Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)→Unknown|gregory great
From: Pope Gregory I
To: Innocent, Prefect of Africa
Date: ~601 AD
Context: Gregory asks that Victor, bishop of a Fatianus, not have his diocese interfered with
I write to you concerning Victor, bishop of Fatianus, whose situation has been brought to my attention. His diocese has, it seems, been subjected to interference — from whose hand I need not specify here, since you will know better than I. What I ask is simple: let the bishop exercise his proper jurisdiction without encroachment. The boundaries of church governance are not to be redrawn by secular authority, however well-intentioned. I know you are a man who respects proper order, and I trust you will see to it that this matter is corrected. The peace of the African church depends in no small part on its pastors being allowed to pastor.
Qui pravonim* actuum eminentiam vestram** vindicem esse desiderat, quid de®
aequitatis eius bono^ sentiat, aestimatis. Proinde reverentissimi fratris et coepiscopi
nostri® Victoris Fausianensis^ episcopi®^ plenam vobis doloribus querellam deferimus,
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From:Pope Gregory I
To:Innocent, Prefect of Africa
Date:~601 AD
Context:Gregory asks that Victor, bishop of a Fatianus, not have his diocese interfered with
I write to you concerning Victor, bishop of Fatianus, whose situation has been brought to my attention. His diocese has, it seems, been subjected to interference — from whose hand I need not specify here, since you will know better than I. What I ask is simple: let the bishop exercise his proper jurisdiction without encroachment. The boundaries of church governance are not to be redrawn by secular authority, however well-intentioned. I know you are a man who respects proper order, and I trust you will see to it that this matter is corrected. The peace of the African church depends in no small part on its pastors being allowed to pastor.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.