Cezary z Arles wobec paenitentia secunda w VI wieku
Caesarius of Arles in the face of Paenitentia Secunda in the Sixth Century

Summary/Abstract: It seems that the homilies of Caesarius, Bishop of Arles, about the faithful having access to canonical penance, were characterized by a sensitivity to the faithful and what was possible for them to practically obtain. The systematic tightening of the standards of public penance, undertaken by subsequent Gallic synods and their legalistic treatment of it, led to a crisis of this practice in the Church of Gaul in the first half of the sixth century. Caesarius, observing the norms of official canonical penance in his teaching, accepted the custom of the vast majority of the faithful, who postponed public penance until the last moments of their lives. So with that in mind, he urged them to make an effort in faith and to be constantly converted. Repentance become the way to practise this Christian conversion. Making it possible for the faithful to prepare themselves throughout their lives through acts of repentance, to be ready for canonical penance at the end of life. Caesarius’s encouragement, however, remained ineffective, since Columba and his brothers, when they appeared in Gaul in the early seventh century, did not continue to follow this practice of canonical penance within the Church.

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