Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume XIV/Additional Canons 1/The Council of Ancyra/Canons/Canon XV

Canon XV.

things belonging to the church, which presbyters may have sold when there was no bishop, it is decreed that the Church property shall be reclaimed; and it shall be in the discretion of the bishop whether it is better to receive the purchase price, or not; for oftentimes the revenue of the things sold might yield them the greater value.

Notes.

Sales of Church goods made by presbyters are null, and the matter shall rest with the bishop.

If the purchaser of ecclesiastical properties has realized more by the temporary revenue of such properties than the price of the purchase, the Synod thinks there is no occasion to restore him this price, as he has already received a sufficient indemnity from the revenue, and as, according to the rules then in force, interest drawn from the purchase money was not permitted.&#160; Besides, the purchaser had done wrong in buying ecclesiastical property during the vacancy of a see (sede vacante).&#160; Beveridge and Routh have shown that in the text &#7936;&#957;&#945;&#954;&#945;&#955;&#949;&#8150;&#963;&#952;&#945;&#953; and &#960;&#961;&#8057;&#963;&#959;&#948;&#959;&#957; must be read.