Правило 18 Святых Апостолов

He who has taken into marriage a widow, or an outcast from marriage, or a harlot, or a slave, or a disgraceful person, cannot be a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or lower in the list of the sacred order. (Ap. 17; Trul. 3, 26; Basil Vel. 27). This is Ap. the rule also stems from divine right. The Old Testament priests were ordered not to marry a widow, nor an outcast or defamed, nor a harlot, but only a maiden (Lev. 21:14). Almost the same thing is prescribed for the clergy of the New Testament church (Matt. 19:9; 1 Cor. 6:16). The Holy Scripture requires clergy to serve as an example in everything, especially in social and family life, and their home should be like a mirror for the rest of the faithful (1 Tim. 3:2–8; Titus 1:6–9). But can a priest be such and can his house be such if his wife is one of women of bad or dubious behavior, or one of those who, due to their position, are not respected? In an effort to prevent this, the rule prescribes that, just as a priest is obliged to be an example in everything, so should his life partner, his legal wife, be exemplary in everything, who, like the priest, should have a beneficial influence on the social and family life of the rest of the faithful. At the Trullo Council, this rule (3) was repeated literally. the wife of a clergyman who committed adultery is spoken of in the 8th rule of the Neocaesarea Council 167. About the priest's wife who committed adultery, cf. message from Const. Patr. Michael Kerullarius (XI century) in Af. Synth., V, 46. If a priest keeps his wife even after she has committed adultery, then he must be deposed, says Balsamon in the interpretation of this rule (Ath. Synth., II, 26). You might be interested in: