From: Hormisdas, Pope of Rome
To: John, bishop of Nicopolis
Date: ~November 19, 516 AD
Context: Hormisdas sends the subdeacon Pullio to Nicopolis with a formal document (libellus) that all bishops in John's province must sign as a condition of communion with Rome — a key instrument for enforcing orthodoxy at the local level.
Hormisdas to John, bishop of Nicopolis. Delivered by the subdeacon Pullio.
The content of the letter you sent, together with the exposition of your faith that is in agreement with the judgments of the apostolic see, has lifted our spirits. Stirred by so many reasons for joy, we were still not satisfied without sending the subdeacon Pullio of the Roman church to learn more fully what the situation is around you — especially because in the report from the bishops under the administration of Your Charity, not everything pertaining to ecclesiastical regulations was clearly expressed, as it was in yours.
Therefore, both out of our own concern and for their complete union with us, we have sent a formal statement [libellus] in which they must sign, because all the bishops of your regions who have returned to communion with the apostolic see have signed the same profession.
This love, this eagerness for our common salvation, has prompted this step. I trust that Your Brotherhood will receive it gladly, because where the salvation of souls is at stake, you ought to lend the effort of your zeal and intention — so that by leading the way, you may harvest the fruit of such praise.
Send the aforementioned Pullio back to us quickly with Your Charity's reply, God willing, so that our long-suspended hopes need not be delayed any further.
Given the thirteenth day before the Kalends of December.
HORWSDA lOHANNI EPISCOPO NICOPOLITANO. PER PULLIONEH
suBDiACONUJi. Litterarum, quas direxisti, series et expositio tuae fidei conueniens sedis apostolicae iudiciis nosti'os animos lo releuauit. tot incitati gaudiis contenti non fuimus, nisi per PuUionem subdiaconum ecclesiae Romanae, quid pleuius circa uos ageretur, cuperemus agnoscere, magnopere quia in rela- tione episcoporum sub ordinatione caritatis tuae degentium non uniuersa, quae ad ecclesiastica constituta peiiinent, sicut 15
2in uestra, leguntur euidenter expressa. unde et pro nostra soUicitudine et illorum integra nobiscum coniunctione libellum direximus, in quo eos oportet debere subscribere, quia et omnes sacerdotes uestrarum partium, qui ad sedis apostolicae commu<nio>nem reuersi sunt, in eadem professione subscrip- 20
3serunt. ista caritas, ista communis salutis excitauit ambitio: quod credo et frateraitatem uestrara gratanter accipere, quia ubi de animarum salute res geritur, studii tui uel intentionis debes operam commodare, ut antecedendo fructum de tali
4possi8 laude percipere. Pullionem praedictum cum rescriptis s5 caiitatis uestrae ad nos iuuante deo sub celeritate remittite,
8 oportet addidi ex coniectura editorum BuU. Taur. inserite Bar. 5 repiticionis V xvii scripsi (cf. Beitrcige p. 9): ira V 6 de- cembrias V
121. Bat. (simul cum indiculo ep. 122) a. 516 die 19 Nou. per Pullionem. Edd, Car. P 453; Bar. ad a. 516, 62; Collect. Concil,; BTA 1 385; Thiel 780. 8 ioanni V per Palionem {sic!) subdiaconum charactere minutiore V in marg. 11 fort. <sed> tot contempti F, corr. 14 ordinaeionis F, corr, 20 communem F, corr. p
22 quod V: fort, quae 25 posis V
Epist. CXX 11 - CXXU 4.
533
quatenus desideria nostra diu suspensa esse non possint. Data XIII. Kal. Decemb. Petro cons.
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From:Hormisdas, Pope of Rome
To:John, bishop of Nicopolis
Date:~November 19, 516 AD
Context:Hormisdas sends the subdeacon Pullio to Nicopolis with a formal document (libellus) that all bishops in John's province must sign as a condition of communion with Rome — a key instrument for enforcing orthodoxy at the local level.
Hormisdas to John, bishop of Nicopolis. Delivered by the subdeacon Pullio.
The content of the letter you sent, together with the exposition of your faith that is in agreement with the judgments of the apostolic see, has lifted our spirits. Stirred by so many reasons for joy, we were still not satisfied without sending the subdeacon Pullio of the Roman church to learn more fully what the situation is around you — especially because in the report from the bishops under the administration of Your Charity, not everything pertaining to ecclesiastical regulations was clearly expressed, as it was in yours.
Therefore, both out of our own concern and for their complete union with us, we have sent a formal statement [libellus] in which they must sign, because all the bishops of your regions who have returned to communion with the apostolic see have signed the same profession.
This love, this eagerness for our common salvation, has prompted this step. I trust that Your Brotherhood will receive it gladly, because where the salvation of souls is at stake, you ought to lend the effort of your zeal and intention — so that by leading the way, you may harvest the fruit of such praise.
Send the aforementioned Pullio back to us quickly with Your Charity's reply, God willing, so that our long-suspended hopes need not be delayed any further.
Given the thirteenth day before the Kalends of December.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.