Letter 28

From: Avitus, Bishop of Vienne To: Apollinaris, Bishop of Valence Date: ~505 AD Context: Avitus writes to a neighboring bishop about a complex situation involving episcopal responsibilities and personal loyalty. Avitus, bishop, to the most holy brother Apollinaris. I write to you both burdened by the responsibility I carry and grateful for the opportunity to think through it with someone whose judgment I trust. The matter involves a conflict between what my office requires of me and what my relationship with the court seems to permit. I will not describe it in detail in a letter that could be read by others; you know enough of the situation to understand the contours. But the essence is this: I have information that I believe I am obligated to share with the metropolitan, but sharing it will strain — perhaps permanently — my relationship with the court that I need in order to do my work effectively. I keep coming back to a question that I cannot answer to my own satisfaction: in the hierarchy of obligations, where does the bishop's obligation to his metropolitan stand relative to his obligation to exercise the pastoral discretion that his specific situation requires? The general rule says: share the information. My particular situation says: sharing the information will make it impossible for me to continue to be useful. I suspect you will tell me that the general rule exists precisely because no one should be trusted to judge when their particular situation is exceptional enough to override it. I suspect you would be right. But I am asking anyway. Pray for me. And write back. Avitus

Avitus episcopus Apollinari episcopo. Innexus pariter adgravatusque dignatione sollicitudinis, magnitudine muneris, con- suetudine pietatis, qua digna vel gratiarum actione, non dicam obsequii sedulitate re- spondeam? nisi forte multipliciter atque invalidus eadem in hoc sustenter gratia vestra, qua oneror. Concedat vos ornatui ecclesiae, consolationi ac refectioni nostrae omni- potens deus: ut, quia revera non solum vobis vivitis, per aliorum solacia vestra merita cumuletis. Fecerunt quidem peccata mea non qualemcumque necessitatem, qua in die susceptae vestrae festivitatulae laetitiae nostrae, corporalis vestrae pietatis prae- sentia fraudaremur. Sed reddidistis ac repraesentastis nobis vicissitudinem vestri ad- spectus in lumine, oris in sermone, actus in opere. Credo in dei nostri misericordia, quod non meo tantum tempore, sed etiam secuturo donum vestrae oblationis ecclesiola nostra venerabitur. Quod sicut ego, dum vivo, in testimonium inexhaustae largitatis servare desidero, ita mihi deus praestet, ut etiam ei, quem post me, cum deus iusserit, electio vestra decreverit, peculiariter auctoritas vestra commendet.