教牧守則·對話錄與書信 第 237 章

Gregory to John, bishop from Squillace. The care of the pastoral office admonishes us to appoint proper priests for churches that have been left without them, who ought to govern the Lord's flock with pastoral solicitude. Therefore we have deemed it necessary to establish you, John, bishop of the city of Lisbon which has been taken captive by the enemy, as cardinal-priest in the Church of Squillace, that you may fulfill, with a view to future reward, the care of souls which you have once undertaken. And although you have been driven from your own Church by the pressing enemy, you ought nonetheless to govern another Church which is now vacant of a pastor;

yet on this condition, that if it should come to pass that that city be made free from the enemy and, by the Lord's protection, be restored to its former state, you shall return to the Church in which you were first ordained. But if the aforesaid city continues to be oppressed by the calamity of unbroken captivity, you must remain in this Church in which you have been incardinated by us. We further command that you never make unlawful ordinations. Nor shall you permit a bigamist, or one who has not taken a virgin to wife, or one ignorant of letters, or one maimed in any part of the body, or a penitent, or one bound to any servile condition, to approach holy orders. But if you find any such persons, do not dare to promote them. Africans everywhere,

or unknown wanderers seeking ecclesiastical orders, you shall by no means receive, because certain Africans are Manichaeans, and some have been rebaptized; while most wanderers, even when established in minor orders, have often been proved to have laid claim to a higher honor than was their due. We also admonish your Fraternity to keep diligent watch over the souls committed to you, and to attend to the gain of souls rather than to the comforts of the present life. Let him be diligent in preserving and administering the goods of the Church, so that when the coming Judge shall come to judge, he may be bound to approve that you have worthily discharged the office of pastor in every respect.