Valens and Ursacius Take Back Their Charges

Such was the letter written by the synod that met in Palestine. Some time afterward Athanasius had the satisfaction of seeing the injustice of the sentence passed against him by the Council of Tyre publicly acknowledged. Valens and Ursacius, who, as we mentioned earlier, had been sent with Theognis and his party to the Mareotis to gather evidence about the holy cup that Ischyrion had accused Athanasius of breaking, wrote the following retraction to Julius, bishop of Rome: [a] “Ursacius and Valens, to the most blessed lord, Pope Julius. [c] “As is well known, we earlier brought many different charges against Athanasius the bishop in our letters. Your Excellency’s letters have pressed us again and again about the matter we publicly alleged, and we have not been able to give any grounds for our accusation. So we now confess to your Excellency, in the presence of all the presbyters, our brothers, that everything you have heard about this Athanasius is utterly false and invented, and in every way contrary to his character. “For this reason we gladly enter into communion with him, especially since your Piety, out of your inborn love of goodness, has forgiven us our error. We also declare to you that if the bishops of the East, or even Athanasius himself, should at any time maliciously call us to judgment, we will not separate ourselves from your judgment and decision in the case. “We now anathematize, and always will, as we did before in the written statement we presented at Milan, the heretic Arius and his followers, who say that there was a time when the Son did not exist, and that Christ came from what did not exist, and who deny that Christ was God and the Son of God before all ages. Again we declare, in our own handwriting, that we will always condemn the Arian heresy we have named, and those who began it. “I, Ursacius, sign this confession with my own hand. Valens likewise.” This was the confession they sent to Julius. Their letter to Athanasius must also be added. It reads as follows: