Letter 5

From: Desiderius of Cahors, bishop To: Caesarius, Bishop of Clermont Date: ~640 AD Context: Desiderius writes to a fellow bishop on ecclesiastical matters affecting both their dioceses, including questions of church governance in the Frankish south. To the most holy Lord Caesarius, bishop of Clermont, from his brother Desiderius of Cahors, I have long wanted to write to you, both because the distance between our sees is not so great that regular correspondence should be difficult and because the matters that affect the church in our part of the kingdom affect both of us similarly. The question that most presses on me at the moment is the management of church councils in our region. The councils do valuable work when they convene, but the interval between them is long enough that the canons they produce are often insufficiently enforced by the time they meet again. I have been thinking about whether there is a practical way to maintain more consistent accountability to conciliar decisions without waiting for another full assembly — through episcopal visitations, through more regular informal correspondence between the bishops, through some other mechanism. I raise this with you because you have been in the episcopate longer than I have and you know this country better. What has worked in your experience? On a more personal note: the building at Cahors proceeds well, and the people of this city have shown a generosity of spirit in supporting it that has strengthened my confidence in what I came here to do. How does Clermont stand? Your brother in Christ, Desiderius