Hormisda, Bishop, to Dorotheus, Bishop of Thessalonica:

John, my brother and fellow bishop, the bishop of the city of Nicopolis, along with his synod, has complained of being severely afflicted by various disturbances and losses because he, having separated himself from the company of the transgressors and having earned communion with the Apostolic See, did not direct the beginnings of his ordination to the Church of Thessalonica.

This neglect could be considered blameworthy if there were only one true mystery of charity among all. But since many have separated themselves from the solidity of that rock which is Christ, who would not wish to be divided from the company of those who err, in order to deserve to be joined with those who stand in truth? Thus, the custom was not neglected but rather contamination was avoided. Who could accuse anyone of error where a well-thought-out caution is clearly understood?

We believed you should have been the first to embrace this, or at least be able to follow after the example of others. It is not enough to linger in lapses; does this not add to the blame, that you show envy towards those who return to the right path? What else do they do but hate the very name of blessed Peter (which cannot be said without impiety), who persecutes those who flee to his altars?

With what shame, I ask, do you wish for privileges from those whose mandates you do not observe? How do you wish for ecclesiastical authority to bestow the reverence that you do not show to the faith? If you were walking in the same footsteps as the Catholics, you should at least avoid persecuting your neighbor, knowing that according to the teachings of our Lord and Savior, whom we worship, he who causes one of the least of these to stumble is liable to great sins (Mark 9).

Where is, Lord, the humility you taught your disciples during their disputes over positions of rank? You demonstrate that the greatest is the one who strives to make himself the smallest. Look down from heaven, see and visit this vineyard which you planted with your own hand (Psalm 79). Focus on your commandments, mindful of the humble, and be wary of the ambitious. Why do you desire what is recent while abandoning the ancient, neglecting the highest while caring for the lowest? Is this not like tithing insignificant things and neglecting the greater precepts of the law?

Keep those things that belong to God, and those that are from men will easily follow. Rather, take up the care for salvation, and sigh that another has preceded you in the truth. Lest, if you persist in persecuting those who return to the members of the Church, you, too, will be joined with those whom the Apostolic See condemns by name.

Given on the day before the Ides of April, in the consulship of Agapitus, a man of illustrious rank.