at they
have received.

_On the contrary,_ It is written (I, qu. i, cap. Si quis Episcopus):
"He that has been ordained shall profit nothing from his ordination
or promotion that he has acquired by the bargain, but shall forfeit
the dignity or cure that he has acquired with his money."

_I answer that,_ No one can lawfully retain that which he has
acquired against the owner's will. For instance, if a steward were to
give some of his lord's property to a person, against his lord's will
and orders, the recipient could not lawfully retain what he received.
Now Our Lord, Whose stewards and ministers are the prelates of
churches, ordered spiritual things to be given gratis, according to
Matt. 10:8, "Freely have you received, freely give." Wherefore
whosoever acquires spiritual things in return for a remuneration
cannot lawfully retain them. Moreover, those who are guilty of
simony, by either selling or buying spiritual things, as well as
those who act as go-between, are sentenced to other punishments,
namely, infamy and deposition, if they be clerics, and
excommunication if they be laymen, as stated qu. i, cap. Si quis
Episcopus [*Qu. iii, can. Si quis praebendas].

Reply Obj. 1: He that has received a sacred Order simoniacally,
receives the character of the Order on account of the efficacy of the
sacrament: but he does not receive the grace nor the exercise of the
Order, because he has received the character by stealth as it were,
and against the will of the Supreme Lord. Wherefore he is suspended,
by virtue of the law, both as regards himself, namely, that he should
not busy himself about exercising his Order, and as regards others,
namely, that no one may communicate with him in the exercise of his
Order, whether his sin be public or secret. Nor may he reclaim the
money which he basely gave, although the other party unjustly retains
it.

Again, a man who is guilty of simony, through having conferred Orders
simoniacally, or through having simoniacally granted or received a
benefice, or through having been a go-between in a simoniacal
transaction, if he has done so publicly, is suspended by virtue of
the law, as regards both himself and others; but if he has acted in
secret he is suspended by virtue of the law, as regards himself
alone, and not as regards others.

Reply Obj. 2: One ought not to receive Orders from a bishop one knows
to have been promoted simoniacally, either on account of his command
or for fear of