Academic literature on the topic 'Clergy-offences'

On 1 July 2014 the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia passed the Canon Concerning Confessions 1989 (Amendment) Canon 2014, which creates a further exception to the confidentiality of a confession. Under this further exception, a member of the clergy is only required to keep the confession of a ‘serious offence’ confidential where reasonably satisfied that that the penitent has reported the serious offence to the police and, if the penitent is a church worker or a member of the clergy, to the Director of Professional Standards (section 2A(2)). In moving this Bill, I argued that the fundamental theological principle to which it gave expression is that the safety of the members of the Church and the public should be of paramount concern when considering the issue of the confidentiality of confessions, and that accordingly confessions must not operate as a cloak for the concealment of serious criminal offences.

The Polish version of the article was published in “Roczniki Humanistyczne,” vol. 65 (2017), issue 2 The article discusses an important period in Church history, namely the so-called Church reform. It occurred after King Zygmunt August (1564) and the Polish clergy (1577) had adopted the resolutions of the Council of Trent. The implementation of those resolutions started at the turn of the 17th century. One of the proposals was to renew the life of clergy—their attitude to obligations and improvement of morals, customs and even appearance. Wincenty de Seve’s inspection in the years 1608–1609 concerned the area of the archdeaconry of Gniezno. For the purposes of this article, its four deaneries were analysed, i.e. Holy Trinity, Saints Peter and Paul, Łekno and Sompolno. The main purpose of the visitation was to inspect the parish, which played an extremely important role in society. The article discusses the image of the parish clergy emerging from the findings of the inspection, which took into account guidelines for the reform. This image shows that both those who were role models and those who drastically violated various norms were exceptions. The most numerous group were priests, who mostly met the requirements, but various irregularities were noticeable. The biggest problems of the next, slightly smaller group were women and alcohol. The offences also included ignorance, sloppiness and inappropriate clothing. The inspection shows that at the beginning of the 17th century, attempts were made to implement the reform of parish clergy, but traces of old habits and new requirements were still to go hand in hand.

In his reinterpretation of ‘Henry vm and the praemunire manoeuvres of 1530-31’ Dr J. A. Guy asserts that the principal aim of the king in his dealings with the Church in these years was to secure a large sum of money. The purpose of the prosecution of churchmen for offences against the statute of praemunire was ‘to reinforce the demand for a clerical subsidy’. ‘Some serious praemunire offence had to be constructed in order to encourage the clergy to settle quickly for a general pardon’ for which they would pay a hefty fine. ‘The king had already decided by mid-1530 to seek a repeat performance of the clerical subsidy of 1523, and … he acted to outfoot those who had identified themselves as stalwarts in Wolsey's day [i.e. those who had opposed the subsidy in 1523] by accusing them of praemunire.’ Dr Guy cannot ignore Henry was desire for an annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon altogether. The king's true objectives were ‘supply and the divorce’. But the latter was subsidiary. ‘Henry VIII wished to raise a clerical subsidy as substantial as that achieved by Wolsey in 1523. Second, he aimed to subdue the opponents of the divorce in convocation’.

The article examines the canonical legitimacy of imposing the punishment of prohibition of wearing ecclesiastical dress in the case of crimes contra sextum minore committed by clergy. They were included by the universal legislator among the most serious crimes reserved for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. It should be considered inevitable and necessary to impose expiatory penalties in the case of committing such crimes, and among the penalties that can be applied, the legislator lists the prohibition on wearing ecclesiastical dress. Although this punishment may not seem too burdensome at first glance, it nevertheless has a deep doctrinal justification, as the author shows by invoking canonical arguments. It also draws attention to the legitimacy of this penalty in the light of the principle of giving absolute priority to those who have been harmed. This principle should always be considered when imposing penalties for offences against the dignity of minors.

Dušan’s Code is the most important monument of Serbian medieval law. It contains a large number of provisions relating to Orthodoxy, the church, the clergy and monasticism. The first 38 articles are directly dedicated to the faith and the church. The Code also prescribes various criminal offences against Orthodoxy, and the most numerous are offences of Roman Catholic proselytism. The introductory part of the paper contains a brief analysis of the position of Roman Catholics in medieval Serbia, the relationship between Serbian rulers and popes, and especially emphasizes the role of Roman Catholic propaganda and the conversion of the Orthodox to Roman Catholicism, which was most prevalent during the reign of Tsar Dušan. The subject of the author’s legal-historical analysis is those provisions of Dušan’s Code that incriminate turning and conversion to Roman Catholicism. So far, it has been indisputably established in science that these are Articles 6, 7, 8, 9 and 21. In Article 6, the Code of Emperor Stefan Dušan proclaims: „And concerning the Latin heresy: Christians who have turned to the use of unleavened bread shall return to the Christian observance. If any fail to obey and do not return to Christian Orthodoxy, let them be punished as is written in the Code of the Holy Fathers.” Article 7 provides: „And the Great Church shall appoint head priests in all market towns to reclaim from the Latin heresy those Christians who have turned to the Latin faith, and to give them spiritual instructions, so that each one of them returns to Christianity.” Article 8 punishes the Latin priest: „And if a Latin priest is found to have converted a Christian to the Latin faith, let him be punished according to the Law of the Holy Fathers.” Article 9 prohibits mixed marriage: „And if a half-believer is found to be married to a Christian woman, let him be baptized into Christianity if he desires it. But if he refuses to be baptized, let his wife and children be taken from him, and let a part of his house be allotted to them, and let him be driven forth.” Finally, Article 21 prescribes: „And whoever shall sell a Christian into another and false faith, let him be crippled and his tongue cut out.” In the concluding remarks, the author points out the basic causes of prescribing these crimes, as well as certain historical data on Emperor Stefan Dušan’s anti-Catholic politics.

The criminals of medieval England are coming under increasing scrutiny. Predictably, the earliest attempts to illustrate criminality in this period have been anecdotal in approach. Predictably, too, the case studies are concentrated at higher levels in society, where criminals or their victims were sufficiently prominent to merit the attention of chroniclers or to leave heavy traces in the more accessible records of central government. Such studies have been useful in reinforcing the impression that organized crime enjoyed distinguished support and participation. For some time Sir John Molyns was able to shelter his persistent offences behind his political connection. Merchants robbed in Cannock Chase in 1341 found prosecution difficult; their assailants were knights from powerful midland families, conducting the robbery from Lapley priory. The Folville gang, led by members of minor landowning families, included various beneficed clergy and the constable of Rockingham castle. The Coterels recruited the sheriff of Nottingham and enjoyed the support of Lichfield chapter. The crimes were also at an exalted level: murdering a baron of the Exchequer, kidnapping a king's bench justice, extortion by threats from a mayor of Nottingham, or from one of the Luttrells. Even William Wawe, an Anglo-Irish thug of indifferent social standing, owes his immortality to the breadth of his operations and his preference for churchmen as victims.

Appréhender la foi des laïcs napolitains au XVIe siècle est une entreprise ardue tant en raison des difficultés matérielles d’accès aux sources, que de leur discontinuité temporelle, qui rendent difficile toute reconstruction historique systématique fondée sur la longue durée, ou l’étude de séries homogènes de sources. Malgré cette réalité, les difficultés matérielles ont été contournées par des dépouillements systématiques de fonds d’une grande diversité, tant des archives archidiocésaines ou d’État de Naples,que de la Curie généralice de la Compagnie de Jésus, et que celles du Saint-Siège, tout en recourant à une méthodologie qualitative.Les caractères singuliers d’une piété laïque et urbaine ont d’abord été privilégiés, puis l’analyse s’est attachée, dans la capitale du vice-royaume d’Espagne, aux relations entre laïcs et ecclésiastiques avant et après le concile de Trente. En effet, l’approche diachronique choisie se concentre sur le “siècle de transition” de l’histoire de l’Église catholique moderne, celui du XVIe siècle.Émergent de cette thèse la reconstruction de multiples identités religieuses de laïcs et d’ecclésiastiques napolitains, comme leur manière d’appréhender la religion et l’Église catholique, grâce aux précieux éléments fournis par l’examen des visites pastorales tridentines, ou de celui plus ou moins répressif des procès-verbaux des tribunaux archidiocésains et de “l’Inquisition napolitaine” du Saint Office. Les Napolitains sont ainsi peu enclins à l’application des normes tridentines, alimentant un contexte de tension sociale grandissant, et de criminalisation religieuse. En témoignent également des sources singulières pour l’histoire de la sensibilité religieuse, en l'occurence les procès-verbaux des veilles d’exécutions capitales de laïcs, dressés par les “greffiers” de la Compagnie des Bianchi della Giustizia.Face à cette situation, des stratégies sont mises en œuvre par la Curie généralice et les responsables du Collège jésuite napolitain, afin de réformer la vie religieuse, très contrastée au regard également des sources de la Curie de l’archidiocèse. Enfin, laïcs et clercs font bien souvent cause commune face aux tentatives de réformes romaines, ce qui ne diffère guère d’une grande partie des villes de l’Europe catholique.Le tableau présenté dans cette thèse fait apparaître une religion citadine encore “très médiévale”, -selon toute vraisemblance enracinée dans un héritage byzantin-, témoignant des fortes résistances locales laïques et ecclésiastiques, rendant très laborieuse l’introduction du nouveau modèle de vie chrétienne dans la capitale du royaume de Naples jusqu’à la réforme de 1598 du cardinal et archevêque Alfonso Gesualdo
Understanding Neapolitan lay people’s faith in the sixteenth century is an arduous undertaking, both because of the material difficulties of accessing sources and because of their temporal discontinuity, which makes it difficult to carry out any historical systematic reconstruction based on the long term, orto study homogeneous series of sources. In spite of this reality, material difficulties have been overcome by systematically examining a wide variety of collections, both from the archdiocesan and state archivesof Naples, the General Curia (Curia Generalice) of the Society of Jesus, and the Holy See, using aqualitative methodology.The particular characteristics of a lay and urban piety were first privileged, then the analysis focused on the relations between laymen and ecclesiastics in the capital of the vice-kingdom of Spain before and after the Council of Trent. In fact, the diachronic approach chosen focuses on the "transitional century"of the history of the modern Catholic Church, that of the 16th century.From this thesis emerges the reconstruction of multiple religious identities of Neapolitan laymen and clergymen, as well as their way of apprehending religion and the Catholic Church, thanks to the precious elements provided by the examination of the Tridentine pastoral visits, or of the more or less repressive one of the minutes of the archdiocesan tribunals and of the "Neapolitan Inquisition" of the Holy Office.Thus, Neapolitans were reluctant to apply the Tridentine norms, increasing a context of growing social tension and religious criminalisation. This is also demonstrated by the essential sources for the historyof religious sensitivity, in this case the minutes of the vigil of capital executions of laymen, drawn up by the "clerks" of the Company of the Bianchi della Giustizia. Faced with this situation, strategies were implemented by the General Curia and those in charge of the Neapolitan Jesuit College, in order toreform religious life, which was very contrasted according to the sources of the Curia of the archdiocesetoo. Finally, laymen and clerics often made common cause in the face of attempts at Roman reform,which was not that different from most Catholic European cities.This thesis shows a city religion that is still "very medieval", - in all likelihood rooted in a Byzantine heritage -, testifying to strong local lay and ecclesiastical resistance, making the introduction of the new model of Christian life very laborious in the capital of the Kingdom of Naples until the 1598’s reformof Cardinal and Archbishop Alfonso Gesualdo

This chapter examines the process of clergy discipline in the Church of England. It first considers the institutions and personnel responsible for implementing church discipline against priests or deacons, including the Clergy Discipline Commission, the president and registrar of tribunals, provincial panels, and disciplinary tribunals. It then discusses the issue of jurisdiction when it comes to hearing and determining disciplinary proceedings against a priest or deacon, the concept of misconduct, and time limits of disciplinary proceedings. It also explains the procedure to be followed in the case of complaints against priests and deacons, the suspension process, the conduct of disciplinary tribunals, penalties, proceedings in secular courts, appeals, costs and legal aid, and the archbishops' list of all clerks in Holy Orders. The chapter concludes with an overview of clergy offences involving ritual or ceremonial doctrine.

This chapter explores the refusal of communities to ostracize excommunicates. It looks at difficulties with voluntary ostracism, how those who communicated with excommunicates offences resulted in punished, and the reasons clergy and laity alike often failed to treat excommunicates as they were supposed to do. Using comparative and theoretical studies, it discusses the implications of social exclusion, divided loyalties, tensions and sympathies between clergy and laity, relations between ecclesiastical and secular authorities, and collective decision-making, as well as unjust and ambiguous excommunications. Mutual excommunications demonstrate the complexities of political disputes in this period. The chapter questions the idea that excommunication was ineffective because it was overused. Instead, excommunication’s medicinal aims, the realities of medieval social structures, as well as interference from rival authorities, all made it difficult to ensure that sentences were properly enforced.

Abstract IN 1530 the English Church was suddenly confronted with an unexpected and unwonted challenge. In July, the attorney-general filed praemunire indictments in King’s Bench against eight bishops and six other ecclesiastical officials. It was alleged that, by entering into compositions with Wolsey for the exercise of their jurisdiction, they had implicated themselves in an illegal assertion of his legatine powers. By September it was rumoured that another 200 clergy would be indicted, and by 21 October Henry VIII had agreed that the whole clergy of England should be charged. The rule of Wolsey had given the common lawyers a powerful weapon against ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the king was apparently willing to let them use it. The penalties for praemunire offences were loss of property and life imprisonment. Henry could hardly imprison all the clergy, but they were now at his mercy. It seemed that, in an unexpected fall from power in 1529, Cardinal Wolsey might bring the authority of the English Church crashing down with him.

Abstract The death penalty was automatic on conviction of treason, murder, or felony (other than petit larceny). This chapter is concerned with the various legal methods whereby execution could be avoided. Pardons under the royal prerogative were subject to statutory restrictions. A felon could abjure the realm on his free confession of the offence, but if later caught he could be sentenced without trial; few excuses were recognized. A felon could alternatively flee to sanctuary, but in the early Tudor period claims by monasteries to privileges of sanctuary were reviewed strictly and in 1540 the privilege was abolished. The most pervasive means of escape was benefit of clergy, which could be claimed by laymen on performance of a reading test. In 1489 it was enacted that laymen could only claim it once, and in 1512 that it could not be claimed for murder or robbery in a highway or dwelling house. Although the legislation did not apply to real clergy, it caused a major clash with the Church shortly before the break with Rome. Women could not claim clergy but could plead pregnancy. Jurors could save defendants from death by ‘pious perjury’, finding them guilty of clergiable offences or petit larceny, and judges could overturn inappropriate convictions by searching for technical errors. There were several decisions concerning the inflexibility of the penalties for treason.

This chapter examines the collective experiences of lay believers in ‘gathered’ churches (both Congregational and Baptist) before and after the 1689 Toleration Act, and the ways they came to experience various forms of empowerment at a time when traditional categories of ‘laity’ and ‘clergy’ were radically renegotiated. Evidence taken from manuscript church records and other archival sources helps to consider Dissent through the corporate experiences of ordinary church members, both men and women, who were constantly engaged in defining what a ‘true’ church was, as well as the role of religious communities in shaping individual trajectories, especially through the exercise of church discipline. Focusing on disciplinary cases noted in the records of a number of gathered churches opens a window not only onto offences that disturbed and yet typified church life for early modern Dissenters, but also onto the daily lives and experiences of the visible saints.

Abstract The system of criminal administration in late seventeenth-century London had been shaped by changes in the law and in the practice of the courts over the previous two centuries in what might be regarded as a first phase of an early modern response to the problems of urban crime. With respect to serious violence against the person, or property offences accompanied by the threat of violence, the criminal law had been altered in the sixteenth century by the powerful idea that benefit of clergy could be controlled and limited by statute. In a stream of Tudor enactments the saving power of clerical privilege was sharply restricted by being granted only to men who could prove their literacy in court (adapting its ecclesiastical origins to a social purpose) and, even more tellingly, by being removed altogether from the most heinous and feared crimes.

This chapter discusses how, during the period known as the Dark Ages and then the Middle Ages, a few policing institutions began to be developed, but often their existence could be brief and limited in scope. Throughout the period, princes had to fight to gain or maintain territory, and ensuring the safety of frontiers meant that they appointed administrators and/or warriors to protect territory, or to bring in soldiers and revenue as and when necessary. The warriors, increasingly known as knights, established themselves as hereditary rulers over the territory granted to them by the prince. Municipalities could acquire a significant degree of independence from the local prince, and they were permitted to establish their own laws; they also recruited men to enforce those laws, which included market regulation, the supervision of abattoirs, watching for fire, and ensuring the safety and tidiness of the streets. The municipal guards, often backed by all fit men in a town, might also be called upon occasionally to defend the walls and outlying territory. The chapter then considers the role of warrior monks, clergy, and feudal municipalities. Ultimately, officers such as bailiffs, sheriffs, or constables, and institutions such as the watch, emerged across medieval Europe, but they were not police officers in the sense of people seeking to prevent crime or regularly gathering information about offences and pursuing offenders beyond their boundaries.