Letter 8

From: Pope Hilary, bishop of Rome To: The bishops of Africa Date: ~466 AD Context: Hilary writes to the African bishops on matters of ecclesiastical governance, reaching across the sea to maintain contact with the North African church in its increasingly difficult circumstances. Hilary, bishop of Rome, to our beloved brothers the bishops of Africa, greetings in Christ. We write to you across the sea that separates us — a separation that has made the maintenance of proper communication more difficult than it should be, and that has allowed certain problems to develop that might have been addressed earlier if the channels of communication had remained more open. The North African church is one of the great churches of the Latin world. The tradition of Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine — to name only the greatest — has given the universal church a theological inheritance beyond price. The current difficulties that the church in Africa faces, under the pressure of the Vandal occupation and the disruption it has brought, are known to us and are the subject of our constant prayer. We write specifically on the matter of episcopal elections in Africa, several of which have proceeded without reference to this apostolic see and in ways that may not have followed the established canonical procedures. We do not raise this as a criticism under the circumstances; we raise it as a request for information. We want to know the current state of the African episcopate: which sees have bishops, which are vacant, and what the conditions of ministry are in each. We ask for your report and offer whatever assistance this see can provide. Hilary, bishop of Rome