Abstract

This article studies the problems of the authenticity and content of canon 29 of the Council of Arles in the year 314, which establishes the law of perfect continence for married clerics. The authenticity of the canon has been questioned by many scholars, because canons 24 to 29 are absent from several manuscripts. However, the anti-Donatist context of the 314 Council of Arles and the unanimous practice of celibacy in the West justify new research on this subject. The Council of Arles was a general council with representation of bishops from all over the West and was convened to resolve the crisis of the Donatist schism and reorganize the Church destroyed by the persecution of Diocletian and Galerius. Not only can the general character of the Council and its anti-Donatist context corroborate the thesis of the authenticity of canon 29, but also the content of the text itself opens a window towards the practice of celibacy in the West.