3193

March 17. Lateran. Pope Alexander IV writes to the master and brothers and houses of the knighthood of the Temple of Jerusalem, relating that some time ago he heard that they and other religious having a privilege of exemption were constructing chapels and oratories without the consent and authority of the diocesans and, damnably holding in contempt the sentences that the ordinaries pronounced against persons and places subject to those ordinaries, the addressees rashly had the divine offices celebrated in those places and chapels and oratories that they constructed, without showing that this was allowed by a papal privilege or indulgence. With the advice of the cardinals the pope ordered established that they and other exempt religious shall not dare to construct oratories or chapels in places that are not exempt without permission from the diocesans nor celebrate or have celebrated the divine offices in places so constructed or in places that are not exempt when they are under interdict by the ordinaries. If they dare do this, the ordinaries of the places shall restrain them, and if their conservators pronounce sentences to the contrary, the pope orders them completely revoked, prohibiting the addressees from daring to do this without papal permission or special papal privilege. Since the addressees do have special papal privileges and indulgences for these things, however, they humbly asked the pope to provide for them. So the pope wants them to know that it was not his intention with this constitution to diminish these privileges and indulgences granted them by the Apostolic See, as can be gathered clearly from the constitution.