1585

Jan. 31. Rome. St Peter’s. Replying to queries from the patriarch of Jerusalem, Pope Innocent III declares: (1) that priests who arrive in the East and cannot provide letters or testimony of their ordination should not be permitted to say Mass; (2) that priests and religious who have absconded and have adopted secular dress are not to be tolerated, unless they can prove that they have already been punished; (3) that he leaves the issue of clergy who have committed crime or irregularities or who, together with debtors, have sought sanctuary with the Knights Templar or Hospitallers of St John, to the patriarch, who knows the law.