Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 2239
Gregory the Great orders the clergy and faithful from the city of Mevania to accept the rule of Presbyter Honoratus. As the bishopric is currently vacant, Honoratus will administer the diocese until the citizens of Mevania unanimously select a candidate for the office. Gregory the Great, Letter 1.78, AD 591.
Letter 1.78 to the clergy and people of Mevania (August 591)
 
Gregorius clero ordini et plebi consistenti Meuaniensis ecclesiae
 
Quotiens res aliqua pluribus agenda committitur, dum quisque dissentit ab altero, dispendiis potius quam utilitatibus aditus reseratur. Quod nos prouidentes, ne hoc uestrae contingere possit ecclesiae, eius curam utilitatesque Honorato presbytero ad praesens committendas elegimus, quatenus res utilitatesque ecclesiae per eum et procurari ualeant et modis omnibus custodiri. Ideoque dilectionem uestram scriptis praesentibus adhortamur quatenus, ut uobis possit ordinari sacerdos, inuicem uestrae uoluntatis in unius digna electione concordet assensus, nec amplius Dei ecclesiam officio patiamini uacare pontificis. Quousque uero ecclesiae ipsi sacerdos fuerit ordinandus, omnem suprascripto presbytero sicut diximus sollicitudinis eius curam commisimus. Ita ergo uestra dilectio in his omnibus exhibere festinet, ut amorem uos ecclesiae habere pronae deuotio mentis ostendat.
 
(ed. Norberg 1982: 86)
Letter 1.78 to the clergy and people of Mevania (August 591)
 
Gregory to the clergy, decurions, and the people belonging to the church of Mevania
 
Whenever some matter is entrusted to several people, while each has a different view from the others, it would likely lead to detriment rather than profit. Foreseeing this, and so that it cannot happen in your church, we have decided that the church's care and profits should be for now entrusted to the presbyter Honoratus. In this way, the property and profits of the church can be both administered and protected by him in every way. Therefore, we exhort your Beloved with the present writing to reach an agreement consistent with your wish through a worthy election, so that a priest [i.e. bishop] could be ordained for you, and the church of God would no longer suffer from the absence of a pontiff. Until the priest of this church is ordained, however, we entrust everything to the careful care of the aforementioned presbyter, as we have said. Let your Beloved, then, hurry to exhibit your love in all these matters, so that the devotion of a ready mind might reveal the love you have for the church.
 
(trans. Martyn 2004: 190, altered by J. Szafranowski)

Place of event:

Region
  • Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia
City
  • Mevania

About the source:

Author: Gregory the Great
Title: Letters, Epistulae, Epistolae, Registrum epistularum, Registrum epistolarum
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Gregory, later called the Great (Gregorius Magnus), was born ca 540 to an influential Roman family with some connection to the ancient gens Anicia. His great-great-grandfather was Felix III, who served as the bishop of Rome from 526 to 530. Possibly, Agapetus I, pope between 535 and 536, was his relative as well. Little is known about his early career, but in 573 Gregory ascended to the high office of city prefect. Shortly afterwards, however, he resigned from his post and adopted the monastic way of life. He founded a monastery dedicated to St. Andrew within his family estate on Coelian Hill, next to the library established by Agapetus and Cassiodorus. Six other monasteries were founded in the estates his family owned in Sicily. Soon after his monastic conversion, he started to be given various tasks by Popes Benedict I (575–578) and Pelagius II (578–590). At that time, he was ordained a deacon. Between 579 and 585/6, Gregory acted as Pelagius` envoy in Constantinople. In 590, he was elected Pelagius` successor to the bishopric of Rome. The registry of his letters contained copies of Gregory`s papal correspondence up to his death in 604. The scope of Gregory`s original registry is still the subject of scholarly speculation. There are 854 extant letters gathered in fourteen volumes, most of them (686 letters) originating from the collection compiled at the time of Pope Hadrian I (772–795).
 
It is worth remembering that the majority of Gregory’s correspondence was jointly produced by the pope and his subordinates, see Pollard 2013.
Edition:
D. Norberg ed., S. Gregorii Magni Registrum Epistularum, Corpus Christianorum: Series Latina 140, 140A, Turnhout 1982.
 
Translation:
The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. J.R.C. Martyn, Mediaeval Sources in Translation 40, Toronto 2004.
Bibliography:
R.M. Pollard, A Cooperative Correspondence: The Letters of Gregory the Great, in: M. Dal Santo, B. Neil (eds.), A Companion to Gregory the Great, Leiden-Boston 2013, pp. 291–312.

Categories:

Functions within the Church - Urban presbyter
Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Usurping episcopal power
Ecclesiastical administration - Administering Church property
Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
Ecclesiastical administration - Overseeing clergy and Church staff
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2239, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2239