Letter 2

From: Pope Felix III, bishop of Rome To: Acacius of Constantinople, Patriarch Date: ~484 AD Context: The formal letter of excommunication of Acacius, delivered dramatically by monks who managed to attach it to his vestments during a liturgy in Constantinople — one of the most dramatic acts of papal discipline in late antique church history. Felix, bishop of Rome, to Acacius, formerly bishop of Constantinople. We write to inform you of what the authority entrusted to this see by the Lord compels us to do. Your acceptance and promotion of the Henotikon, a document that abandons the clear teaching of the Council of Chalcedon and seeks to preserve communion with those who deny that Christ possesses two complete natures in one person, has placed you outside the apostolic tradition that it is the duty of every bishop to maintain. We have waited; we have written; we have sent legates. Our patience has been exhausted not by impatience but by the failure of every attempt to bring you back to the faith of the councils. The time for letters and for waiting is past. Know therefore that by the authority of the apostle Peter, whose unworthy successor we are, you are excluded from the communion of the Catholic Church. The anathema we have pronounced is not a political act; it is a spiritual one, made with great sorrow and with the prayer that you will understand what you have done and return to the communion from which you have excluded yourself. The schism that begins today is your responsibility, not ours. Felix, bishop of Rome, servant of the servants of God