen, that they shall be excommunicated.
Canon VII.
When these things had been read, the holy Synod decreed that it is
unlawful for any man to bring forward, or to write, or to compose a
different (heteran) Faith as a rival to that established by the holy
Fathers assembled with the Holy Ghost in Nicaea.
But those who shall dare to compose a different faith, or to introduce
or offer it to persons desiring to turn to the acknowledgment of the
truth, whether from Heathenism or from Judaism, or from any heresy
whatsoever, shall be deposed, if they be bishops or clergymen; bishops
from the episcopate and clergymen from the clergy; and if they be
laymen, they shall be anathematized.
And in like manner, if any, whether bishops, clergymen, or laymen,
should be discovered to hold or teach the doctrines contained in the
Exposition introduced by the Presbyter Charisius concerning the
Incarnation of the Only-Begotten Son of God, or the abominable and
profane doctrines of Nestorius, which are subjoined, they shall be
subjected to the sentence of this holy and ecumenical Synod. So that,
if it be a bishop, he shall be removed from his bishopric and degraded;
if it be a clergyman, he shall likewise be stricken from the clergy;
and if it be a layman, he shall be anathematized, as has been afore
said.
Canon VIII.
Our brother bishop Rheginus, the beloved of God, and his fellow beloved
of God bishops, Zeno and Evagrius, of the Province of Cyprus, have
reported to us an innovation which has been introduced contrary to the
ecclesiastical constitutions and the Canons of the Holy Apostles, and
which touches the liberties of all. Wherefore, since injuries
affecting all require the more attention, as they cause the greater
damage, and particularly when they are transgressions of an ancient
custom; and since those excellent men, who have petitioned the Synod,
have told us in writing and by word of mouth that the Bishop of Antioch
has in this way held ordinations in Cyprus; therefore the Rulers of the
holy churches in Cyprus shall enjoy, without dispute or injury,
according to the Canons of the blessed Fathers and ancient custom, the
right of performing for themselves the ordination of their excellent
Bishops. The same rule shall be observed in the other dioceses and
provinces everywhere, so that none of the God beloved Bishops shall
assume control of any province which has not heretofore, from the very
beginning, been under his own hand or that of his predecessors. But if
any one has violently taken and subjected [a Province], he shall give
it up; lest the Canons of the Fathers be transgressed; or the vanities
of worldly honour be brought in under pretext of sacred office; or we
lose, without knowing it, little by little, the liberty which Our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Deliverer of all men, hath given us by his own Blood.
Wherefore, this holy and ecumenical Synod has decreed that in every
province the rights which heretofore, from the beginning, have belonged
to it, shall be preserved to it, according to the old prevailing
custom, unchanged and uninjured: every Metropolitan having permission
to take, for his own security, a copy of these acts. And if any one
shall bring forward a rule contrary to what is here determined, this
holy and ecumenical Synod unanimously decrees that it shall be of no
effect.
(Gleaned from: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.txt)
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