Letter 13026: Gregory to Anthemius, Subdeacon of Campania. It has reached our ears that our brother and fellow bishop Paschasius is so idle and negligent in all ways that he is in no respect recognised as bishop; and that so neither his own Church, nor the monasteries, nor any, whether the sons of the Church , or the oppressed poor, are conscious of any earn...

Gregory to Anthemius, Subdeacon of Campania. I have received disturbing reports about our brother and fellow bishop Paschasius [of Naples]. He is so idle and negligent in every respect that he is barely recognizable as a bishop. His own church, the monasteries, the sons of the Church, the oppressed poor -- none of them feel any warmth of pastoral care from him. He provides no help to those who justly appeal to him. And -- what is even more serious to say -- he refuses to listen to the counsel of wise and right-minded people, from whom he might at least learn what he cannot manage on his own. Instead, setting aside everything that belongs to a pastor's duties, he occupies himself entirely with building ships. This obsession has reportedly cost him more than four hundred solidi [gold coins] already. To make matters worse, he is said to go down to the harbor daily with only one or two clerics, looking so shabby that he is the talk of his own people. Strangers judge that he has nothing of the dignity or venerability of a bishop about him. If this is true, you bear some blame for not having rebuked and restrained him already, as you should have. Since all of this disgraces not only him but the office of the priesthood itself, I want you to summon him before other priests or some of his prominent lay supporters and admonish him: shake off this slothfulness. Be vigilant in caring for his church and monasteries. Show fatherly charity to his people. Stand up for the poor where justice demands it. Accept wise counsel. That city must be comforted by the attention of its bishop, not embarrassed by his neglect.

Book XIII, Letter 26 To Anthemius, Subdeacon. Gregory to Anthemius, Subdeacon of Campania. It has reached our ears that our brother and fellow bishop Paschasius is so idle and negligent in all ways that he is in no respect recognised as bishop; and that so neither his own Church, nor the monasteries, nor any, whether the sons of the Church , or the oppressed poor, are conscious of any earnestness of love on his part towards them; nor does he afford any help in what is just to those who supplicate him, and (what is a still more serious thing to say) he cannot bear on any account to receive the counsels of the wise and of such as admire what is right, so that he might at any rate learn from another what he cannot attend to of himself; but, passing over the things that pertain to a pastor's charge, he occupies himself with his whole attention unprofitably in the building of ships. Whence, as is reported, it has come to pass that he has already lost four hundred solidi, or more. This also is added to his faults, that he is said to go down daily to the sea with one or two clerics in so mean a guise as to be the talk among his own people, and to scent to strangers so vile and despicable that he is judged to have nothing in him of the character or venerableness of a bishop. If this be so, know that it is not without fault of yours, who has delayed to rebuke and restrain him, as is fit. Seeing, then, that all this not only discredits him, but also evidently brings reproach on the office of the priesthood, we desire you to summon him for this thing before other priests , or some of his noble sons , and exhort him that, shaking off the vice of sluggishness, he be not idle, but vigilant in the care of his Church and of the monasteries, exhibit fatherly charity to his sons, stand up for the defense of the poor with discretion in cases that are commended by justice, and receive gladly the counsels of the wise, to the end that both that city may be comforted by his solicitude, and he himself succeed in covering the faults of his idleness. If however, as we do not believe will be the case, after this our exhortation he should venture to be negligent after his accustomed manner, he must by all means be sent to us, that in our presence he may learn what it becomes a priest to do, and how to do it, after the fear of God. Given in the month of March, Indiction 6. About this page Source. Translated by James Barmby. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 13. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1898.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360213026.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.