Letter 39: As I told the clergy, so I now tell you, the people: Felicissimus must be avoided, together with the five presbyters...

As I told the clergy, so I now tell you, the people: Felicissimus must be avoided, together with the five presbyters who have joined his faction. These men did not merely grant reckless and indiscriminate peace to the lapsed — they stirred up sedition and schism against the bishop himself. This is not a disagreement over policy. It is an assault on the unity of the Church. Although our faithful presbyters and deacons — Virtius, Rogatianus, Numidicus, and the rest — are present with you and attending to your needs with full devotion, not ceasing to strengthen each person through exhortation and to guide the lapsed through sound counsel, I still write to you directly, as often and as fully as I can. I visit you with my letters since circumstance forbids me to visit in person. Know this: the treachery of certain presbyters has prevented me from returning to you before Easter. These men remember their conspiracy against me and nurse their old venom against my episcopate — that is, against your vote and God's judgment. They have renewed their attack and resumed their sacrilegious plotting. But by God's providence — not by our wish or action, though we were willing to forgive and remain silent — they have brought upon themselves the punishment they deserved. They were not cast out by us. They cast themselves out. Their own conscience convicted them before any sentence was pronounced. Five presbyters have conspired with Felicissimus to set up an alternative communion, divide the people, and substitute their own authority for the order of the Gospel and the government of the bishop. Let no one be deceived by them. They offer a cheap reconciliation that costs nothing because it means nothing. True restoration to the Church requires repentance, discipline, and the bishop's judgment — not a handshake from a faction leader. Stay united. Stay patient. When peace comes and we can assemble, everything will be examined properly. In the meantime, the way to honor the martyrs is not to rush past their sacrifice but to live worthy of it.

Epistle 39