Letter 4014

From: Gregory the Great, Pope, in Rome To: The clergy of the church of Capua Date: ~594 AD Context: Gregory informs the clergy of Capua that he has assigned the visitation of their church to Bishop Gaudentius. Gregory to the clergy of the church of Capua. I have assigned the visitation of your church to the bishop Gaudentius of Nola. He comes with my authority and on my behalf. You are to give him your full cooperation. This means: honest answers to his questions, access to whatever he needs to examine, and the kind of transparency that allows a genuine assessment of your church's condition. It does not mean the performance of cooperation while concealing what he actually needs to know. A visitor who is deceived or obstructed cannot do his job, and a church that deceives or obstructs its visitor has declared that it prefers its current problems to the inconvenience of having them addressed. I trust that is not your preference. Cooperate fully. Gregory

AD CLERUM ECCLESIE CAPUANE, De visitatione Eeclesic Capuance Gaudentio commigsa, Gregorius clero Ecclesias Capuan#. degenti Nea- poli. * Quoniam Fuscus Capuanze Ecclesiz episcopus hic positus de hac lice migravit, cure nobis ſuit desti- lute Ecclesiz visitationem ſralri, et coepiscopo no- sIro Gaudentio Nolanz civitatis episcopo solemniter delegare, cvi dedimus in mandatis ut nibil de pro- vectiombus clericorum, reditu, ornatu, minisleriis- que a quoquam usurpari patiatur. Cujus vos as8iduis adbortationibus convenit obedire, quatenus in eccle- SiasSLico ob-equio, alque in Dei laudibus vigilanti de- beatis cura persisfere , moresque vestros 8ub digna ecc'esiaslici regiminis disciplina componere. . Nec quisquam vestrum ejus audeat praceptionibus ob- viare, Sed onini lam ecclesiaslica observatione, quam etiam Ecclesiz vestra custodia , ejus provisionibus obedientiain exbibere , quatenus dum ejius regimini epist. 44, et lib. vin, epist. 7, necnoun in epist. ad Augustinum olim 51 lib. x1, nunc lib. x1, 64. Quar- D tain hanec portionem. concedit sanctus Gregorius epis- copo Ecclesir Agrigentinz visitatori, hac in Eccle- sia Omnia munia epi>copalia oheunti. In hac epistola mutavimus multa ex unanimi Mss. consensn, de qui- bus non monuimus, quod sensns jdem remaneat. Eetisr. XII. — * Festus legitur , vel Sixtus, in Editis, $ed perperam. epist. 25; infra, lib. v1, epist. 21, ete. Cirea unde- cimum 8xcnlum , decedentium episcoporum hona a laicis rapiebantur ; nec obstabant heredes, quod. ad eos nihil pertineret. Hunc abnsum multis cantonibus coerceri oporiuit, ut testatur Petrus Dainiani, lib. v, epist. 6, alque alibi passim ; cans. 12, q. 2. Legesis c. 45, 46, 47, 48. In Chalcedon., c. 22, patet hanc quere'/am non ſuisse novam, quandoquidem id fuerit praxcedentibus canonibus vetitum. In <exta synodo, c. 55, prohibetur metropolitanus involare in res ec- clesize vel episcopi mortui. AUGET, SANCTI GREGORY MAGNI 736 vextra ſuerit obedientia commodata, et Ecclesiz ve- A bt, et require ubi hodie $tat, et cognosces quia Ee- sire in nullo negligatur ulilitas, et ejus it cura propensior.