To Julian of Cos, on the Riots in Palestine

Leo the pope to Julian the bishop. [a]

The information you give, brother, about the riotous doings of the false monks is serious, and lamentable to no small degree. They come from the war that the wicked Eutyches, through the madness of deceivers, is waging against the preaching of the gospel and the apostles. It will end in his own destruction and that of his followers, but this is delayed by the patience of God, so that it may appear how greatly the enemies of the cross of Christ are enslaved to the devil. For heretical depravity has broken through its old veil of pretense and can no longer keep itself within the limits of its hypocrisy. It has poured out all its long-concealed poison, raging against the disciples of the truth not only with the pen but also with deeds of violence, to wring consent from unlearned simplicity or from panic-stricken faith. But the sons of light ought not to be so afraid of the sons of darkness that, though sane, they give way to the ideas of madmen, or think that any respect should be shown to men of this kind. For if they would rather perish than recover their senses, provision must be made so that their escape from punishment does not do wider harm, and so that long toleration of them does not lead to the destruction of many. [b]

I know well what love and favor is owed to our sons, those holy and true monks who do not abandon the moderation of their calling, and who carry out in practice what they promised by their vows. But these insolent troublemakers, who boast of their insults and injuries to priests, are to be counted not slaves of Christ but soldiers of Antichrist. They must be humbled chiefly in the person of their leaders, who stir up the ignorant mob to keep up their insubordination. So, since our most merciful prince loves the catholic faith with all the devotion of a religious heart, and, as is reported everywhere, is greatly offended at the effrontery of these rebel heretics, we must appeal to his clemency that the instigators of these riots be removed from their mad gatherings. Not only Eutyches and Dioscorus, but also any who have been forward in helping their wrong-headed madness, should be placed where they can have no dealings with their partners in blasphemy. For the simplicity of some may perhaps be healed by this method, and people will be more easily called back to soundness of mind if they are set free from the incitements of pestilent teachers. [d]

But so that the instruction needed to strengthen faithful spirits or to refute heretics may not be lacking or left unsaid, I have sent the letter of Bishop Athanasius of holy memory addressed to Bishop Epictetus. Cyril of holy memory used its testimony against Nestorius at the Synod of Ephesus, because it sets out the incarnation of the Word so clearly and carefully that, in dealing with the heresies of those times, it overthrew both Nestorius and Eutyches in advance. Let the followers of Eutyches and Dioscorus, who claim that our preaching strays from the teaching and the knowledge of the fathers, dare to accuse such an authority as this of ignorance or of heresy. But it ought to serve to strengthen the minds of all the Lord’s priests. Having already been detected and condemned for heresy in the authorities they followed, these men now begin to set out their blasphemous dogma more openly. For if their meaning had stayed hidden under the cloak of silence, it might still have been doubtful whether the triple error of Apollinaris and the mad notion of the Manichaeans had really been revived in them. And since they no longer try to hide themselves but rise up boldly against the churches of Christ, must we not take care to destroy all the strength of their attempts? We must keep, as I have said, such discernment as to separate the incorrigible from the more teachable spirits, for “evil company corrupts good morals,” and “the wise man will be sharper than the pestilent one who is punished.” This is so that, by whatever means the society of the wicked is broken up, some vessels may be snatched from the devil’s hand. For we ought not to be so offended at scurrilous and empty words that we have no care for their correction. [f]

Bishop Juvenal, whose injuries are to be lamented, joined himself too rashly to those blasphemous heretics. By embracing Eutyches and Dioscorus he drove many ignorant people headlong by his example, although afterward he corrected himself by wiser counsel. But these men, who drank in the wicked poison more greedily, have become the enemies of the one whose disciples they had been before, so that the very food he had supplied them was turned to his own ruin. And yet it is to be hoped that they will imitate him in mending their ways, if only the holy associations of the region they live in help them to recover their senses. But the character of the man who has usurped the place of a bishop still living cannot be in doubt, judging from the character of his actions; nor can it be disputed that one who is loved by the assailants of the faith must be a misbeliever. Meanwhile, brother, do not hesitate to go on keeping me informed, with anxious care, of the course of events by more frequent letters. Dated the 25th of November, in the consulship of Herculanus (in the year 452). [i]