Letter 9115: If in secular affairs every man should have his right and his proper rank preserved to him, how much more in ecclesiastical arrangements ought no confusion to be let in; lest discord should find place there, whence the blessings of peace should proceed. And this will in this way be secured, if nothing is yielded to power but all to equity. Now i...

Gregory to Syagrius, Bishop of Autun. If in secular affairs every person should have their rights and proper rank preserved, how much more so in ecclesiastical matters? Discord must never be allowed to take root where the blessings of peace should originate. This is secured when nothing is conceded to power but everything to fairness. I have received reports that our most beloved brother Ursicinus, Bishop of Turin, has been treated shamefully. After already enduring captivity and plunder, he has suffered serious harm in his parishes, which are situated within Frankish territory. Another bishop was installed there in direct violation of church law, with no fault of Ursicinus requiring it. And if that were not enough, the property of his church was also seized from him. If this is true, it is cruel and contrary to the sacred canons. The ambition of one person should not tear an innocent priest from his own altar when no crime demands his removal. Everyone should treat his cause as their own and resist having done to others what they would not accept for themselves. If the door to this kind of abuse is not closed early, it widens with use -- and what reason clearly forbids, custom comes to permit. Above all others, I call on your Fraternity's diligence -- out of respect for my commendation and your own sense of duty before God -- to devote yourself to Ursicinus's defense. Do not allow him to be removed from his parishes any longer without just cause. Through your own efforts and by appealing to the most excellent kings, whom I trust will not cause you grief in a just matter, work to restore what has been taken from him.

Book IX, Letter 115 To Syagrius, Bishop of Augustodunum (Autun). Gregory to Syagrius, etc. If in secular affairs every man should have his right and his proper rank preserved to him, how much more in ecclesiastical arrangements ought no confusion to be let in; lest discord should find place there, whence the blessings of peace should proceed. And this will in this way be secured, if nothing is yielded to power but all to equity. Now it has been reported to us that our most beloved brother Ursicinus, bishop of the city of Taurini , after the captivity and plunder which he endured, has suffered serious prejudice in his parishes , which are said to be situated within the boundaries of the Franks, even to the extent of another person being constituted bishop there in contravention of ecclesiastical ordinances, no crime of his demanding it. And, lest this prejudicial proceeding should perchance seem to be a light matter, there has been also some hardship added in the taking from him of the property of his Church which he might have held. Now, if these things are really so, seeing that it is a very cruel thing and opposed to the sacred canons, that the ambition of any should remove from his own altar an innocent priest who does not deserve to be superseded on account of crime, let all regard his cause as their own, and strive against the imposition on others of what they would be unwilling to endure themselves. For if the entrance for an evil thing is not closed before it has been long open, it grows wider by use; and what is evidently forbidden by reason will be allowed by custom. But, beyond all others, let the solicitude of your Fraternity, in consideration of our commendation and your own sense of what you owe to God, devote itself earnestly to his defense, and not allow him to be any longer removed against reason from his parishes. But, as well in your own person as by making supplication to the most excellent kings , whom we believe to cause you no sadness in any respect, do you bring it about that this thing which has been done amiss may be corrected, and that what has been taken away by force may under the patronage of truth be restored; for, seeing that it is written, A brother helping a brother shall be exalted Proverbs 18:19, your Charity may know that it will receive by so much the more from Almighty God as His precepts shall have been gladly and constantly executed in helping a brother. 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/360209115.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.