(Updated July 14, 2025)
Seventh Council of Carthage Under St. Cyprian (256)
(Bishop Nemesianus of Thubunae)
And in the Gospel our Lord Jesus Christ spoke with his divine voice, saying, “Except a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). This is the Spirit that from the beginning was borne over the waters; for neither can the Spirit operate without the water, nor the water without the Spirit. Certain people interpret for themselves incorrectly when they say that by imposition of the hand they receive the Holy Spirit, and are thus received, when it is manifest that they ought to be born again in the Catholic Church by both sacraments.
Council of Ancrya (314)
Can. 21, Epitome
(Can. 21) Concerning women who commit fornication, and destroy that which they have conceived, or who are employed in making drugs for abortion, a former decree excluded them until the hour of death, and to this some have assented. Nevertheless, being desirous to use somewhat greater lenity, we have ordained that they fulfill ten years [of penance], according to the prescribed degrees.
(Ancient Epitome) Harlots taking injurious medicines are to be subjected to penance for ten years.
Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325)
- The Sacrament of Last Rites | Can. 13
- The Sacrament of Marriage, Divorce, and Contraception | Can. 1
- The Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist | Can. 18
Can. 1
If any one in sickness has been subjected by physicians to a surgical operation, or if he has been castrated by barbarians, let him remain among the clergy; but, if any one in sound health has castrated himself, it behooves that such an one, if [already] enrolled among the clergy, should cease [from his ministry], and that from henceforth no such person should be promoted. But, as it is evident that this is said of those who willfully do the thing and presume to castrate themselves, so if any have been made eunuchs by barbarians, or by their masters, and should otherwise be found worthy, such men the Canon admits to the clergy.
Can. 13
Concerning the departing, the ancient canonical law is still to be maintained, to wit, that, if any man be at the point of death, he must not be deprived of the last and most indispensable Viaticum [Eucharist]. But, if any one should be restored to health again who has received the communion when his life was despaired of, let him remain among those who communicate in prayers only. But in general, and in the case of any dying person whatsoever asking to receive the Eucharist, let the Bishop, after examination made, give it him.
(Can. 18)
It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters [priests], though neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no right to offer [the Eucharistic sacrifice] should give the body of Christ to them that do offer [it]…
Council of Laodicea (c. 363/364)
Can. 48
They who are baptized must after Baptism be anointed with the heavenly chrism, and be partakers of the Kingdom of Christ.
Council of Rome (382)
St. Pope Damasus, Decree (382)1
Now indeed we must treat of the divine Scriptures, what the universal Catholic Church accepts and what she must avoid.
At the beginning, the order of the Old Testament. Genesis, one book; Exodus, one book; Leviticus, one book; Numbers, one book; Deuteronomy, one book; Joshua, one book; Judges, one book; Ruth, one book; Kings, four books [two books of Samuel, two books of Kings]; Chronicles, two books; 150 Psalms [Psalter], one book; three books of Solomon, Proverbs, one book; Ecclesiastes, one book; Song of Songs, one book; likewise, Wisdom, one book; Ecclesiasticus [Sirach], one book.
Likewise, the order of the prophets. Isaiah, one book; Jeremiah, one book; along with the Qinoth, that is, his Lamentations; Ezekiel, one book; Daniel, one book; Hosea, one book; Amos, one book; Micah, one book; Joel, one book; Obadiah, one book; Jonah, one book; Nahum, one book; Habakkuk, one book; Zephaniah, one book; Haggai, one book; Zechariah, one book; Malachi, one book.
Likewise, the order of the histories. Job, one book; Tobit, one book; Ezra, two books [Ezra, Nehemiah], Esther, one book; Judith, one book; of the Maccabees, two books. 71 | 72
Likewise, the order of the Scriptures of the New and eternal Testament, which the holy and Catholic [Roman] Church accepts [and venerates]. [Lists New Testament canon]
Council of Hippo (393); Council of Carthage (397)
- The Canon of Scripture | Can. 36/47
Can. 36/472
[In one codex, it is added] that the Church beyond the sea [Rome, etc.] should be consulted for the confirmation of this canon.
[It has been decided] that, in the Church, nothing should be read except the canonical writings under the name of the “divine Scriptures.” These canonical writings are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the four books of Kings [two of Samuel, two of Kings], the two books of Chronicles, Job, the Davidic Psalter, the five books of Solomon [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach], the twelve books of the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, two books of Esdras [Ezra, Nehemiah], two books of Maccabees…
Council of Carthage/African Code (419)
- The Canon of Scripture | Can. 24/27 in Greek
- The Sacrament of Confirmation | Can. 57/61 in Greek
- The Sacrament of Last Rites | Can. 7, Ancient Epitome
Can. 7, Ancient Epitome
(Can. 7; Can. 4 of the Synod of 387 or 390) Aurelius the bishop said: If anyone had fallen into peril of death during the absence of the bishop, and had sought to reconcile himself to the divine altars, the presbyter should consult the bishop, and so reconcile the sick man at his bidding, which thing we should strengthen with healthy counsel. By all the bishops it was said: Whatever your holiness has taught us to be necessary, that is our pleasure.
(Epitome of Can. 7) A priest desiring to reconcile anyone in peril to the sacred altars must consult the bishop and do what seems good to him.
Can. 24/27 in Greek
[T]hat besides the Canonical Scriptures nothing be read in church under the name of divine Scripture.
But the Canonical Scriptures are as follows: Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. Joshua the Son of Nun. The Judges. Ruth. The Kings, four books. The Chronicles, two books. Job. The Psalter. The Five books of Solomon [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach]. The Twelve Books of the Prophets. Isaiah. Jeremiah. Ezekiel. Daniel. Tobit. Judith. Esther. Ezra, two books [Ezra and Nehemiah]. Maccabees, two books…
Let this be sent to our brother and fellow bishop, [St. Pope] Boniface, and to the other bishops of those parts, that they may confirm this canon, for these are the things which we have received from our fathers to be read in church.
Can. 57/61 in Greek
Since in the former council it was decreed, as your unanimity remembers as well as I do, that those who as children were baptized by the Donatists, and not yet being able to know the pernicious character of their error, and afterward when they had come to the use of reason, had received the knowledge of the truth, abhorred their former error, and were received, (in accordance with the ancient order) by the imposition of the hand, into the Catholic Church of God spread throughout the world…
Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431)
Before the Council, St. Cyril of Alexandria, Third Letter to Nestorius (431)
(§7)3
This too we must add. Proclaiming the death in respect of the flesh of the only-begotten Son of God, that is, Jesus Christ, and acknowledging His return to life from the dead and ascension into heaven, we perform in the churches the bloodless cult, approach the sacramental gifts, and are sanctified by our participation in the holy flesh and the precious blood of Christ the Savior of us all, not by receiving common flesh (God forbid!) nor that of a man sanctified and conjoined to the Word in oneness of dignity or by enjoying divine indwelling, but as the truly life-giving flesh belonging to the Word Himself. For being life by nature as God, when He became one with His own flesh, He made it life-giving, with the result that, although He says to us, “Truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood…” (John 6:53) we shall not attribute even this to a human individual like us (for how could human flesh be life-giving of its own nature?) but shall count it as having truly become the very own flesh of the one who became for us, and was accounted, Son of Man.
Council of Trullo/Quinisext (692)
Can. 91, Epitome
(Can. 91) Those who give drugs for procuring abortion, and those who receive poisons to kill the fetus, are subjected to the penalty of murder.
(Ancient Epitome) Those who give drugs for procuring abortion, and those who receive poisons to kill the fetus, are subjected to the penalty of murder.
Footnotes
- DS, 179-80; Heinrich Denzinger, Peter Hünermann, ed., Robert Fastiggi and Anne Englund Nash, eds., Heinrich Denzinger: Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations on Matters of Faith and Morals, 43rd ed. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012), 71-72. ↩︎
- DS, 186; Heinrich Denzinger, Peter Hünermann, ed., Robert Fastiggi and Anne Englund Nash, eds., Heinrich Denzinger: Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations on Matters of Faith and Morals, 43rd ed. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012), 73-74. ↩︎
- Richard Price, trans., Translated Texts for Historians, Vol. 72: The Council of Ephesus of 431, Documents and Proceedings (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2022), 166. ↩︎
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