Letter 9

From: Council of Paris (synodal letter) To: Frankish church Date: ~561-562 AD Context: A major Frankish synod regularizing episcopal elections as the Merovingian kingdom faces succession disputes. The holy synod assembled at Paris to all the churches of the Frankish kingdom. The deaths of kings and the divisions of kingdoms have created, in recent years, significant confusion about ecclesiastical jurisdiction — about which bishop belongs to which king's territory, who has authority to call provincial synods, how disputed episcopal elections are to be resolved when the civil authority is itself in dispute. We address these matters as follows. On episcopal elections: a bishop shall be elected by the clergy and people of his city, and confirmed by the provincial synod. The king's role is to confirm the election, not to make it. A king may refuse to confirm a candidate and may state his reasons; the reasons are then to be reviewed by the synod; if the synod finds them without merit, the election stands. The king does not have a veto, only a voice. On the division of provinces between kingdoms: the province remains the province. Ecclesiastical boundaries do not follow political boundaries. A bishop whose city is in one king's territory may still owe his metropolitan obedience to a metropolitan whose seat is in another king's territory. This is not disloyalty to the king; it is fidelity to the church's older and more stable order. On disputed sees: where two or more men claim to be the legitimate bishop of a single see, the matter shall be resolved by a provincial synod. The synod shall examine all claims, receive testimony, and render a binding judgment. Given at Paris. The assembled bishops.