Letter 5025: The report that has been sent to us has informed us of the death of the bishop John. Wherefore we solemnly delegate to your Fraternity the work of the visitation of the bereaved Church: which work it becomes you so to execute that no one may presume to interfere with respect to the promotions of the clergy, the revenues, ornaments, ministrations...

Pope Gregory the GreatSeverus, of Aquileia|c. 594 AD|gregory great
grief deathproperty economics
Death & mourning

Gregory to Severus, Bishop of Ficulum.

We have received the report informing us of Bishop John's death. We therefore formally delegate to you the responsibility of visiting the bereaved church. Carry out this task in such a way that no one presumes to interfere with the clergy's appointments, the church's revenues, its sacred furnishings, its ministries, or anything else belonging to the patrimony of that church.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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