Letter 7

From: [Visigothic Church official] To: [Visigothic Church official] Date: ~595 AD Context: Epistulae Wisigothicae letter 7; ecclesiastical correspondence within the Visigothic church on matters of church discipline and the training of the clergy in the decade following the conversion. To my beloved brother in Christ, The question you have raised — how to handle a priest who was ordained in the Arian church and has since been received into the Catholic church through the process established by the council, but who appears to hold residual Arian views that surface occasionally in his preaching — is one I have encountered several times in the past six years and on which I want to share my thinking. The fact of residual error is not, in my judgment, grounds for immediate removal from ministry. These are men who were formed in a tradition that they held sincerely, who made a genuine decision to convert, and who are learning a new theological framework for the first time as mature adults. The learning takes time. What I look for is the direction of travel: is this man willing to be corrected? Does he accept the correction when it is offered? Is his preaching improving? If the answers are yes, patient formation is the right response. Regular instruction, access to good theological texts, a mentor who can address questions as they arise — these can over time bring a man who converted sincerely from error to a full understanding of the orthodox faith. If the answers are no — if he refuses correction, if he defends the old teaching — that is a different matter, and removal from public ministry is warranted. Your brother in the faith