From: John the Deacon
To: Pope Symmachus (formal petition)
Date: ~503 AD
Context: A formal petition presented to Symmachus by the deacon John — part of the administrative record of the Laurentian schism period.
To the most holy and apostolic Bishop Symmachus, John the deacon presents his petition.
The matter on which I seek your ruling is the following. During the period of the schism, several clergy of Rome found themselves in the position of having to choose between two competing bishops, each of whom claimed to be the legitimate occupant of the see. Some of these clergy chose, for reasons that mixed genuine uncertainty with practical considerations and not a little fear, to associate with the Laurentian party. They did not reject the apostolic faith; they made what turned out to be the wrong practical decision in an extraordinarily difficult situation.
Now that the situation has been resolved by the synod and by the king's decision, these clergy ask whether they may be received back into full standing with the canonical bishop of Rome.
My petition is that they be received with pastoral generosity — that a period of penance be required, appropriate to the gravity of the decision they made, but that it be a period with an end, after which they are fully restored. The alternative — permanent exclusion — would deprive the Roman church of experienced clergy it needs and would send a message about the church's mercy that I believe is the wrong message.
Your servant,
John the deacon
Beu
LibeUusn Johaimis diaooni, quem obtulit sancto papae a. oOCxl.
Symmaono.
Goelius Johannes diaconus ecclesiae Romanae, qui me ad tem-
s abEcclesia separavi, agnoscens errorera meum spero misericor-
^iu beatitudinis vestrae et redintegrari me unitati: consentiens,
ae veneranda sjnodus judicavit^) atque constituit, anathematizans
^tirum Altinatem et Laurentium Romanae ecclesiae pervasorem et
tdsmaticimi. Quodsi aliquando similia adtemptavero in ea causa,
i qua veniam ab^) apostolatu vestro merui, tunc ecclesiasticae sub-
ceam ultioni. Quod manu mea perscriptum obtuli sub die XIV Ka-
ndarum Octobrium Fl. Messala viro clarissimo consule.
0 Hic designari putat Jac. Sirmondus Laurentium Mediolanensem episco-
Qi, quem ad MarceUianum Aquilejensem pro Symmachp scripsisBse observat.
^um Ennodius lib. 6 epist. 31 (Symm. ep. 19) ad ipsununet Symmachum de
ratione eadem ita loquitur: Domine mi\ famulatus mei humilitatem exhihens parca
^oadmis elocutione contentus, quid domnus episcopus frater vester super directu
^iane senserit, patefaciendum praefati litteris derelinquo. Si quis autem lega-
'^ hiyus^causam quaerat, illam expiscari ei licet ex his ejusdem Ennodii lib. 4 ^
-^- 29 (Symm. epist. 18): Inauspicata bene de Deo mereniibus dona tribuuntur.
'*»*£/ supema dispensatio etiam quod supplicare humanitas non praesumit. Agno-
'^nt adversarii sedis vestrae, quo propugnante vincantur: quod proxime de Aqui-
^^^ Redemptor nostei^ reseravit. Destinata est igitur ista legatio, ut Aquilejen-
''^ episcopum ad unitatem reducere niteretur) atque hunc fructum felidter
^ter spem consecuta est.
Symmachus in locum suum nisi ejecto visitatore illo restitui poterat. Hinc vero
lOn Laurentium modo, sed Altinatem etiam episcopum saltem ad annum 506
iiiD provectum in schismate perstitisse compertum habetur.
◆
From:John the Deacon
To:Pope Symmachus (formal petition)
Date:~503 AD
Context:A formal petition presented to Symmachus by the deacon John — part of the administrative record of the Laurentian schism period.
To the most holy and apostolic Bishop Symmachus, John the deacon presents his petition.
The matter on which I seek your ruling is the following. During the period of the schism, several clergy of Rome found themselves in the position of having to choose between two competing bishops, each of whom claimed to be the legitimate occupant of the see. Some of these clergy chose, for reasons that mixed genuine uncertainty with practical considerations and not a little fear, to associate with the Laurentian party. They did not reject the apostolic faith; they made what turned out to be the wrong practical decision in an extraordinarily difficult situation.
Now that the situation has been resolved by the synod and by the king's decision, these clergy ask whether they may be received back into full standing with the canonical bishop of Rome.
My petition is that they be received with pastoral generosity — that a period of penance be required, appropriate to the gravity of the decision they made, but that it be a period with an end, after which they are fully restored. The alternative — permanent exclusion — would deprive the Roman church of experienced clergy it needs and would send a message about the church's mercy that I believe is the wrong message.
Your servant, John the deacon
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.