Letter 26: To our beloved bishops assembled in council,

To our beloved bishops assembled in council, We address you as a group because the matter concerns the church as a whole rather than any individual bishop. The reports reaching us of the proceedings of regional church councils have given us cause for concern. The councils were established to address the real problems of the church — the quality of clergy, the administration of church property, the pastoral care of the population — and we understand that they serve this purpose well in many of their sessions. What concerns us is the evidence that some council time is being consumed by personal disputes and jurisdictional rivalries between bishops that could more efficiently be handled through direct communication between the parties. We do not presume to tell the bishops how to run their councils. What we do ask is that the outcomes — the canons and decisions that the councils produce — address the matters of real importance and that they be implemented consistently. A council that produces good canons and then sees them ignored serves no one. We also want the councils to address directly the question of clerical education, on which we have asked for action for several years. We pray for the success of your deliberations. By order of the king