CHAPTER I. — I had indeed wished, most beloved, for the sake of the charity of our college, that all the priests of the Lord should persist in one devotion of the catholic faith, and that no one should be depraved by favor or by dread of the secular powers, so as to depart from the way of truth.
But because many things often occur which can beget repentance, and the mercy of God overcomes the faults of offenders, and therefore vengeance is suspended, that correction may have place, we must embrace the counsel of the most clement prince, full of religion, by which he has willed your holy fraternity to come together for the destruction of the snares of the devil, and for the reforming of ecclesiastical peace—the right and honor of the most blessed apostle Peter being preserved—so much so that he has also by his letters invited us to this, that we should lend our presence to the venerable synod; which indeed neither the necessity of the time nor any custom could permit.
Nevertheless, in these brethren—that is, the bishops Paschasinus and Lucentius, the presbyters Boniface and Basil, who have been sent from the apostolic See—let your fraternity esteem me to preside over your synod, my presence not being disjoined from you, who am now present in my vicars, and have long not been absent from the preaching of the catholic faith: so that you, who cannot be ignorant of what we believe from ancient tradition, may not be able to doubt what we desire. CHAPTER II. — Wherefore, most dear brothers, the audacity of disputing against the divinely inspired faith being utterly rejected, let the vain unbelief of the erring be quieted; nor let it be lawful to defend what it is not lawful to believe:
since, according to the evangelical authorities, according to the prophetic voices, and the apostolic doctrine, it has been most fully and most lucidly declared, through the letters which we sent to Flavian, bishop of blessed memory, what is the pious and sincere confession concerning the sacrament of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. CHAPTER III. — But because we are not ignorant that through wicked rivalries the state of many Churches has been disturbed, and very many bishops, because they would not receive the heresy, have been driven from their sees and deported into exiles, and others substituted in the place of the survivors: let the medicine of justice be first applied to these wounds, nor let anyone so lack his own that another should use what belongs to another:
since if, as we desire, all forsake the error, no one's honor ought indeed to perish; but for those who have labored for the faith, it is fitting that their own right be restored with all their privilege. But let the special decrees of the former Ephesine synod, over which the bishop Cyril of holy memory then presided, against Nestorius remain in force: lest the impiety then condemned should in any respect flatter itself, because Eutyches is struck down with just execration. For the purity of the faith and of doctrine, which we preach in the same spirit as our holy Fathers, condemns and pursues alike both the Nestorian and the Eutychian depravity together with their authors. Fare well in the Lord, most dear brothers. Given on the sixth day before the Kalends of July, in the consulship of the most illustrious man Adelfius.
The holy zeal of your clemency, by which you have willed a synod to be held for the restoration of ecclesiastical peace, I have accepted so gladly that, although I had asked it to take place within Italy, and had wished a more suitable time to be awaited, in which namely very many bishops even from more distant provinces might be summoned, yet, as soon as the writings of your piety were delivered to me, I both directed Boniface, of my fellow-presbyters, from the City, and caused my brother Paschasinus, of the bishops, to sail from Sicily, who might sufficiently fill my place, letters being given through the same men to those who had before undertaken the legation, that they too might be joined to the aforesaid in fulfilling the parts of my presence, most glorious emperor.
Wherefore, although too narrow a day has been appointed for the synod, I nevertheless hope that the aid of Almighty God will be present, whereby all may be able to arrive at the prefixed time and unanimously, with the assent of your holy fraternity, to define such things as befit the universal Church. For, the restlessness and depravity of a few being suppressed or removed, the concord that is to be approved will easily be established, if into that faith—which, declared by the evangelical and apostolic preachings, we have received and hold through our holy Fathers—the hearts of all shall concur, no disputation of any re-examination whatsoever being admitted:
lest through vain and deceitful cunning those things should seem infirm or doubtful, which upon that very corner-stone, which is Christ the Lord (Eph. 2:20), have been founded from the beginning and are to abide without end: we praying unceasingly for this, that no one may be found alien to the sacrament of the singular faith, but that, the impiety of the heresy being condemned, the catholic Church may feel no detriment from the perdition of anyone. But as I have besought your piety in those letters which I sent through my men, so now also with like confidence I beg, that you would deign to hold, commended in all things, those who are to act in my stead, so that the more easily and diligently the things ordained by the excellent zeal of your faith may be fulfilled with a wholesome effect.