Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 2379
Gregory the Great asks Bishop Maximian of Syracuse (Sicily) on behalf of Bishop Bacauda of Fermia (north of Naples) to send back any clerics who started their service in Fermia, but then were ordained to higher ecclesiastical ranks in different parts of Sicily. This is because there are no presbyters nor deacons left in Fermia. Gregory the Great, Letter 4.42, AD 594.
Letter 4.42 to Bishop Maximian of Syracuse (August 594)
 
Gregorius Maximiano episcopo Syracusano
 
Indicauit nobis Bacauda frater et coepiscopus noster quosdam de clero suo in Siciliae partibus ad sacros ordines peruenisse. Qui quoniam neque presbyterum neque diacones se habere commemorat, eos ad se petiit debere transmitti. Proinde fraternitas tua ubicumque illos, latore praesentium indicante, reppererit, huc eos sine dilatione transmittat, quatenus et illi in ecclesia, in qua olim militati sunt, reuocentur, et ante dictus episcopus optatum de eis possit habere solacium.
 
(ed. Norberg 1982: 263)
Letter 4.42 to Bishop Maximian of Syracuse (August 594)
 
Gregorius to Maximian, bishop of Syracuse
 
Our brother and fellow bishop Bacauda has indicated to us that some of his clergy have come to sacred orders in [different] parts of Sicily. Since he mentions that he has neither a presbyter nor deacons, he has asked that they should be sent over to him. Therefore, wherever your Fraternity discovers them, as indicated by the bearer of this letter, send them over there without delay. Thus they may be called back to the church in which they once did service, and the aforesaid bishop can have the relief he wants from them.
 
(trans. Martyn 2004: 321, slightly altered by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

Bacauda was the bishop of Formia located on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, roughly halfway between Rome and Naples. In Letter 1.8 ([2174]), Gregory granted to Bacauda and his clergy the revenues of the church of Minturno which was completely destitute of clergy. It was done also because the bishopric of Formia was apparently very poor. It may be the reason why some junior clergy had left Formia for Sicily which was in desparate need for candidates to higher clerical ranks (see, e.g., [2179]).
 
It may be significant that, in Gregory's letter, Bacauda is said to have neither a presbyter (in singular), nor deacons (in plural). It seems that Bacauda considered one presbyter to be enough for the needs of his city or, possibly, that he had no means to support more than a single presbyter.

Place of event:

Region
  • Rome
  • Italy south of Rome and Sicily
City
  • Rome
  • Syracuse
  • Formia

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:

Travel and change of residence
    Ecclesiastical transfer
      Former ecclesiastical career - Lower clergy
        Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
          Specific number of presbyters from the same church
            Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
              Shortage of clergy
                Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2379, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2379