To Romanus the Defensor, on His Charge of the Patrimony near Syracuse

Gregory to Romanus, and so on.

Our concern for the task before us leads us to entrust the care of the church’s interests to energetic people. So, since we have found you, Romanus, to have been a trustworthy and diligent defensor, we have decided to entrust to your management, from this present second indiction, the patrimony of the holy Roman church, which by the mercy of God we serve, lying in the districts around Syracuse, Catania, Agrigento and Mile. So you must go there at once. Mindful of the judgment of God, and remembering our warning too, take pains to carry out your duties so efficiently and faithfully that you may be found to run no risk for negligence or fraud, which God forbid. But act this way all the more so that you may be commended to the grace of God for your faithfulness and hard work. We have also sent orders, as is the custom, to the familia of the same patrimony, so that nothing may hinder you from carrying out what you have been told to do. [b]