Letter 131: (In 382 Gregory was summoned to a Synod at Constantinople; he wrote to Procopius, the Prefectus Urbi, and declined to go, on the ground of his great dislike to Episcopal Synods, from which, he said, he had never known any good to result. However he seems to have received a more urgent summons through Icarius and Olympius. His reply to Icarius ha...
Gregory to Procopius, Prefect of Constantinople, declining a summons to a synod.
I have been summoned to a synod at Constantinople, and I must decline. You know my feelings about episcopal synods -- I have never known any good to come from them. They are more likely to increase confusion than to resolve it.
I do not say this from laziness or indifference. I say it from long and painful experience. The best service I can render the Church at this point in my life is prayer and silence, not another round of theological argument in a hall full of ambitious bishops.
Forgive my frankness. And forgive my absence.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
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