Letter 11079: Gregory to John, bishop of Prima Justiniana.

To John, Bishop of Prima Justiniana. Having set forth the outrages of Paul, bishop of Doclea, he prescribes the remedies. Gregory to John, bishop of Prima Justiniana. When the evils which ought to be purged by the weeping of penitence are increased by further excesses, then a greater correction must be applied to the offenders, so that both they themselves may at least recognize their crime through the punishment that avenges it, and the fear of ecclesiastical retribution may restrain others from unlawful deeds. And so our most beloved son Nemesion, the bearer of the present letter, coming to us, has informed us -- just as the copies of the proceedings which he brought here also contained -- that Paul, bishop of the city of Doclea, having among other evils fallen into a corporal crime, was accused by his own clergy, and that, after examination had been held, it became evident -- a thing we cannot say without grief -- that this was so; and moreover that, after he was convicted, he even presented a written document in which he confessed that the charges of which he had been accused were true; on account of which matter, by a judicial sentence, that bishop having been deposed, in his place, with the consent of your Fraternity, Nemesion was ordained bishop. But now this same Paul, coming with the aid of secular judges, entered upon the episcopate after the manner of a brigand, and, the goods of the church having been violently carried off, [Nemesion reports] that he was cast out by him and almost brought to the utmost injury and to death. And since the depravity of so great a wickedness must neither be dissembled nor lightly regarded, let your Fraternity take care to learn all these things diligently; and if the truth holds as we have been informed, let it carry out against the aforesaid Paul, by strict execution, [the due correction]: that he did not fear [to commit such things]. And if perchance, which we do not believe, after his deposition he shamelessly and with a perverse mind shall attempt to say anything concerning the episcopate, or shall presume by any pretension whatever to aspire to this, let the vigor of your Fraternity be wholly kindled against his wickedness, and, having deprived him of the communion of the Lord's body and blood, let it take care that he be thrust back into a monastery to do penance until the day of his death, so that he may learn to wash away with worthy weeping the stains of the crime he has committed, which he rather wickedly desires to increase, to the destruction of his own soul. But let the above-written, our most beloved brother Nemesion, without doubt be restored in his own place and in the office of the episcopate; and, that he may not again suffer disquiet and trouble in this matter, it is necessary that you be solicitous, because this serves not only for his protection, but is also established to serve for the correction of others, so that the presumption of depraved men may in no way dare henceforth to attempt anything against the statutes of the sacred canons or against ecclesiastical discipline.

AD JOANNEM PRIME JUSTINIANE EPISCOPUM, Ezposilis Pauli Docleatint episcopi flagitiis, prazcribit : remedia. Gregorius Joanni episcopo prime Justinianze. Quando mala quz pcenitentie fletu purganda sunt augentur. excessibus, ita major delinquentibus est adhibenda correptio, ut et ipsi ſacinus suum saltem pena vindicante cognoscant, et alios 3b illicitis * ec- clesiaStice ultionis timor inhibeat. Dilectissimus ita- que lator presentium Nemesion ad nos veniens indi- cavit (Gras. 2, q. 7, c. 44), $icut et gestorum exem- plaria quz hue detulit conlinebant, Paulum Þ Doclea- line civitatis episcopum, . inter alia mala in corporale crimen lapsum, a $uis fuisse clericis accusatum, at- [24% AL non timuit. Qui si forte, quod non credimus, post de- po-itionem $uam inverecunde ac mente perversa aliquid de episcopatu loqui atque ru ad hoc qua- libet aspirare presumptione tentavgrit , ſraternilatis vesirz $e contra improbitatem ipsius omnino vigor accendat, alque dominici corporis ac sanguinis com- munione privatum in monaslerium eum usque ad diem obitus 8ui ad agendam curet penitentiam re- trudendum , quatenus perpetrati sceleris maculas di- gnis discat fletibus emundare, quas magis in interitu anim2 Su2 nequiter augere desiderat. Suprascriptus autem dilectissimus ſrater noster Nemesion in loco SU0 et episcopatus officio procul dubio reformetur, etne denuo hacde re inquietudinem ac molestiam patia- que, habita cognitione, L 2OY ita, quod sine dolore B tur, sollicitos vos esse necesse est, quia hoe non solum dicere non pos8umus, claruisse, atque insuper, post- quam convictus est, etiam eum libellum in quo ea de quibus accusatus fuerat vera esSe cogfessus est oblu- lie ; qua de re sententia, illo episcopali deposito, ejus loco se cum ſraternilatis ves{re2 Consensu es$e epixcopum. ordinatum ; sed nunc eumdem Paulum eum auxilio s#cularium judicum - venientem episco- pum more predonis ingressum, ablatisque violenter rebus ecclesiz, ab eo se projectum © et ad summam injuriam ac necem pene perductum. Et quoniam tante nequitiz pravitas, nec dissimulanda, nec leviter at- lendenda est, ſraternitas vestra hac omnia diligeiter curet addiscere, et $i ita 8e ut edocti sumus veritas habet, predictum Paulum districta faciat exsecutione 4 ad hujus munitionem, verum etiam ad aliorum conslat emendationem proficere, ut pravorum homi- num presumpltio nihil de extero contra gacrorum canonum staluta, vel ecclesiasticam disciplinam ullo modo audeat altentare.