Letter 8013: How we may presume on your Charity we gather from the disposition of our own mind with regard to you. Nor do we think that you love the Apostolic See otherwise than as it loves you. Whence it must needs be that we should more peculiarly commend those whom we know to be, as they should be, devoted in the Church of the blessed Peter, Prince of the...
Gregory to Columbus, Bishop of Numidia.
How confident I feel in your Charity I can tell from the disposition of my own heart toward you. I have no doubt that you love the Apostolic See as it loves you. This gives me every reason to commend to you those who have proven themselves devoted servants of the church of the blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles -- especially to someone like you, whose life is an ornament to both the priesthood and its dignity, and whose reliability I know from experience.
Our brother and fellow bishop Paul, who carries this letter, has been tossed by waves of adversity in your region -- as your Holiness well knows. He insists that the complaints you have heard against him are untrue, fabricated at the instigation of his enemies, and that with truth on his side and you as judge, he trusts he can overcome them all with the Lord's help.
I urge you, most beloved brother: wherever justice clearly supports his case, extend your hand to help him and stand by him with priestly compassion. Let no circumstance, no pressure from any party, deflect you from doing what is right. Lean on the Lord's commands and set aside whatever opposes justice. In defending either party, insist always on what is fair. Do not shrink from making enemies, if that is what truth requires. When our Redeemer comes, your reward will be all the greater for having devoted yourself to the cause of justice without flinching from his commands.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
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