Resultados25 letters/passages
gregory_great · c. 598 · score 0.02
Gregory to Quertinus, ex-prefect. I have been asked to intervene on behalf of Bonitus in his effort to obtain a prefecture. I must be honest with you about why I cannot do this. The apostolic see does not seek to place particular individuals in positions of civil power through papal influence. This would be an inapprop …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.02
I am asking you to convey a firm message to Leontius, the former consul: he is not to make any unilateral decisions or dispositions concerning the islands without prior consultation with this see. The islands in question fall within the patrimony and pastoral jurisdiction of the Roman church, and no secular authority — …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.02
I am writing to you with a warning that I intend to follow through on if necessary: if you do not comply with the legitimate authority of the primate of Prima Justiniana in the matters he has brought to your attention, you will face formal correction from this see. The primate's authority is real and binding in matters …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.02
I write to you concerning Victor, bishop of Fatianus, whose situation has been brought to my attention. His diocese has, it seems, been subjected to interference — from whose hand I need not specify here, since you will know better than I. What I ask is simple: let the bishop exercise his proper jurisdiction without en …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.02
My beloved brother, I am pleased to grant you the use of the pallium, as has been the ancient custom for bishops of your see in their relationship with Rome. This is not merely a ceremonial honor — it is a sign of the bonds of communion and shared responsibility that link us across the distance between Rome and Vienna. …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.02
I am entrusting you with the visitation of the church of Capua, which is in need of the kind of pastoral oversight that this assignment allows you to provide. Exercise your authority with pastoral care and canonical rigor in equal measure. Assess the condition of the clergy, the faithful, and the material administratio …
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.01
The estate property belonging to the Roman church that has been designated for the management of guardianships [tutelas] needs a reliable administrator. I am directing you to assign Peter the defender to oversee this property and the responsibilities that come with it. The management of guardianships is a serious legal …
gregory_great · c. 602 · score 0.01
And I do not attribute this to my sins — that at the time when I, a sinner, was ordained there [in Rome] by your predecessor, all my priests and deacons who accompanied me in attendance upon the lord pope made use of them. And because our provident God has placed all things in your hand and in your most pure conscience …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
Gregory to Romanus, exarch of Italy. The audacity of wrongdoers ought to find the sting of correction from your excellency rather than the comfort of your defense. For it is grave indeed if those who act wickedly should find refuge in the very quarter from which the censure of discipline ought to proceed. It has come t …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
I need your help in compelling Stephen, who holds episcopal office, to submit himself to the judgment he has been evading. A bishop who flees from canonical examination is not only failing in his own duty — he is making a mockery of the system of ecclesiastical accountability that exists to protect the faithful. Use wh …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Gregory to Importunus, bishop of Atella. We believe your fraternity willingly embraces things that are wisely arranged. And since we have learned that the church of Holy Mary at Campiso, situated in your diocese, is without a priest, we have appointed the bearer of this letter, the presbyter Dominicus, to preside over …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
The revenues and properties belonging to the Roman church from Syracuse, Catania, Agrigento, and Messana require closer coordination than they have been receiving. I am writing to clarify the jurisdictional arrangements and ensure that the accounts from each territory are properly managed and reported. The patrimony of …
gregory_great · c. 597 · score 0.01
I am sending you to Genoa on a matter of some importance. Deusdedit is to be consecrated bishop there, and I need a reliable man present to ensure the ceremony proceeds according to canonical requirements and in good order. You know what I expect: the election must have been properly conducted, no simony must have tain …
gregory_great · c. 602 · score 0.01
Gregory to John, Bishop of Ravenna. Not much time has passed since certain matters concerning your brotherhood were reported to us, about which, as we recall, we gave detailed notice through Castorius, notary of the Holy Church over which, by God's authority, we preside. For it had come to our attention that certain th …
gregory_great · c. 598 · score 0.01
You are to inform Franciscanus that he is to pay what he owes to Bishop Peter of Hydruntum. If he pays willingly and promptly, the matter ends there. If he does not pay voluntarily, you are to compel payment by whatever means are available to you through your authority as defender. I have no patience for those who expl …
gregory_great · c. 602 · score 0.01
Gregory to Anthemius, subdeacon [a papal administrative officer]. Just as we ought not to lose property rightfully belonging to the Church, so too we judge it no less improper to lay claim to what belongs to others. And since we have been informed that the house of Petronius, a notary [secretary-scribe] of the holy Rom …
gregory_great · c. 600 · score 0.01
Gregory to Peter, bishop. Three churches in your area are without bishops. I commend them to your oversight for the period of their vacancy. The same instructions apply as in the case of similar delegations I have made: administer, protect, report, and bring to my attention matters requiring my decision. Gregory
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
Gregory to Maximianus, bishop of Syracuse. We have long since committed to your fraternity the authority to examine and correct ecclesiastical affairs in Sicily. The quarter portion of new revenues is to be distributed according to the canonical arrangement. A priest or other cleric is not to be made abbot unless he fi …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Furthermore, I command that all peasant farmers on the church estates who wish to marry their daughters shall not be compelled to pay anything beyond the lawful amount. Let no one impose upon them those arbitrary and oppressive fees that have crept in through the greed of past administrators. The church must be a mothe …
gregory_great · c. 602 · score 0.01
And after this expression of devotion and satisfaction, I trust that you will not only preserve the ancient privileges of the holy Church of Ravenna, which is especially your own, but will even bestow greater ones in your time. Now, as for what your apostleship writes regarding the use of mappulae [liturgical hand-clot …
gregory_great · c. 598 · score 0.01
Gregory to John, bishop of Palermo. I am granting you the use of the pallium [the wool vestment worn across the shoulders that signified metropolitan or special papal favor — a rare and honored grant]. You may wear it on the occasions specified for its use. This grant is an expression of the trust and esteem in which I …
gregory_great · c. 602 · score 0.01
Your most reverend fellow servant Castorinus, notary of your apostolic see, delivered to me the letter of my lord — a letter mingling honey and wounds. Yet it applied its stings in such a way that it did not withdraw the possibility of healing. For one who rebukes pride, following divine judgment, rightly shows himself …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
Gregory to Virgilius, bishop of Arles. Oh how good is charity, which through its image makes the absent present to one another through love, unites what is divided, orders what is confused, joins what is unequal, and perfects what is incomplete! I grant you our authority as vicar in the kingdom of Childebert. I admonis …
gregory_great · c. 602 · score 0.01
And that you well know this custom of the universal Church, you have made most clearly known to us in your own letters, in which you transmitted to us the decree of our predecessor of blessed memory, Pope John [Pope John III, r. 561–574], attached as a supplement, stating that all customs granted to you and your church …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
Gregory to Dominicus, bishop. I have received reports of your conduct and I am pleased by them. Your modesty — which I understand to mean not false self-deprecation but the genuine humility of a man who knows himself well enough not to be inflated by position — is admirable in a bishop. Your charity toward those in nee …