Letter 11: Felix, bishop of Rome, to Euphemius, bishop of Constantinople, greetings in Christ.

Felix, bishop of Rome, to Euphemius, bishop of Constantinople, greetings in Christ. We continue to hope for the restoration of communion between our churches, and we write to you as we wrote to your predecessor Fravitas, to make clear what is required. The central sticking point, as we understand it, is the removal of Acacius's name from the diptychs. We have received representations from Constantinople suggesting that this removal would be politically damaging — that Acacius had many supporters whose loyalty would be alienated by a posthumous condemnation. We understand this argument; we do not accept it. The diptychs are not a record of those who have held office or who have been popular. They are a record of those who died in the communion of the church. Acacius did not die in that communion; he died separated from it by his own actions. For his name to remain in the diptychs is to say that that separation did not happen, or that it did not matter. It happened, and it matters. We press this not out of vindictiveness toward a man who can no longer be reached by our corrections, but because the integrity of the historical record and the seriousness of communion require it. A reconciliation that leaves the cause of the schism unaddressed is unstable from the beginning. We await your response with hope. Felix, bishop of Rome