The development of the concept of the legal status of a clergyman in the first centuries of Christianity

In the article, the authors attempt to analyze the emergence and development of elements of the concept of the legal status of a clergyman in the Roman and Byzantine Empires. Changes in state policy towards the Church have also influenced the formation of rights and obligations regulating certain aspects of the life of the clergy. By the IV century, the clergy received special legal immunity from taxes, military service and the duties of secular service. With the adoption of the «Code of Theodosius» and the «Code of Justinian», the concept of the legal status of a clergyman begins to be formalized. By this period, the legal personality of the clergyman had not yet been fully distinguished, but some of its signs are observed in the church canons. The rights, duties, guarantees and responsibilities laid down in the first centuries contributed to the development and final allocation of the legal status of the clergyman.