Letter 6041: **From:** Gregory I, Bishop of Rome
A matter has come to my attention regarding a presbyter serving the church at Massa Nicoterana, and it requires your direct intervention. I am told that the situation there has become irregular in ways that reflect poorly on the local church's governance. Investigate the specific circumstances of this presbyter and report back to me. If what I have heard is accurate, corrective action will be necessary. Do not allow the matter to drift further — the longer these situations are left unaddressed, the harder they become to resolve.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
AD RUFINUM EPISCOPUM.
In Ecclesia Mazse Nicoterane presbyterum ordinan-
dum, qui episcopi in penitentiam depulati vice
baptizet ac celebret Migsas.
Gregorius Ruſino episcopo *® Vivonensi.
Ex habitatoribus Þ Mass:z -Nicoteranze, quorum
episcopus pro quibusdam culpis in penitentiam g24
depulatus est, relatione comperimus nullum illic esse
presbyterum qui $acra possit missarum $olemnia ce-
lebrare, in tautum ut etiam filios su0s sine baptismate
asserant remansisse. Et quia hac pro causa magnopere
petiverunt $ibi in eadem Ecclesia cui fraternitas
vestra operam visitationis impendit debere presby-
terum ordinari, ea propler scriplis vos prasentibus
adhortamur, ut de clero ejusdem Ecclesiz requirere
debeatis, cujus vita et mores ad hoc possint officium
convenire, et eum illic presbyterum ſeslinetis, auxi-
liante Domino, consecrare. Nam valde durum est ut
quousque causa episcopi eorum subtiliter requiratur,
non habeat Eecclesia illa presbyterum, qui sacrum il-
lic opus valeat celebrare. © Mense Julio, indictione 14.
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