Letter 30: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, with the intercession and assistance of the saints, this...

Hormisdas to the bishops Ennodius and Peregrinus. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, with the saints interceding and assisting, the matter of the church of Nicopolis is to be handled thus. First, when by God's help you arrive at Thessalonica, deliver our letters, which we have sent in this matter, to the bishop of Thessalonica, observing in your greeting of him that order which you know to have been enjoined by us regarding those who do not have communion with the apostolic see, that is, with the catholic church. But once the letters have been delivered, you must press insistently that he refrain from harassing that church, giving as your reason that, having returned to communion and to the body of the church, he could have nothing in common with those who have not yet returned: that we do not annul the privileges granted by our predecessors, provided he himself does not abandon the ecclesiastical statutes. Let him by all means return to unity, and we, on our part, insist that all the privileges whatsoever that his church has obtained from the apostolic see be preserved inviolate. You say, moreover, that he openly shows himself an enemy of the faith if he persecutes those whom he sees returning to catholic communion. But if you are able, with God's favor, to settle the matter there, you are to write to the bishop of Nicopolis as to what your efforts have accomplished. If, however, he proves obstinate and is unwilling to cease from his persecution of him, then, according to the letter which we have sent to the most merciful emperor, you are to plead the cause of the church of Nicopolis before the prince in this manner, saying: 'Bishop Alcison at Constantinople gave satisfaction to the catholic church, was received, and was brought back to communion. His successor, Bishop John, both keeping God before his eyes and taking thought for his own salvation and following the good example of his predecessor, after condemning the heretics or transgressors, sent to the see of the blessed apostle Peter and was received. Against this man the bishop of Thessalonica now plots, and harasses him, wishing to exact from him things contrary to what he has done. Hence your father [the pope] and all the orthodox ask that by your commands this trouble be removed from him, lest it appear to men that he suffers persecution on this account, because he returned to the communion of the apostolic see, and lest those who are waiting for unity to be brought about through you begin to believe otherwise, if they should see your piety disregard this and receive it negligently.' It has seemed to us expedient that the letter which we have addressed to the bishop of Thessalonica in the matter of the Nicopolitan be made public by your prudence in any manner among various persons, but especially in the city of the Thessalonians, because by this being done both the persecution of our people can be made to cease and, as we believe, it pertains to the salvation of the man himself, if he corrects his course.

HORMISDA ENNODIO ET PEREGRINO EPISCOPIS. Id nomine patris et iilii et spiritus sancti intercedentibus et adiuuantibus sanctis agendum sic de causa Nicopolitanae ecclesiae. pri- 2 5 mum ubi Thessalonicam deo iuuante ueneritis, epistolas nostras, quas in hac causa misimus, episcopo Thessalonicensi tradite, illam ordinem in eius salutatione seruantes, quem scitis a nobis esse mandatum circa eos, qui cum sede apostolica, hoc est ecclesia catholica, non communicant. traditis autem 3 10 epistolis instanter agere debetis, ut se ab eius ecclesiae con- cussione suspendat, rationem reddentes, quia non potuitreuersus ad communionem et ad corpus ecclesiae cum illis, qui necdum reuersi sunt, quicquam habere coniunctum: nos non soluere a decessoribus nostris concessa priuilegia, si ipse ecclesiastica 15 instituta non de< se >rat. certe redeat ad unitatem, et nos cum 60 insistimus, ut omnia priuilegia, quaecumque consecuta est a sede apostolica ecclesia eius, inuiolata seruentur. di- 4 citis etiam aperte illum ostendere inimicum esse iidei, si insequitur eos, quos uidet ad catholicam communionem reuerti. 80 quod si potueritis causam ibi deo propitio componere, scribitis 5 ad episcopum Nicopolitanum, quid <opera> uestra promouerit. si uero obstinatus fuerit nec ab insecutione eius cessare noluerit, secundum litteras, quas ad clementissimum impera- torem misimus, apud principem causam ecclesiae Nicopolitanae 25 sic agitis, ut dicatis: 'Alcison episcopus Constantinopoli satis- 6 fecit ecclesiae catholicae, susceptus est et ad communionem reductus. huius successor lohannes episcopus et deum ante 185. Data (simul cum epp. 127, 133, 134) a. 517 die 12 Apr, Edd. Car. P 468; Bar. ad a. 517, 43; ColUct. Concil; BTA I 403; Thiel 808. 4 sic Thiel: sit V (<quid> agendum sit 5 thessalo- nica F, corr. 10 epistolis o: apostolis V 15 deserat o^: derat V 16 insistemus Bar. 18 <8e> esse o* 19 uiderit Bar. reuerti cod. Vatic. 4903: reuertenti V, reuertentes 20 scribitis §cripsi: scriptis F, guo seruaio 21 promouerit <opera nuntiate> Car. opera om. V 25 dicat is F, contraxit a constantinopolim F, corr. o: nicopoli- tanns 26 suseptus F, corr. a 558 Auitus TJiennensis episcopus Horroisdae oculos habens et de salute sua cogitans et decessoris sui bonum exemplum sequens condemnatis haereticis uel trans- gressoribus ad sedem beati apostoli Fetri misit et susceptus est. huic nunc Thessalonicensis episcopus insidiatur et eum 7 concutit contraria his, quae fecit, ab eo exigere uolens. hinc pater uester et omnes orthodoxi rogant, ut iussionibus uestris remoueatur ab eo ista molestia, ne uideatur hominibus propter hoc illum persecutionem pati, quia ad communionem sedis apostolicae rediit, et qui expectant per uos unitatem fieri, aliud incipiant credere, si pietatem uestram uiderint hoc 8 dissimulare, hoc neglegenter accipere'. uisum nobis est expedire, ut litteras, quas ad Thessalonicensem in causa Nicopolitani direximus, quolibet ordine prudentia uestra diuersis faciat publicari, magno<pere> tamen in ciuitate Thessalonicen- sium, quia hoc facto et a persecutione nostrorum potest cessari <et> ad ipsius, si correxerit, credimus pertinere salutem.