Letter 3046: Gregory to John, Bishop of Calliopolis [Gallipoli, in Calabria]. From the reports sent to us by your Fraternity it appears that Andrew, our brother and fellow bishop, undoubtedly had a concubine. But, since it is uncertain whether he has touched her while constituted in sacred orders, it is necessary that you should warn him with earnest exhorta...
Gregory to John, Bishop of Gallipoli.
From the reports your Fraternity has sent us, it is clear that our brother and fellow bishop Andrew did in fact keep a concubine. Since it remains uncertain whether he had relations with her after his ordination to sacred orders, you must warn him with serious and urgent exhortation: if he knows himself to have had intercourse with her while in sacred orders, he should step down from his office and minister no longer. And if, knowing this to be true, he conceals his sin and presumes to continue ministering, let him understand that he faces peril before God's judgment.
Regarding the woman on the Church rolls whom he had beaten with clubs — though we do not believe she died as a result eight months later — since he ordered this punishment in a manner wholly unbecoming his sacred calling, suspend him from celebrating Mass for two months. Perhaps this disgrace will teach him how to conduct himself in the future.
Additionally, the clergy under the aforementioned bishop have submitted a petition to us, appended below, alleging that they suffer considerable mistreatment from him. Your Fraternity is to investigate all these allegations thoroughly, and to correct and settle them in a reasonable manner so that they have no cause to bring such complaints to us again. July, Indiction 11.
Human translation - New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
Original text not yet available in this corpus.
This letter still needs a Latin or Greek source-text backfill. The source link, when available, is preserved so the text can be checked and added later.
View sourceRevision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from New Advent / NPNF.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360203046.htm
Related Letters
Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople. As the pravity of heretics is to be repressed by the zeal of a right faith, so the integrity of a true confession is to be embraced. For, if one who declares himself sound in the faith is scorned, the faith of all is brought into doubt, and fatal errors are generated from inconsiderate strictness.
Our brother Adrian, bishop of the city of Thebæ, has come to Rome, bitterly complaining of having been condemned, neither lawfully nor canonically, on certain charges by your Fraternity, and also by John, bishop of Prima Justiniana. And, when for a long time we saw no representative of the opposite party arrive here who might have replied to his...
Gregory to John, Bishop of Prima Justiniana in Illyricum. It is clearly a manifest evidence of goodness that the consent of all should concur in the election of one person. Since, then, the account which we have received from our brethren and fellow bishops declared that you are summoned to the position of priesthood by the unanimous consent of ...
The care of our pastoral office warns us to appoint for bereaved churches bishops of their own, who may govern the Lord's flock with pastoral solicitude. Accordingly we have held it necessary to appoint you, John, bishop of the civitas Lissitana (Lissus, hodie, Alessio?), which has been captured by the enemy, to be cardinal in the Church of Squ...
Gregory to John, bishop of Prima Justiniana. After the long afflictions which Adrian, bishop of the city of Thebæ, has endured from his fellow priests, as though they had been his enemies, he has fled for refuge to the Roman city. And though his first representation had been against John, bishop of Larissa, to wit that in pecuniary causes he had...