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Simony is the selling of religious sacraments, objects, or services for money or favors. It was addressed in the Gregorian Reform of the 11th century and is still considered a crime today. It has occurred in various religious orders and sects throughout history, including the Church of England. The punishment for simony is the loss of ecclesiastical office and compensation to prevent the offender from profiting.
Simony is the criminal act of selling sacraments, sacred objects or sacred services of a religious nature. In some cases, simony may also involve the sale of the trappings of high ecclesiastical office for cash or quid pro quo by the clergy at the behest of patrons or parishioners. For the Roman Catholic Church, simoniac deeds most often refer to the sale of influence by those in high ecclesiastical office in exchange for money. The term “simony” comes from Simon Magnus, a man who appears in the biblical story of the Acts of the Apostles. In the story, Magnus offered the disciples money in exchange for the ability to claim that his hands offered the blessing of the Holy Spirit to everything he touched.
In the 11th century, the Roman Catholic Church embarked on a program of reform, with an emphasis on improving the moral and ethical practices of its clergy around the world. This initiative was called the Gregorian Reform and concerned a series of practices and habits of the Church. One of the topics that took center stage during this initiative was the common crime of simony, in which clergy at all levels traded in religious favors. Although the Gregorian Reform was composed of two major compendiums of decrees, simony was addressed in only one of them: Libertas Ecclesiae. Following the implementation of this decree, simony was considered a grave crime against the integrity of the Church.
The simony is not confined to nor exclusively against the Roman Catholic Church. The act of paying for the sacraments has occurred in numerous religious orders and sects in almost all periods of history. In the Church of England, for example, the Anglican order experienced numerous crimes in which corrupt clergy sold sacraments or absolutions for money from parishioners. Although English law made the act a criminal offence, the secular courts of the time did not often rule on such matters. This is due to the fact that this crime was considered a matter of ecclesiastical jurisprudence rather than a matter of general common law.
Beginning with the Concordat of Worms in 12th-century Germany, simony as a crime became less of a matter for secular governments to punish, although it is still considered a crime to this day. Indeed, the crime has not carried a significant legal penalty in nearly a millennium, and even the Church today rarely speaks out on such matters. In cases where simony is ascertained, the offender is subject to the loss of ecclesiastical office and to whatever compensation is necessary so that the offender does not profit from the crime. Further fines or punishments are usually not imposed.
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