Christian Cyclopedia

(for derivation see Simon Magus). Buying or selling things spiritual or connected with the spiritual. Early ch. councils and syns. (e.g., Council of Chalcedon,* Canon II; 533 Council of Orléans,* Canons II and IV; 786–787 Council of Nicaea,* Canon V; Quinisext* Syn., Canons XXII and XXIII) condemned simony. Gregory I (see Popes, 4) vigorously and repeatedly denounced it. In the mid-11th c., until Gregory VII (see Popes, 7) opposed it, the papacy was bought. Simony also lent itself as an abuse that led to and was involved in the investiture* During the Reformation many efforts to eliminate simony originated within and outside the ch. See also Benefice.