The XXX Canons of the Holy and Fourth Synods, of Chalcedon

• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 1 — We have judged it right that the canons of the Holy Fathers made in every synod even until now, should remain in force.vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 2 — If any Bishop should ordain for money, and put to sale a grace which cannot be sold, and for money ordain a bishop, or chorepiscopus, or presbyters, or deacons, or any other of those who are counted among the clergy;…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 3 — It has come to [the knowledge of] the holy Synod that certain of those who are enrolled among the clergy have, through lust of gain, become hirers of other men’s possessions, and make contracts pertaining to secular…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 4 — Let those who truly and sincerely lead the monastic life be counted worthy of becoming honour; but, forasmuch as certain persons using the pretext of monasticism bring confusion both upon the churches and into…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 5 — Concerning bishops or clergymen who go about from city to city, it is decreed that the canons enacted by the Holy Fathers shall still retain their force.vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 6 — Neither presbyter, deacon, nor any of the ecclesiastical order shall be ordained at large, nor unless the person ordained is particularly appointed to a church in a city or village, or to a martyry, or to a…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 7 — We have decreed that those who have once been enrolled among the clergy, or have been made monks, shall accept neither a military charge nor any secular dignity; and if they shall presume to do so and not repent in…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 8 — Let the clergy of the poor-houses, monasteries, and martyries remain under the authority of the bishops in every city according to the tradition of the holy Fathers; and let no one arrogantly cast off the rule of his…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 9 — If any Clergyman have a matter against another clergyman, he shall not forsake his bishop and run to secular courts; but let him first lay open the matter before his own Bishop, or let the matter be submitted to any…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 10 — It shall not be lawful for a clergyman to be at the same time enrolled in the churches of two cities, that is, in the church in which he was at first ordained, and in another to which, because it is greater, he has…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 11 — We have decreed that the poor and those needing assistance shall travel, after examination, with letters merely pacifical from the church, and not with letters commendatory, inasmuch as letters commendatory ought to…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 12 — It has come to our knowledge that certain persons, contrary to the laws of the Church, having had recourse to secular powers, have by means of imperial rescripts divided one Province into two, so that there are…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 13 — Strange and unknown clergymen without letters commendatory from their own Bishop, are absolutely prohibited from officiating in another city.vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 14 — Since in certain provinces it is permitted to the readers and singers to marry, the holy Synod has decreed that it shall not be lawful for any of them to take a wife that is heterodox. But those who have already…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 15 — A woman shall not receive the laying on of hands as a deaconess under forty years of age, and then only after searching examination. And if, after she has had hands laid on her and has continued for a time to…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 16 — It is not lawful for a virgin who has dedicated herself to the Lord God, nor for monks, to marry; and if they are found to have done this, let them be excommunicated. But we decree that in every place the bishop…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 17 — Outlying or rural parishes shall in every province remain subject to the bishops who now have jurisdiction over them, particularly if the bishops have peaceably and continuously governed them for the space of thirty…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 18 — The crime of conspiracy or banding together is utterly prohibited even by the secular law, and much more ought it to be forbidden in the Church of God. Therefore, if any, whether clergymen or monks, should be…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 19 — Whereas it has come to our ears that in the provinces the Canonical Synods of Bishops are not held, and that on this account many ecclesiastical matters which need reformation are neglected; therefore, according to…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 20 — It shall not be lawful, as we have already decreed, for clergymen officiating in one church to be appointed to the church of another city, but they shall cleave to that in which they were first thought worthy to…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 21 — Clergymen and laymen bringing charges against bishops or clergymen are not to be received loosely and without examination, as accusers, but their own character shall first be investigated.vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 22 — It is not lawful for clergymen, after the death of their bishop, to seize what belongs to him, as has been forbidden also by the ancient canons; and those who do so shall be in danger of degradation from their own rank.vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 23 — It has come to the hearing of the holy Synod that certain clergymen and monks, having no authority from their own bishop, and sometimes, indeed, while under sentence of excommunication by him, betake themselves to…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 24 — Monasteries, which have once been consecrated with the consent of the bishop, shall remain monasteries for ever, and the property belonging to them shall be preserved, and they shall never again become secular…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 25 — Forasmuch as certain of the metropolitans, as we have heard, neglect the flocks committed to them, and delay the ordinations of bishops the holy Synod has decided that the ordinations of bishops shall take place…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 26 — Forasmuch as we have heard that in certain churches the bishops managed the church-business without stewards, it has seemed good that every church having a bishop shall have also a steward from among its own clergy,…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 27 — The holy Synod has decreed that those who forcibly carry off women under pretence of marriage, and the aiders or abettors of such ravishers, shall be degraded if clergymen, and if laymen be anathematized.vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 28 — Following in all things the decisions of the holy Fathers, and acknowledging the canon, which has been just read, of the One Hundred and Fifty Bishops beloved-of-God (who assembled in the imperial city of…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 30 — It is sacrilege to degrade a bishop to the rank of a presbyter; but, if they are for just cause removed from episcopal functions, neither ought they to have the position of a Presbyter; and if they have been…vatican.va
• Council of Chalcedon, Canon 31 — Since the most religious bishops of Egypt have postponed for the present their subscription to the letter of the most holy Archbishop Leo, not because they oppose the Catholic Faith, but because they declare that it…vatican.va

Editor's excursus

• Council of Chalcedon, Excursus on the Later History of Canon XXVIII — Among the bishops who gave their answers at the last session to the question whether their subscription to the canons was voluntary or forced was Eusebius, bishop of Dorylæum, an Asiatic bishop who said that he had…vatican.va