Distinction LXXXV

GRATIAN. Hospitality is so necessary to bishops that, if they are found to be strangers to it, they are rightly prohibited from being ordained. Hence Gregory writes to Bishop John, [book XII, epistle 6]:

We have learned that Florentinus, archdeacon of the church of Ancona, who had been elected to the episcopate, indeed has knowledge of sacred Scripture, but is now so broken by the old age of his years that he cannot rise to the office of governance; they also add that he is so tenacious that a friend never enters his house for charity. But Rusticus, a deacon of the same church, who similarly had been elected, is said indeed to be a vigilant man, but, as is asserted, he does not know the psalms. We know that Florentinus, a deacon of the church of Ravenna, who is recalled to have been elected by all, is solicitous, but we are entirely ignorant of what he is like inwardly. And therefore let your fraternity, together with our brother and fellow bishop Armenius, visitor of the aforesaid church of Ancona, hasten to go there and inquire diligently concerning the life and conduct of each, whether they are conscious of no crime that would prohibit them from approaching this office. It must likewise be inquired whether what was said concerning the aforesaid archdeacon—that a friend has never entered his house—is true, and whether he is such from necessity or from tenacity; or whether he is so old that he cannot rise to govern; or whether, touching the sacrosanct Gospels, as has been reported to us, he gave an oath that he would never approach the episcopate. But it must also be investigated how many psalms the deacon Rusticus does not know. As for Florentinus, the deacon of Ravenna, if there is no crime, as we have said, which stands in the way, it is necessary to treat with his bishop that he ought to grant him permission; yet not by our mandate or edict, lest he seem to grant him against his will.