The Same Emperor to the Same Stylianus.
A detestable act was formerly committed before it was forbidden by law, and, indeed, even after this prohibition, persons were frequently bold enough to perpetrate it; that is to say, certain individuals were in the habit of living with women in those houses attached to churches which are ordinarily called κατζχγμ&epsilonνα(1) this is something that it is not proper to disregard, nor indeed shall it be neglected by Us hereafter. This wrong was tolerated up to the time of the Sixth Council, and remained unpunished, I do not know for what reason, but this Council strictly forbade it, and decreed that any priests who indulged in this practice should be expelled from their holy order, and that laymen who were found guilty of it should be excluded from communion. But the sacerdotal decree enacted for the suppression of this custom was not effective, as it continued to exist up to the time that Our distinguished father, the Emperor, came to the throne, and he was obliged to enact laws and exert his power to remove this abuse from religious houses.
And, as We are desirous of accomplishing the same thing, We hereby order that no one whosoever, whether he be a member of the priesthood or a layman, shall live with women in said houses; and if anyone should be found to have defiled a religious establishment in this way, he shall be ignominiously driven from it by Imperial authority; and whoever has afforded him an opportunity to reside there (whether he be a priest, or anyone else) shall be deprived of his office, on account of the contempt which he has manifested for the law, and his profanation of sacred things.
FOOTNOTES
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