Letter 7024

From: Gregory the Great, Pope, in Rome To: Candidus, priest [rector of the Gallic patrimony] Date: ~597 AD Context: Gregory instructs Candidus to ransom four Christians who are in Jewish servitude in Gaul. Gregory to Candidus, priest. Four Christians are currently in Jewish servitude in Gaul. They are to be ransomed and freed. Use the church's resources for this purpose; the ransom of Christians in such situations is exactly what those resources are for. I need not explain to you why this is important. A Christian in servitude to a non-Christian master is in a spiritually and practically vulnerable position. When the church has the means to address this, it is obligated to do so. Act promptly. Gregory

AD CANDIDUM PRESBYTERUM. Clrislianos quatuor redimat, qui in Judeorum servitio Narbone detinebantur. Gregorius Candido presbytero * nostro per Gallias. Dominicus presentium portitor lacrymabiliter no- bis ianotuit quatuor fratres suos de captivitate a Ju- dzis redemptos esse, alque eos nunc Narbonz ® in eorumdem Judzorum sgervitio © detineri. Et quia 01anino grave exsecrandumque est Christianos es8e ia $ervitie Judzorum , dilectionem tvam Sseriptis prxsentibus adhortamur, ut cum omni $ublilitate el s0{licitudine $tudeat perscrutari. Et si revera ila est, atque maniſesta tibi veritate constiterit quia ne- que ipsi unde $e redimant, neque Suprascriptus por- titor habet, eos Studii tui sit redimere, sciens quia quidquid in eis dederis, tuis sine dubio rationibus imputabiture. 4 Mense Junio, indictione 45. (Cf. Joan. Diac. l. v1, n. 44.)