Folia Theologica et Canonica 9. 31/23 (2020)
Ius canonicum
88 PÉTER ERDŐ community were undertaken at a local level by Churches which, from very early on, were led by a bishop. 2) Alongside the bishop the role of presbyters became clearer and broader; they constituted a body with the bishop at their head, and were able to preside at the celebration of the Eucharist even in the bishop’s absence, albeit with his consent. The relations between the bishop and his presbyterate were generally clarified and settled by the first half of the third century. 3) From the second century onwards, and very clearly from the third, there were buildings or special places intended for Christian worship. During the persecution of Diocletian attempts were made to destroy the Christian churches then extant. 4) With the Peace of Constantine in 313, and even more so after the edict of Theodosius, large swathes of the population came into the Church. At the same time a huge number of Christian churches were built or rebuilt, and prohibitions gradually started to appear on the celebration of the liturgy in private houses. A decision of the bishop was required for the establishment of a church or oratory. 5) On account of these circumstances, numerous churches were built in the large cities, and also outside the cities in the countryside. In the cities these churches were served by members of the presbyterate; in rural areas they were initially served by chorbishops, consecrated bishops subject to the bishop of the city, or by presbyters given a special commission from the bishop to celebrate, preach, baptise, and if needs so required, to grant reconciliation to penitents. 6) During the fifth and sixth centuries, and in some places as early as the fourth, these presbyters started actually to reside in the countryside and to offer prayers or celebrate regularly, sometimes even daily, in the local church. 7) As the West became generally Christian, first in Gaul, the Iberian-peninsula and Italy, and then in other regions mostly inhabited by Germanic peoples, the christianisation of an area and the founding of mral churches took place almost simultaneously. Churches were built in villages or the central settlements of larger areas, but also on the estates of great landowners. For the former, even if the initiative came from the bishop or the civil authorities, the construction and ongoing financial support had to be provided for in some way by the community. In the latter case, the proprietors were founding their own private oratories, and the Church had to fight to ensure the bishop had the right to appoint the priest in such churches. 8) A system of parishes consisting of a single village was not typical in the early Middle Ages. The most common form was the “large parish” with a baptismal church or mother church as its focus. The priest in charge of this church had certain established rights - and not simply delegated authority - to administer the sacraments and sacramentals, to celebrate solemn Masses espe-
