Letter 9185

Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)Unknown|gregory great
From: Pope Gregory I
To: The Clergy, Order, and People Residing at Tadinae
Date: ~599 AD
Context: Gregory orders the community at Tadinae to obey their visitor, Bishop Gaudiosus of Iguvium

Brothers and sisters, I have appointed Gaudiosus, bishop of Iguvium, as visitor to your community, and I write to ask — indeed to require — that you give him your full cooperation and obedience. A visitor arrives with the authority of this see, and resistance to his ministry is, in effect, resistance to this see itself. I understand that communities under visitation sometimes feel judged or slighted. This is not the purpose of the visit. Bishop Gaudiosus comes to serve your community's needs, not to find fault. Receive him as you would receive me.

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