To John, Bishop of Constantinople, on the Title of Universal Bishop

Gregory to John, bishop of Constantinople. You remember what peace and harmony among the churches you found at the time your fraternity was raised to the dignity of the priesthood. But with what daring, or with what swelling of pride, I do not know, you have tried to seize a new name, by which the hearts of all your brothers might have come to take offense. I wonder greatly at this, since I remember how you would gladly have fled from the office of bishop rather than gain it. And yet, now that you have it, you wish to use it as though you had run after it with ambitious intent. For you, who confessed yourself unworthy to be called a bishop, have at last come to such a point that, despising your brothers, you covet the name of the only bishop. Indeed, weighty letters were addressed to your holiness on this matter by my predecessor Pelagius, of holy memory. In them, because of that hateful title of pride, he annulled the proceedings of the synod that had been gathered among you in the case of our one-time brother and fellow bishop Gregory. And he forbade the archdeacon whom he had sent, according to custom, to the threshold of our lord to celebrate the solemnities of mass with you. After his death, when I, unworthy as I am, succeeded to the government of the church, I took care to speak to your fraternity, through my other representatives and also through our common son the deacon Sabinianus, not in writing but by word of mouth, asking you to hold yourself back from such presumption. And in case you refused to amend, I forbade him to celebrate the solemnities of mass with you. I did this so that I might first appeal to your holiness through a certain sense of shame; then, if the hateful and profane claim could not be corrected through shame, strict measures under the canons might be taken. And since sores that must be cut away should first be stroked with a gentle hand, I beg you, I implore you, and with all the sweetness in my power I ask of you, that your fraternity contradict all who flatter you and offer you this name of error, and that you do not foolishly agree to be called by the proud title. For truly I say it weeping, and from the deepest sorrow of my heart I put it down to my sins, that this brother of mine, who was set in the rank of bishop for the very purpose of bringing the souls of others back to humility, has until now been incapable of being brought back to humility himself; that he who teaches the truth to others has not agreed to teach himself, even when I implore him. [a]

Consider, I beg you, that by this rash presumption the peace of the whole church is disturbed, and that it contradicts the grace poured out on all in common. In that grace you yourself will certainly be able to grow as far as you resolve to. And you will become all the greater the more you hold yourself back from seizing a proud and foolish title; you will advance in the measure that you do not set out to claim things for yourself by taking them from your brothers. So, dearest brother, love humility with all your heart, for through it the harmony of all the brothers and the unity of the holy universal church may be kept. Certainly the apostle Paul, when he heard some say, “I am of Paul, I of Apollos, but I of Christ,” looked with the greatest horror on such a tearing apart of the Lord’s body, by which they were joining themselves, as it were, to other heads. And he cried out, saying, “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” If, then, he shrank from having the members of Christ made subject in parts to certain heads, as though apart from Christ, even though these were the apostles themselves, what will you say to Christ, who is the Head of the universal church, at the searching of the last judgment, when you have tried to put all his members under yourself by the name of Universal? Who, I ask, is held up for imitation in this wrongful title but the one who despised the legions of angels created as his companions and tried to spring up to a height where he stood alone, so that he might seem to be under no one and alone above all? He even said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven. I will sit on the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” [d]

For what are all your brothers, the bishops of the universal church, but stars of heaven, whose life and teaching shine together among the sins and errors of men as though among the shadows of night? And when you wish to set yourself above them by this proud title, and to trample their name down in comparison with yours, what else are you saying but “I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven”? Are not all the bishops together clouds, who both rain in the words of preaching and shine in the light of good works? And when your fraternity despises them and would gladly press them down under yourself, what else are you saying but what the ancient enemy says: “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds”? When I see all these things with tears, and tremble at the hidden judgments of God, my fears grow, and my heart cannot hold back its groans. For this most holy man, the lord John, of such great abstinence and humility, has been led astray by the tongues of those close to him and has broken out into such a height of pride that, in coveting that wrongful name, he tries to be like the one who, in proudly wishing to be like God, lost even the grace of the likeness given him, and who, because he sought false glory, forfeited true blessedness by it. Certainly Peter, the first of the apostles, himself a member of the holy and universal church, and Paul, Andrew, and John: what were they but heads of particular communities? And yet all were members under one Head. And, to bind it all together in a short girdle of speech, the saints before the law, the saints under the law, and the saints under grace, all of whom make up the Lord’s body, were set as members of the church; and not one of them ever wished to be called universal. Now let your holiness recognize how far you swell up within yourself in wishing to be called by a name that no one who was truly holy presumed to take. [e]

Was it not the case, as your fraternity knows, that the venerable Council of Chalcedon offered the bishops of this Apostolic See, which by the providence of God I serve, the honor of being called universal? And yet not one of them has ever wished to be called by such a title or seized on this ill-advised name. They feared that if, by virtue of the rank of the pontificate, one of them took to himself the glory of standing alone, he might seem to have denied it to all his brothers. [f]

But I know that all of this comes from those who serve your holiness with a false familiarity. I beg your fraternity to be wisely on your guard against them, and not to leave yourself open to be deceived by their words. For the more they flatter you with praise, the greater enemies they must be reckoned. Leave such people behind; and if they must deceive, let them at least deceive the hearts of worldly men and not of priests. “Let the dead bury their dead.” But say with the prophet, “Let them be turned back and put to shame who say to me, Aha, aha.” And again, “But let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head.” [g]

That is why the wise man gives good advice: “Be at peace with many, but have only one counselor out of a thousand.” For “evil company corrupts good manners.” For when the ancient enemy cannot break into strong hearts, he looks for weak people who are close to them, and, as it were, climbs high walls by ladders set against them. So he deceived Adam through the woman who was joined to him. So, when he killed the sons of blessed Job, he spared the weak woman, so that, since he could not reach Job’s heart by himself, he might at least be able to do it through the woman’s words. Whatever weak and worldly people, then, are close to you, let them be broken in their own persuasive words and flattery, since by the very perversity of seeming to love you they bring on themselves the eternal enmity of God. [h]

Truly it was proclaimed long ago through the apostle John, “Little children, it is the last hour,” just as the Truth foretold. And now plague and sword rage through the world, nations rise against nations, the globe of the earth is shaken, and the gaping earth is dissolved along with those who live on it. For everything that was foretold has come to pass. The king of pride is near, and, terrible to say, an army of priests is being made ready for him, since those who were appointed to be leaders in humility are enlisting themselves in the service of pride. But in this matter, even if our tongue made no protest at all, the power of him who in his own person especially opposes the vice of pride is raised up for vengeance against arrogance. For that is why it is written, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” That is why it is said again, “Whoever exalts his heart is unclean before God.” That is why it is written against the proud man, “Why is earth and ashes proud?” That is why the Truth in person says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.” And to bring us back to the way of life through humility, he deigned to show in himself what he teaches us, saying, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” For this purpose the only Son of God took on himself the form of our weakness. For this purpose the Invisible appeared not only visible but even despised. For this purpose he endured the mockery of insult, the taunts of derision, and the torments of suffering: so that God in his humility might teach man not to be proud. How great, then, is the virtue of humility, since only to teach it he who is great beyond compare became little, even to suffering death! For since the pride of the devil was the beginning of our ruin, the humility of God has been found to be the means of our redemption. That is to say, our enemy, though created among all things, wished to appear exalted above all things; but our Redeemer, remaining great above all things, deigned to become little among all things. [i]

What, then, can we bishops say for ourselves, who have received a place of honor from the humility of our Redeemer and yet imitate the pride of the enemy himself? See, we know that our Creator came down from the height of his loftiness to give glory to the human race; and we, created from the lowest things, glory in making our brothers less. God humbled himself even to our dust; and human dust sets its face as high as heaven, and its tongue goes about over the earth, and it does not blush or fear to be lifted up: man, who is rottenness, and the son of man, who is a worm. [j]

Let us call to mind, most dear brother, what is said by the most wise Solomon: “Before thunder will go lightning, and before ruin the heart will be exalted.” On the other hand, it is added, “Before glory it will be humbled.” Let us, then, be humble in mind if we are striving to reach true loftiness. On no account let the eyes of our heart be darkened by the smoke of arrogance, which vanishes the more quickly the higher it rises. Let us consider how we are taught by the commands of our Redeemer, who says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” That is also why he says through the prophet, “On whom will my Spirit rest, but on him who is humble and quiet, and who trembles at my words?” Truly, when the Lord wished to bring the hearts of his disciples, still beset with weakness, back to the way of humility, he said, “Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the least of all.” By this it is plainly seen that the one who is humbled in his own thoughts is truly raised on high. Let us, then, fear to be counted among those who seek the first seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplace, and to be called Rabbi by men. For the Lord, on the contrary, says to his disciples, “But do not be called Rabbi, for one is your Master, and you are all brothers. And call no one on earth your father, for one is your Father.” [k]

What, then, dearest brother, will you say at that terrible searching of the coming judgment, if you covet being called in this world not only father but even the father of all? So let the bad suggestions of evil men be guarded against; let every urging toward offense be fled from. “It must be that offenses come; nevertheless, woe to that man through whom the offense comes.” See, because of this hateful title of pride the church is torn apart, and the hearts of all the brothers are stirred to offense. What! Have you forgotten how the Truth says, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea”? But it is written, “Love does not seek its own.” See, your fraternity claims for itself even what is not its own. Again it is written, “In honor preferring one another.” And you try to take away from all the honor that you wish to seize unlawfully for yourself alone. Where, dearest brother, is what is written, “Have peace with all, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord”? Where is what is written, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God”? [l]

It is right for you to take care that no root of bitterness springs up and troubles you, and that many are defiled by it. But even if we neglect to take care, the judgment from on high will be watching against the swelling of so great an arrogance. And we, against whom such a great fault is committed by this wicked attempt, we, I say, are keeping what the Truth commands when it says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that every word may be established in the mouth of one or two witnesses. But if he will not listen to them, tell it to the church. But if he will not listen to the church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.” So I have more than once, through my representatives, taken care to rebuke in humble words this sin against the whole church; and now I am writing myself. Whatever it was my duty to do by way of humility, I have not left undone. But if I am despised in my rebuke, it remains for me to turn to the church. [m]

So may Almighty God show your fraternity how great a love for you compels me when I speak like this, and how much I grieve in this case, not against you, but for you. But the case is such that in it I must put the commands of the gospel, the rulings of the canons, and the welfare of the brothers before the person even of the one I greatly love.

I have received your holiness’s most sweet and pleasant letter about the case of the presbyters John and Athanasius. With the Lord’s help I will answer you about it in another letter. For, surrounded as I am by the swords of barbarians, I am now so weighed down by great troubles that I am not able, I will not say to deal with many things, but hardly even to breathe. Given on the 1st of January, in the thirteenth indiction. [n]