To the most blessed lord, Pope Hilarus, worthy of apostolic reverence, honored by us in Christ: Ascanius and all the bishops of the province of Tarraconensis.
Even if no necessity of ecclesiastical discipline compelled us, we would in truth have sought out that privilege of your See, by which — after the keys of the kingdom were received — the singular preaching of the most blessed Peter shone forth throughout the whole world for the illumination of all: whose vicarial principate, as it stands preeminent, is as much to be feared by all as to be loved. Therefore we, deeply adoring God in you, whom you serve without reproach, have recourse to the faith praised by the apostolic mouth, seeking responses from the source from which nothing is decreed by error, nothing by presumption, but everything by pontifical deliberation.
Although these things are so, there is nevertheless among us a false brother, whose presumption it was no longer possible to pass over in silence, and the necessity of future judgment has compelled us to speak. A certain Silvanus, bishop of Calaguris, established in the farthest part of our province, by usurping ordinations not due to him, has driven our humility to the point where we cry out for the unique remedy of your See against his most vain presumption. For seven or eight years and more ago, setting aside the rules of the Fathers and despising your ordinances, he ordained a bishop with no people requesting it. Thinking his precipitate act could be healed by fraternal and peaceful admonition, it only grew worse. At length, against the ancient canons and the synodal constitutions — inflamed only by the spirit of presumption — he ordained as bishop another of our brothers’ presbyter, in the very place designated for the man on whom he had imposed hands against his will and resistance, and who had already been joined to our assembly. From this it came about that our brother the bishop of Caesaraugusta reported to us the man’s wretched temerity — whose diligence and solicitude would have sufficed, had it been of any use. He repeatedly forbade all the bishops in the vicinity from joining themselves to the schismatic; but with damnable obstinacy Silvanus alone committed without shame everything that was illicit, and that is shameful for us even to speak of.
Since, therefore, these presumptions — which divide unity and cause schism — must be swiftly addressed: we beseech your See that you instruct us by apostolic utterance on what you wish us to observe in this matter — so that, with the brotherhood assembled and the constitutions of the venerable synod brought forth, supported by your authority against the spirit of rebellion, we may understand, with God’s help, what must be done concerning the ordainer and the ordained. It will truly be your triumph if, in the time of your apostolate, the Catholic Church hears what the chair of Saint Peter holds, and the new seeds of tares are uprooted.
And with subscription: May divine eternity preserve forever your Holy Apostolate, which prays for us.
Footnotes
- ↩ The salutation addresses Hilarius as Domino beatissimo… papæ Hilaro — “most blessed lord… Pope Hilarus.” The combination of dominus and papa is the highest register of address available to the Tarraconensis bishops. The name appears as “Hilaro” (dative of Hilarus) throughout the PL; the English convention “Hilarius” follows later usage.
- ↩ The Latin is illud privilegium sedis vestræ, quo susceptis regni clavibus post resurrectionem Salvatoris, per totum orbem beatissimi Petri singularis prædicatio universorum illuminationi prospexit. The construction is carefully layered: the privilege belongs to the See; the See is the channel through which Peter’s preaching — made possible by the reception of the keys — reached all peoples. The bishops are not merely praising Peter historically; they are identifying the Roman See’s present privilege as the living continuation of Peter’s universal commission. The phrase susceptis regni clavibus — “the keys of the kingdom having been received” — draws directly on Matt. 16:19.
- ↩ The Latin cujus vicarii principatus sicut eminet, ita metuendus est ab omnibus et amandus is among the most explicit acknowledgments of papal authority from provincial bishops in the fifth-century corpus. The term principatus — “principate,” “headship,” “sovereign rule” — is the same word Leo uses in Letter IX (apostolicum principatum) to describe Peter’s governing position. Here it is modified by vicarii — “vicarial” — identifying the pope as the one who holds Peter’s principate in a vicarial capacity. The Tarraconensis bishops are not using the language of honorary precedence; principatus is the language of governance, and metuendus — “to be feared” — is not the response owed to a first among equals but to a sovereign authority.
- ↩ Calaguris is modern Calahorra, in La Rioja, Spain — at the far western edge of the province of Tarraconensis. The bishops describe it as in ultima parte nostræ provinciæ — “in the farthest part of our province” — emphasizing its remoteness from the metropolitan see at Tarragona. The distance may have contributed to Silvanus’s sense that he could act without oversight. The text reads divinationes — literally “divinations” — but the editors correct to ordinationes (“ordinations”), which is clearly what the context requires.
Historical Commentary