Letter 5

From: Pope Felix III, bishop of Rome To: Emperor Zeno, Emperor of the Eastern Romans Date: ~485 AD Context: Felix writes a second time to Zeno following the excommunication of Acacius, explaining the papal position and urging the Emperor to bring his patriarch back to orthodoxy. To the most clement Emperor Zeno, from Felix, bishop of Rome, We have communicated to Acacius the decision of the Roman synod, and we now write again to the Emperor to explain our reasoning and to appeal to your Christian conscience. We do not act against Acacius out of rivalry, or out of the desire to extend Roman influence, or out of any motive other than the defense of the faith that was defined at Chalcedon with the full authority of the universal church and with the explicit confirmation of the apostolic see. The Henotikon that your Majesty issued with the best of intentions has not produced the peace it sought. The churches remain divided; the Monophysites [those who held that Christ had only one, divine nature, not two] who rejected Chalcedon have not accepted the Chalcedonian faith but have used the Henotikon's ambiguity as cover for continuing to hold their position. Meanwhile, those who accepted Chalcedon feel that the ground of their faith has been cut from under them. The only path to genuine peace in the church of the East is the clear reaffirmation of Chalcedon. We ask the Emperor, who desires the church's peace, to seek it through truth rather than through formulas designed to avoid truth. We continue to pray for the Emperor's wisdom and for the peace of the church. Felix, bishop of Rome