The See of Peter

The Early Church and Peter's Primacy

Letter LXVII, from Pope Leo to Bishop Ravennius of Arles

Synopsis: Leo writes to Ravennius of Arles to report that his sons Petronius and Regulus were long detained in the City so that they might share in Leo’s deliberations and learn all that he wishes conveyed to the knowledge of all brothers and fellow bishops through Ravennius — specially entrusting to his solicitude that Leo’s letter sent to the East for the defense of the faith, or Cyril’s letter of holy memory concordant with Leo’s own, be made known to all the Gallic brothers so that they may arm themselves with spiritual virtue against those who judge the Incarnation violated by perverse persuasions — while indicating that what could not be committed to letters will be conveyed through the legates’ personal report.

Leo, pope, to his most beloved brother Ravennius.

Leo Sends Ravennius His Letter to Flavian and Commissions the Distribution of the Tome Throughout Gaul

We long detained our sons Petronius, presbyter, and Regulus, deacon, in the City — as they merited this favor and the cause of the faith, now assailed by the error of certain persons, demanded it. We wished them to share in our deliberations and to learn all that we desire to reach the knowledge of all our brothers and fellow bishops through you, most beloved.

We specially entrust to your beloved’s solicitude that our letter — sent to the East for the defense of the faith — or that of Cyril of holy memory, fully concordant with our own, be made known to all our brothers, so that, strengthened against those who judge the Incarnation of the Lord to be violated by perverse persuasions, they may arm themselves with spiritual virtue.

You have a worthy opportunity to commend the beginnings of your episcopate to all the churches and to our God, if you fulfill this as we believe and mandate, most beloved brother. What could not be committed to letters you will learn through the report of our aforementioned sons — and, relying on the Lord’s aid, you will execute it effectively and laudably, as we have said. May God keep you safe, most beloved brother.

Given on the third day before the Nones of May, in the seventh consulship of the most glorious Valentinian Augustus and in the consulship of Avienus, most illustrious man.

Source/Reference

PL 54:886

Notes / Historical Commentary

Letter LXVII is dispatched on the same day as Letter LXVI — May 5, 450 — and its brevity should not obscure its significance. Where LXVI resolved the jurisdictional dispute between Arles and Vienne, LXVII enrolls Ravennius in the broader doctrinal campaign Leo has been waging since August 449. The new metropolitan of Arles is given his pastoral commission within days of receiving his confirmed metropolitan authority: the two letters together constitute both the grant and the assignment that comes with it.

The commission itself is structurally identical to the role Leo assigned to Julian of Cos in the East: Ravennius is to ensure that either the Tome or Cyril’s compatible letter — the doctrinal standards that Ephesus II suppressed — reaches all the Gallic bishops. Leo’s solicitude reaches the churches of Gaul not only through his own direct letters but through his metropolitan delegates, who carry and distribute his doctrinal position as personal extensions of his pastoral oversight. The phrase “we specially entrust to your beloved’s solicitude” places Ravennius’s action within the framework of Leo’s own universal solicitude: Ravennius does not act on his own initiative but as the commissioned agent of the Apostolic See’s doctrinal responsibility to all the churches.

The mention of “what could not be committed to letters” is intriguing and worth the reader’s attention. Leo regularly distinguishes between what he commits to writing and what he entrusts to personal messengers — a distinction visible in several of the post-Latrocinium letters. The content of these oral instructions can only be inferred, but the pattern suggests that Leo was careful to keep his most sensitive political communications off parchment. In the highly charged atmosphere of 450, with Theodosius still defending Ephesus II and Chrysaphius still at court, what Leo was asking the Gallic bishops to do — or to be prepared to do — may have been better left unwritten.