Letter 6

From: Pope Pelagius II, bishop of Rome To: John, Bishop of Constantinople (John IV "the Faster") Date: ~585 AD Context: Pope Pelagius II, letter 6; Pelagius writes to the bishop of Constantinople challenging his assumption of the title "Universal Bishop" — a title Pelagius (and later Gregory the Great) firmly rejected as incompatible with the collegiate structure of the church. Pelagius, bishop of Rome, to his most beloved brother John, bishop of Constantinople. It has reached our ears that your Holiness has assumed for yourself the title of Universal Bishop — a title that, in the judgment of this apostolic see, no bishop may properly claim without doing damage to the dignity of all other bishops and to the collegial structure of the church that Christ established. We address you on this not in a spirit of rivalry but in genuine concern for the health of the church's governance. The bishop of Constantinople is a bishop of great honor and responsibility — the bishop of the imperial capital, second in honor after Rome in the canonical ordering established by the councils. This is an honor that is real and significant. But it is not unlimited. No bishop, not even the bishop of Rome, is the universal bishop in a sense that would make all other bishops his deputies. We are all successors of the apostles; the apostolic college was a college of equals in authority, though not in honor, and the episcopal structure of the church reflects that collegiality. We ask you to consider the implications of a title that, however innocently adopted, carries implications that the church cannot sustain. Pelagius, bishop of Rome

AD JOANNEM EPISCOUPUM CONSTANTINOPOLITANUM (a). Eum arquit, qui universalis episcopi nomen 8ibi rin- dicabat, qua de causa generalem synodum convocaveral., Dilectissimis fratribus universis episcopis, qui il- licita vocatione Joannis Constanlinopolitani episcopi ad synodum Constanlinopolim convenerunt, Pelagius. Maniſe>to (sicut optavimus) per gratiam Dei[S. Leo. epist. 53 | lumine evangelicz verilalis, ab universali Eeclesia, perniciosis8imi erroris nocte depulsa, inef- fabiliter gaudemus in Domino : 8ed non modico cou- lrislamur merore, quia ea quz olim calcala ſuerant, el ſunditus damnala, nec unquam fieri debuerant, redivivis radicibus germinant atque pullulant. Et quoniam multa , quz penitulinem possunt generare hac epistola novantes hrretici primatum Ecclesiz impuguent, com hine potius undecim validissima ar- gumenta Ccoiligi posSint, quibus Romani ponlilicis primatus lirmissime corroboratur. Vide Baron. ann. 87, num. 7 et 15, 15 et 15. Sev. Bis. (a) Neque hanc a subdolis Isidori mercibus fas est 8ejungere. Vera enim periit, in cujus locum hec conficta ext , ut Stylus aliaque docent. 739 PELAGH PAPA U 740 [1dem epigt. 47], proveniunt, necesse est ea cassare A errorem suum cito correxerit, a nobis excommuni- que contra- ordinem et omnem auctoritatem ſacta esse noscuntur, Unde, ſratres, rejecta penitus auda- eia, que contra apostolicam sedem et contra ips2m Domini Salvatoris vocem, qua dicium est: T'u 6s Pe- lrus, et super hanc petram edificabo Ecclesiam meam, (Maith. xvi), sumpta est dispulandi contra Domini precepla, vana errantium corda conquiescant, nec liceat defendi ( Ibid. ), qued non liceat agere | licet agi]. Relatum est ergo»ad apostolicam sedem, Joan- nem Conslantinopolitanum episcopum universalvm 8 subscribere | scribere], vosque ex hac sua pre- Sumptjione ad 8ynodum convocare | conyocasse| ge- neralem, cum generalium synodorum convocandi auciorilas apostolice sedi beati Peri singulari pri- vilegio sit tradita, et nulla unquam s8ynodus rata le- gatur qu? apostolica auctoritale nog ſuerit ſulla. Quapropt-r, quidquid in pre4icto-vesiro conventiculo ( quia synodus taliter presumpla ese non potult ) Slatuistis, ex auctoritale sancli Peiri apostolorum principis, et Domini Salvatoris voce, qua beato Prtro potestatem ligandi atque solvendi ipse 8alvator dedit, que etiam poles1las in 8uccess0ribus ejus indubilanter transivit, przcipio oinnia quz ibi statuislis, et yana, et cassala esse, ita ut deinceps nunquam appareant, nec ventilentur. Etenim ipse Salvator beato Aposto- lo Petro tanquam ipsa per se veritas loquitur, dicens : Quecunque ligaveris super terram, erunt ligata &t in celo; et quecumque s0lveris super terram, erunt soluta et in celo (Matth. xvi). Multis denuo apostolicis et canonicis atque ecclesiasticis inslruimur regulis , non debere absque sententia Romani Pontificis con- candum fore, et apostolice sedis atque omnium gan- clorum episcoporum communione carere. Universa- litatis quoque nowen, quod Sibi illicite usurpavit, nolite attendere, nec vocatione. &jus ad synodum, absque auctoritate Sedis apostolice, unquam venite , s] aposlolicr Se(is et calerorum episcoporum com- munioae vullis ſrui. Nullus enim patriarcharum hoe tam profano vocabulo unquam utatur (a}, quia 8 8ummus [upus] patriarcha universalis dicitur, patrj- archarum nomen cxteris derogatyr. Sed absit (b) a fi- delis cujusquam mente, hoe sibj vel velle quempiam arripere, unde honorem ſratrum svorum imminuere ex quantulacynqne parte videatur. Quapropter cha- Fitas veStra neminem unquans41s in Epistolis universa- B lemnominet, ne s:hi debitum subtrahat, cum alteri ho- C cilia celebrari | Socr. 1, 8 et 43, Soz., m, 9] : qua-- propter (ut jam dictum est) re: te non concilium, sed vesirum conventiculum vel conciliabulum cassatur ; et quidquid in eo actum esf, irritum habetur ac va- cuum. Yos quoque deinceps, ut nullius hortatu talia presumalis, si apovtolice sedis communione carere non valtis. Mode vero ideo suspenditny ultio, ut 10- cum pogsit babere correciio [S. Leo, epist. 47|. Proe- decessores vero Joannis, et ipse Joannes, non semel, sed s#pissime epistolas atque libellos propria manu Subscriptos sSanctis antece-soribus nostris miserunt , quibus coram Deo protestaci sunt, nihii unquam pro- terve contra apostolicam sedem agere, nec de illius aut aliorum privilegiis quidquam usurpare : qui hac- tenus in archivo sancie Romane Ecc'esiz ssub si- gillis ac chirographis eorum roborati habentur inte- gri. In ipsis enim epivtolis vel libellis , anathematis vinculy se ef Successores corum conStrinxerunt, <i nnquan aliquid contra eos proe<umpsissent, aut con- tra apostolicam , vel ullins alterius episc»pi sedem , quidquam advers quoque modo essent moliti. Id- Circo eos non Cst Nec'sse excommunicare, aut ana- tbematizare; quia ipsi anathemalis vinculo, propriis manibus proſessiones suas Suaque <Cripta roborando, eonstrinxerunt, Sciat se tamen et ipse Joannes, nisi (a) Sevtentia sancli Gregorii pape, epist. 5b, ID. IV, D norem offert indubitum. Adversarius namque nosler diabolus, qui contra humiles sxviens, 8icut leo ru- giens circuit querens quem devoret (I Pet. in), non jam, ut cernimus , caulas circuit [S, Greg., ibid.], sed ita valide in quibusdam Ecclesiz necessariis membris dentem figit, ut nulli sit dubium, quia nisi unanimj- ter, favente Domino, cunctorum provida pastorum lurba concurrat, omne, quod absit, citius ovile di- Janiet. Perpendilis, fratres charissimi, quid e vi- cino subsequatur, cum et in sacerdotibus erumpunt tam perversa primordia. Quja enim juxta es! ille [ ili ] de quo scriptum ext : Ipge ext rex 8uper univer- 808 filios superbice ( Job. x11) (quod non s8ine gravi dolore dicere compellor, dum ſrater et coepiscopus noster Joannes mandata dominica, et apostolica pre- cepta, regnlasque Patrum despiciens, eum per ela- tionem praecurrere conatur in