To Himerius, Bishop of Nicomedia

We wish to let your holiness know that, after reading the letter brought from Egypt and discussing it often, we find it in harmony with the doctrine of the church. Of the twelve Chapters we have proved the opposite, and up to now we continue to oppose them. We have therefore decided that, if your holiness has recovered the churches entrusted to you by God, you ought to be in communion with the Egyptians, the people of Constantinople, and the others who have fought on their side against us, because they have professed to hold our faith, or rather, I should say, the faith of the apostles. But you ought not to give your consent to the alleged condemnation of the most holy and venerable Nestorius. For we hold it impious and unjust, on charges in which both men appeared as defendants, to lavish favor on the one and shut the door of repentance on the other. Far more unjust and impious is it to condemn an innocent man to death. Your holiness may be assured that you ought not to be in communion with them before you have recovered your churches. For not only I but all the holy bishops of our region decreed this at the recent council. [a]