From: Pope Felix III, bishop of Rome
To: Acacius of Constantinople, Patriarch
Date: ~484 AD
Context: Felix III, letter 3; the formal citation summoning Acacius to appear before a Roman synod to answer the charges against him.
Felix, bishop of Rome, to Acacius of Constantinople.
By the authority vested in this apostolic see by our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave to blessed Peter the keys of the kingdom and the power to bind and loose, we cite you to appear before the synod assembled at Rome to answer the charges laid against you.
The charges are: that you have accepted into communion Peter Mongus of Alexandria, who was condemned by the holy Council of Chalcedon and who has not recanted the errors for which he was condemned; that you have supported and promoted the Henotikon, an imperial formula that contradicts the Chalcedonian definition of the faith; that you have persisted in these positions despite repeated admonitions from this apostolic see.
These are grave charges and they deserve to be answered before a proper assembly of the church. You are therefore summoned to appear in Rome, either in person or through representatives with full powers to speak for you, to make whatever defense or explanation you wish to offer.
Your failure to appear will not prevent the synod from proceeding. It will simply mean that you have forfeited your opportunity to be heard before the church acts.
Felix, bishop of Rome
Feljds ad Acaclum libellus citationis. ""Mart"
tO. Ui Acadus in synodo Romana compareat^ ad objecta Johannis Alexandrini
responsunis,
1. Episcopali diligentia commonente debuerat dilectio tua eccle-
aiasticum morem secuta^ quid responsio sanctae memoriae praede-
cessoris mei per virum devotum Uranium^) subadjuvam apud Ghri-
stianissimmn principem^ quid apud te quoque litterae ipsius in causa
Alexandrinae ecclesiae profecerint, indicare, et curam, cujus te non
immerito voluit esse participem, juncto'^) studio prosperonmi signi-
ficatione moliri: ut catholica fides, apud Calchedonem synodo robo-
rata et iterum firmata responsis omnium qui in eadem resederant
Domini sacerdotum, quam inopinato rursus haereticorum pravitas
inquietaty communi opere inimicis propriis subjacere non permitte-
retor oppressa. Quod quum diu omittitur, superveniens frater et co-
episcopus noster Johannes, fugatus ab haereticis pervasoribus sedis
Alexandrinae, libellum^) nobis, quem sanctae memoriae decessori
meo paraverat porrigendum, quantum ex subditis *) agnoscis, ingessit.
Qnem morem majoris sui beatae memoriae Athanasii exemplo prio-
nun nostrorum non potuimus refutare.
2. Et ideo lectis subditis, frater carissime, ad haec, quae pro-
posita esse cognoscis, apud beatum Petrum apostolum, cui preces in
nobis oblatas pervides et quem ligandi atque solvendi a Domino
potestatem stunpsisse non potes diffiteri, in conventu fratrum et co-
Acac. n. 10 probant. Editi Vranium subdiaconum. Uranius ille quum Zenonis
leriptam ad Simplicium detolieset, higus papae epistolam IS ad Acacium et ep.
19 ad imperatorem retolit. Victor Vitensis hist. pers. D and. V n. 7 Uranium
iegaiMtm tormentis martyrum testem appellat. — Mox editi ctementissimum
«) Ita E' E*; P* H' b 0 cuncto. Quae deinde memorantur responsiones episco-
porum omniom, qui Calchedone fuerant congregati, in uno codicis corpore vo-
cantar encyclicae, habenturque in Calchedonensis concilii parte III (Hard. coU.
conc. II , 68»— 772).
') Htgiu libelli ETagriua h. e. III, 18 meminit. Forte Simplicio inscriptus
erat, sed qanm Johannes Romam adveniens hunc vita functum comperisset,
Olizm ejoB snccessori porrexit. Hoc ipsum quidem sonat, quod ait Felix sibi
it Johanne praedictom libellimi, quem Ule decessori paravei-at porrigendum, inge-
siom. Contra idem Evagrius III, 15 illum etiam superstite Simplicio Romam
wdLrenieae innxui.
240 I S. FELICIS II PAPAE
a, 483. episcopomm nostronim respondere f esidna ; ut ih alterutram partem
quod justitia'*) paraverit ordinantes, amotis scandalis ecclesiaram,
quas scindi videmus, reparata concordia et servata integritate fidei;
puris mentibus acceptissimas Deo faciamus placationis hostias, quas
pro omni populo Christiano et salute gloriosissimi imperatoris offe-
rimus. Ad quam rem de collegio nostro fratres et coepiscopos no-
stros Vitalem et Misenum, cum quibus illum a latere nostro fidelis-
simuni nostrum FeHcem") defensorem sanctae ecclesiae Romanae
ordinatione direximus; quibus moram fieri non oportet, ne ad indi-
gnationem Domini provocandam, quae corrigenda sunt, fnistrationi-
bus**) convalescant.
◆
From:Pope Felix III, bishop of Rome
To:Acacius of Constantinople, Patriarch
Date:~484 AD
Context:Felix III, letter 3; the formal citation summoning Acacius to appear before a Roman synod to answer the charges against him.
Felix, bishop of Rome, to Acacius of Constantinople.
By the authority vested in this apostolic see by our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave to blessed Peter the keys of the kingdom and the power to bind and loose, we cite you to appear before the synod assembled at Rome to answer the charges laid against you.
The charges are: that you have accepted into communion Peter Mongus of Alexandria, who was condemned by the holy Council of Chalcedon and who has not recanted the errors for which he was condemned; that you have supported and promoted the Henotikon, an imperial formula that contradicts the Chalcedonian definition of the faith; that you have persisted in these positions despite repeated admonitions from this apostolic see.
These are grave charges and they deserve to be answered before a proper assembly of the church. You are therefore summoned to appear in Rome, either in person or through representatives with full powers to speak for you, to make whatever defense or explanation you wish to offer.
Your failure to appear will not prevent the synod from proceeding. It will simply mean that you have forfeited your opportunity to be heard before the church acts.
Felix, bishop of Rome
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.