Gregory to Victor, Primate of Numidia
Gregorius Victori episcopo Numidiae primati
Gregory IGREGORIUS VICTORI EPISCOPO.
Quanto laetitiae nobis est fratres nostros cognoscere erga filios suos paterna caritate decenter esse sollicitos, tanto tristitiae deputamus, quando eos ab inlicitis nec aliorum fratrum reverentia nec sacerdotii praevaleat consideratio temperare. Quam igitur gravis et aspera adversus fratrem nostrum Paulinum Tegesis civitatis episcopum clericorum eius vel eorum qui in sacro sunt ordine positi querella sit, fraternitati tuae liquere non dubium est, quia latere te in vicina non potuit, quod ad nos in longinquo pervenit. Et quoniam valde cavendum est, ne hoc, quod eum frustra in se corporali iniuria queruntur excedere, aut licite praesumatur aut fiat dissimulatione deterius, sic manifesti excessus canonica semper moderatione premendi sunt, ut una res et praeteritorum correctio et esse possit regula futurorum. Proinde simul cum dilectissimo communi fratre Columbo episcopo vel aliis sacerdotibus quos praevideris inter suprascriptum fratrem nostrum et clericos ipsius causam suptili investigatione rimari te convenit. Et si supplicantium querella veritate subsistit, ita hoc regulari emendatione corrigite, ut et, quam sit malum quod fecit, agnoscat et officii sui discat de cetero terminos non exire. Nec loci tui, sicut dicitur, ab eo postponi ordinem patiaris, ne illi despectus suus ad periculum et tibi faciat ad culpam. Nam ad personam in priori loco positam respicit, quicquid a minore committitur, nisi sollicite cognoscatur.
Illud autem, quod isdem frater noster Paulinus ecclesiasticos ordines dare sub praemio perhibetur, subtilius a vobis et omnino districte quaerendum est. Et si, quod non optamus, esse claruerit, sic ad ulciscendum hoc vester zelus accendat, ut et ordinanti avaritia sua convertatur ad poenam et inlicita ordinatio effectu carens ambitionis suae desiderio non fruatur. In qua re hortamur atque prae
omnibus ammonemus, ut ita fraternitas vestra studeat esse sollicita, quatenus, priusquam unius vitio simoniacae illic hereseos nequitia convalescet, sententiae vestrae falce faucis ex eo concilio radicitus amputetur. Nam quisquis ad hoc facinus emendandum officii sui consideratione vehementer non arserit, non dubitet portionem, a quo prius hoc piaculare flagitium sumpsit exordium. Et sicut diximus, vigilanter atque studiose agendum est, ut concilium vestrum, ideo id, quod nunc usque sine huius modi prava opinione Deo custodiente servatum est, huius sceleris venenati nec polluere possint nec perdere. Praeterea Hilaro cartulario nostro praecepimus, ut, si res exegerit, interesse vobiscum non differat. Unde, si necesse fuerit, vestris illi, ut ad vos venire debeat, epistolis indicate, quatenus haec omnia una cum eo salubriter Deo possitis adiuvante dirimere.
GREGORIUS TO VICTOR, BISHOP.
As greatly as it brings us joy to know that our brothers are properly solicitous toward their sons with fatherly love, so greatly do we count it grief when neither the reverence due to fellow brothers nor regard for the priesthood is sufficient to restrain them from unlawful conduct. How grave and harsh is the complaint of his clerics and of those placed in holy orders against our brother Paulinus, bishop of the city of Tegesis, there is no doubt that it is clear to your fraternity, since what has reached us at so great a distance could not have been hidden from you in your proximity. And since it must be carefully guarded against that what they complain he has wrongfully done to them by bodily injury be either lawfully presumed or made worse by dissembling, manifest transgressions must always be restrained by canonical moderation, so that one action may serve both as correction of past offenses and as a rule for the future. Therefore, together with our most beloved common brother Columbo the bishop and with other priests whom you shall deem fitting, it is proper that you examine the case between the aforementioned brother and his clerics with careful investigation. And if the complaint of the petitioners is grounded in truth, correct the matter with such regular amendment that he both recognizes how serious is what he has done and learns henceforth not to overstep the bounds of his office. And do not suffer the order of your rank to be, as they say, set aside by him, lest his contempt for you bring peril to him and guilt to you. For whatever is committed by a lesser party reflects upon the person placed in the higher position, unless it is diligently brought to account.
As for the fact that this same brother Paulinus is reported to have conferred ecclesiastical orders for payment, this must be inquired into by you with all care and strictness. And if — which we do not desire — it shall have become clear that this is so, let your zeal be so inflamed to punish it that both the avarice of the one who ordained may be turned to his punishment, and the unlawful ordination, stripped of its effect, may not obtain the reward of his ambition. In this matter we urge and
to urge upon all, that your fraternity should take care to be so diligent that, before the wickedness of the simoniac heresy can take hold there through the vice of any one person, it be severed at the root from that assembly by the cutting blade of your sentence. For whoever does not burn with vehement zeal in the consideration of his office to amend this crime should have no doubt that he will share a portion with the one from whom this transgression requiring expiation first took its beginning. And as we have said, it must be handled with vigilance and diligence, so that your council ensures that what has been preserved until now by God’s protection, without any such corrupt practice, can neither be polluted nor destroyed by this poisonous wickedness. Furthermore, we have directed Hilarus, our notary [chartularius], not to delay in joining you, should the matter require it. Therefore, if it shall be necessary, inform him by your letters that he ought to come to you, so that together with him you may be able, with God’s help, to resolve all these matters in a wholesome manner.