S. Sixti papae II epistolae dubiae duae

THE DOUBTFUL LETTERS OF POPE SIXTUS II.

FIRST LETTER.

TO A CERTAIN BISHOP GRATUS.

That bishops who are accused or condemned may appeal, or approach the apostolic see, without whose authority their cases ought not to be concluded.

Bishop Sixtus to his fellow bishop Gratus, greeting.

The letter of your love has made me rejoice and be very glad (Leo, Letter 31) in Christ Jesus our Lord, for by it is plainly shown how much you love the catholic faith, and how much you detest the error of wicked men. For every heresy is exceedingly impious and an enemy of the truth of the Gospel, since it strives not to injure some portion of it, but to tear up the very foundations of the Christian religion. For I am mindful that I preside over the church under the name of him whose confession was glorified by our Lord Jesus Christ, and (St Leo, Letter 31) whose faith has never deceived anyone, but destroys all heresies. And I understand that it is not lawful for me to do otherwise than to spend all my efforts on that cause in which the salvation of the universal church is assailed. Acknowledge, dearest son (Ithacius, Against Varimadus, chapter 12), that the Son of God was not born in time, nor after times, but was begotten unspeakably from the Father's womb before all times, as God the Father Himself says through the prophet: In the splendours of the saints, from the womb before the daystar I begot Thee (Ps. 109:3). And Isaiah the prophet also plainly expressed this judgement to the doubting and unbelieving, when he shows ineffably that the Son was born from nowhere else than from the Father:

In humility, he says, His judgement was taken away. Who shall declare His generation? (Isa. 53:8). And in the book of Job: The wisdom of God, he says, where will you find it? For it is hidden from the eyes of men, and concealed from the birds of heaven (Job 28:12, 21). Awake a little, and if you have any light of knowledge in yourself, you will find Him whose generation could not be told by the prophet as from time, nor, as you yourself try to maintain, could He have been begotten [in time]. In the beginning, says John the Evangelist, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: this was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was nothing made (John 1:1–3). And again: That was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world (John 1:9). In this, then, that is said, Was, if you seek a time, you will not find one: since from when the Father [is], from then also [is] the Son; and what the Father is, that also is the Son, as Solomon says: I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before every creature. I made the unfailing light to rise in heaven, and as a cloud I covered all the earth. I dwell in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of cloud. I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven, and have penetrated the depth of the abyss. I have stood in all the earth, and among the people I have held the primacy (Sir. 24:5–10). Likewise there: When He prepared the heavens, I was present with Him, and when He set apart His seat. When He made the clouds on high above the strong winds, and when He set sure fountains under heaven, when He made strong the foundations of the earth, I was there, arranging with Him, and I was he whom He increased, when He rejoiced in the world made perfect (Prov. 8:27–31). And in the hundred and first psalm: Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst found the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou remainest, and like a garment Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the selfsame, and Thy years shall not fail (Ps. 101:26–28). For there was no age, or any time, before the Son was born of the Father; since He Who established all times by His own power could not be born out of time or after times. With these few sentences I have briefly answered your enquiries, dearest brother. For the rest, I admonish your love that you strive to bring back all whom you know to be in error to the catholic faith and to the unity of those who believe rightly,

and that you never depart from the apostolic path. But if they do not listen to you, and remain in error (which God forbid), do not delay to make them known to us as quickly as you can, so that by apostolic authority they may either be swiftly converted to the Church or be separated from the Church. We have heard also that certain erring men, and those who consent with them, harass you and the other fellow bishops, and are drawing some bishops of the province along with them to your defamation and condemnation.

Wherefore it had long ago been established in this holy see by many bishops, and has now been confirmed anew for the help of you and of the other brothers, that all bishops who are assailed or accused in any graver causes may, as often as it is necessary, freely appeal to the apostolic see, and flee to it as to a mother, so that by it (as has always been the case) they may be dutifully supported, defended and set free. To its disposal the ancient authority of the apostles and of their successors and of the canons has reserved all the greater ecclesiastical causes and the judgements of bishops, since [it is] when bishops are blamed who have acted otherwise towards their brothers than it has pleased the pope of the same see that it should be done. Hence it has been decided that a bishop accused or judged in any cause by the bishops of his province may freely appeal to and approach the pontiff of the apostolic see (Council of Sardica, canons 4, 5, 7). And he, either by himself or through his vicars, is to see to it that the matter is examined afresh. And while the bishop pleads his cause in a repeated judgement, let no other be put in his place or ordained bishop: since, although it is lawful for the bishops of the province to examine the cause of an accused bishop, it is nevertheless not permitted to settle it without consulting the Roman pontiff, since it was said to the blessed apostle Peter by none other than the Lord Himself: Whatever you bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven: and whatever you loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). And if anyone thinks himself aggrieved by his own metropolitan, let him be judged before the primate of the diocese (Hadrian, Collection, ch. 6), or before the pope of the universal apostolic church. For the apostle James says: Judgement without mercy shall be to him who has not shown mercy. But he exalts mercy above judgement (Jas. 2:13). In all things therefore (St Gregory, Letter 45, Book VIII), dearest son, guard your heart, as it is written: With all watchfulness guard your heart, because from it life proceeds (Prov. 4:23). These things I have written back briefly by way of reminder: but I ask that you should pray for me, that almighty God may deign to guard me both from malignant spirits and from perverse men; for in this pilgrimage of my life evils surround me at once and many, so that I may rightly say with the Psalmist: Thy wrath has passed over me, and Thy terrors have troubled me. They have surrounded me like water all the day, they have surrounded me together (Ps. 87:17–18). May heavenly grace protect both us in the cities and you everywhere, because the ancient enemy is not shut out from any places of the earth in tempting: for if he overthrew man in paradise (Gen. 3), what place outside paradise can there be into which he cannot penetrate the minds of men? For of the ancient

enemy, through whose envy death entered into the world (Wis. 2:24), the eyes are ever watchful for ensnaring the souls of men, and he desires to drag many along with him into perdition by his depravity, he who by his own malice fell from glory into misery. We must therefore trust in the protection of our Creator alone, to Whom let us cry from the depth of our heart: Be Thou to me a God and protector, and a fortified place, that Thou mayest save me (Ps. 30:3 and 70:3). Given on the Kalends of September, Valerian and Decius, most illustrious men, being consuls.

Letter II.

Argument. I. If anyone has a case against bishops or agents of the Church, how he shall conduct himself.

II. On bishops despoiled of their property, or driven from their see.

III. That no bishop retain, ordain or judge a parishioner of another.

IV. On bishops unjustly condemned and restored by apostolic authority.

V. That excommunicated persons cannot accuse bishops, nor can those who would not receive them in an accusation of their own; and that the greater cannot be judged or condemned by the lesser.

To the most beloved brethren established throughout the provinces of the Spains, Sixtus, bishop, greeting in the Lord.

By the great gift (St Leo, Letter 54) of the mercy of God, the joys of the whole Catholic Church are multiplied when the condition of the churches flourishes in that order in which the apostles and their successors established it. And when we learn that it is being disturbed by the cunning of the ancient enemy, we are saddened with no small grief. For which reason, brethren, we exhort, admonish and urge you by no means to depart from the path of the apostolic institution, nor to be at variance with the head, but to hold without hesitation the faith and order which the apostles and apostolic men established. For if the columns of some great house collapse, the house itself will by no means stand afterwards. So you too, who are the columns of the church, if you begin to totter, holy Church, which is ruled through you, will waste away and fall. These things, brethren, these two, are greatly to be feared, and to be weighed with the utmost restraint, and guarded against lest they come about. For the Truth Himself said in His own person: You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? etc. (Matt. 5:13; Rom. 1). Therefore I admonish you, dearest ones, because I am your debtor and love you greatly. And when I hear good things of you, I rejoice abundantly; and on the other hand, when adverse things, I am exceedingly troubled. But I, although I am separated from you by long distances of lands, am nevertheless wholly joined with you in heart (St Gregory, Letter 36 of Book IV). And therefore I trust in every way in your beatitude towards me, because, since you love me in turn, you are not far from me. Hence we give the more thanks to that grain of mustard seed (Matt. 13:31; Mark 4:31; Luke 13:19), which from the appearance of a small and contemptible seed, with branches thus rising from the same root and spreading themselves out, everywhere

is spread, so that all the birds of heaven nest in them (Matt. 13); and thanks be to that leaven which, in three measures of meal (Luke 13), kneaded the mass of the whole human race into unity; and to the little stone which, cut from the mountain without hands, took up the whole face of the circle of the earth (Dan. 2). He to this end, assuming the nature of our flesh and the form of a servile state, humbly extended Himself everywhere, so that, the whole human race having been brought into unity, He might make complete the united body of the whole Church; and so this partial distinction of members might serve the benefit of this framework. Hence we too are not far from you, because in Him Who is everywhere we are one. Let us therefore give thanks to Him Who, having dissolved enmities in His flesh, brought it about that in the whole circle of the lands there should be one flock and one fold under one shepherd; ever mindful of what the preacher of truth admonishes you, saying: Carefully keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4). For no one keeps the bond of peace while he harasses another or persecutes him with words or with deeds. Therefore, brethren, we have set these things first, because we have heard that accusations are being pressed among you, and that bishops driven from their sees or despoiled of their property are being judged.

I.—Wherefore it is decreed that if anyone believes he has a case of his own against a bishop or the agents of the Church (Hadr. coll. c. 2, from the Fifth Council of Orléans, can. 17), he should not approach the judges before he has recourse to them in the zeal of charity, so that, admonished in a friendly conversation, they may set right the things that are brought forward in complaint. But if he acts otherwise, let him be deprived of communion.

II.—Let none of the pontiffs henceforth presume to excommunicate or judge any bishop despoiled of his property or driven from his see, because [there is] no privilege of which one already stripped could be despoiled (The same in the decrees of Pope Alexander, and in the decrees of Pope Julius).

III.—Let no bishop presume to retain the parishioner of another, or to ordain him without his consent, or to judge him; because just as his ordination will be void, so also will his judgement (Hadr. coll. c. 16); since we decree that no one is bound by the sentence of any judge other than his own (Anianus on the single constitution, tit. 16, bk 4, Theodosian Code). For he who could not ordain him will in no way be able to judge him either. These things, then, we command you to hold henceforth, and to help the brethren in turn (The same in the decrees of Sixtus I, and likewise in the decrees of Pope Julius).

IV.—But the brethren whom you have unjustly condemned out of earthly fear, know that they have been justly restored by us. To them, by the authority of Saint Peter and the apostolic authority, we command that all things taken from them be restored in full, if you do not wish yourselves and your princes to be separated from our fellowship and from the members of the Church. For by the just judgement of God power is often given to sinners, by which they may persecute His saints (Prosper, Sentences 23, and St Augustine on Ps. 118); so that those who are helped and led by the Spirit of God may become more illustrious through the exercise of labours. Yet those who do this will in no way escape punishment; because, as the Lord says: Woe to him through whom scandal

comes (Matt. 18). And although, according to the Saviour's saying, it is necessary that scandals come, yet woe to him through whom they come. For to judge rashly of the hidden things of another's heart is a sin (Prosper, Sentences 21, and St Augustine on the same Psalm); and it is unjust to censure on suspicion one whose works are seen to be nothing but good, since of the things which are unknown to man God alone is the just judge, Who is the true inspector. Hence it is written: Let us not judge uncertain things until the Lord comes, Who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of hearts (1 Cor. 4) (in the Decretum of Ivo, book 4). And although things may be true (St Isidore, Synonyma 2, ch. 16), they are nevertheless not to be believed unless they are proved by sure evidence, unless they are established by manifest judgement, unless they are made public by judicial process. No one therefore can be condemned by human examination whom God has reserved for His own judgement (Hadrian's collection, chs 51 and 67; and Constantine the Great to the Nicene Fathers). All these things are to be guarded against with the utmost care, lest we seem to be presumptuous. And an accusation against bishops is not to be readily received, as the Lord says: You shall not entertain a lying voice (Exod. 23). And the Apostle (1 Tim. 5) says that an indictment against a presbyter is not to be received without two or three suitable witnesses (see the second letter of Pope Julius, defiled by the same stain of spuriousness). If these things are to be guarded against in the case of presbyters or the other faithful, how much more in the case of bishops? These things being known, it is manifest that you wish to domineer rather than to take counsel for your brothers or to support them, because honour inflates pride; and what was provided for concord tends towards harm. For it would have been fitting, according to the aforesaid rules, that if they had done anything against their order, you should send word to us and wait for what we would write back to your consultations, so much so that even if they committed something grave and intolerable, our censure would be awaited, so that you would decree nothing beforehand nor anything other than what you knew to please us, and would depart from the established rules neither through any negligence nor through presumption. Let this sort of thing cease, and let there be no injuries [done to] those who refuse to receive us in their complaint or accusation, because we can by no means patiently bear such machinations, since it befits us to be diligent guardians of the fathers' sanctions. For rightly the cause concerns us, if by silence we should favour error.

V. — It has moreover already been ordained on many occasions by our holy predecessors that no one should undertake an anathema in an accusation against us, presumption being suppressed by our authority; let such persons be summoned, since we know that we have been set by the Lord over them, not they over us. And just as the greater cannot be judged by the lesser, so neither can he be bound; for everything that is great is rare. Let us bear the burdens of all who are weighed down; nay rather, the blessed apostle Peter bears these in us, in whose stead we discharge our embassy and by whose rule we are formed, so that, supported by his help, we may be protected from all adversities now and for ever. Given on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of August, Valerian and Decius, most illustrious men, being consuls.