To Antoninus the Subdeacon, on Natalis and Honoratus

Gregory to Antoninus, and so on. [a]

Honoratus, archdeacon of the church of Salona, had asked my predecessor of holy memory, in a petition he sent, that he should in no way be forced by his bishop to be advanced, against his will and against custom, to a higher order. (Here the letter goes on to tell what happened next, almost word for word as in the letter to all the bishops of Dalmatia earlier in this book; the English edition does not repeat it.)

So we have thought it right to support your experience with the authority of this present order, so that you may go to Salona and at least try by exhortation to persuade Natalis, our brother and fellow bishop, who has been admonished by so many letters, to restore Honoratus to his place at once. But if, as is his habit, he defiantly delays doing this, forbid him, by the authority of the Apostolic See, the use of the pallium that has been granted him by this see. And if, even after losing the pallium, you find him persisting in the same obstinacy, you are to deprive this bishop of sharing in holy communion. Moreover, we order the man who, against the rule of justice, has agreed to be promoted to another man’s place to be deposed from the rank of archdeacon. And if he presumes to serve any longer in that place, we deprive him of sharing in holy communion. For it is right that he should find those severe in justice whom he scorns when they come to him in love. So, when the archdeacon Honoratus has been restored to his place, let the bishop, at your urging, send us a person with instructions, who can by his statements prove to us that the bishop’s intention is or has been just. (What follows matches exactly the close of the letter to all the bishops of Dalmatia; the English edition does not repeat it.)

As for our brother and fellow bishop Malchus, take care to have him provide a guarantor, so that he may come to us as soon as possible and give us an account of his dealings without any delay or loitering, and so be able to go back to his own people in safety. [d]