Canon LVII.
Bishops
must not be appointed in
villages or country districts, but visitors; and those who have been
already appointed must do nothing without the consent of the bishop of
the city. Presbyters, in like manner, must do nothing without the
consent of the bishop.
Notes.
Ancient Epitome of Canon
LVII.
A bishop shall not be established in a village or in the
country, but a periodeutes. But should one be appointed he shall
not perform any function without the bishop of the city.
On the whole subject of Chorepiscopi see the Excursus to
Canon VIII. of Nice, in this volume.
Hefele.
Compare the eighth and tenth canons of the Synod of
Antioch of 341, the thirteenth of the Synod of Ancyra, and the second
clause of the sixth canon of the Synod of Sardica. The above
canon orders that from henceforth, in the place of the rural bishops,
priests of higher rank shall act as visitors of the country dioceses
and country clergy. Dionysius Exiguus, Isidore, the Greek
commentators, Van Espen, Remi Ceillier, Neander, and others thus
interpret this canon; but Herbst, in the
Tübingen Review
,
translates the word (
περιοδευταί
) not visitors but physicians—physicians of the soul,—and
for this he appeals to passages from the Fathers of the Church
collected by Suicer in his
Thesaurus
.
This canon is found in the
Corpus Juris Canonici
,
Gratian’s
Decretum
, Pars I., Dist. LXXX., c.
v.