The See of Peter

The Early Church and Peter's Primacy

Letter VI, from Pope Leo to Anastasius, Bishop of Thessalonica

Synopsis: Leo entrusts his authority in Illyricum to Anastasius, following the example of Pope Siricius; he prescribes careful examination of candidates for ordination; bigamous men and those who married widows are barred by the canons from the priesthood; provincial bishops are to be ordained by metropolitans only with the exarch’s consent, while metropolitans are ordained by the exarch himself; any disputed case that the exarch cannot resolve must be referred to the Apostolic See; and all ordinations — not bishops alone — must take place on Sundays.

Leo to our most beloved brother Anastasius.

I. Leo Explains the Purpose of Fraternal Correspondence and the Duty of Pastoral Vigilance

The charity of our fraternal fellowship makes us receive all priests’ letters with a grateful heart, embracing through the grace of the Spirit those with whom we are united by mutual correspondence. Yet our affection is greater for those letters that inform us of the state of the Churches — for they compel us to exercise the vigilance of our office, as the Lord intended us to be watchmen. We give consent to what is proceeding well, and apply the remedy of correction to what we see perverted by usurpation, hoping that the seed sown will bring forth abundant fruit if we prevent from sprouting what would harm the Lord’s harvest.

II. Leo Entrusts His Authority in Illyricum to Anastasius, Following the Example of Pope Siricius and His Predecessors

After your beloved’s petition reached us through our son Nicholas the priest — asking that we grant you authority in Illyricum to uphold the canons, as we had done for your predecessors — We, granting Our consent, entrust Our authority to you. Following the example of the blessed Siricius — who with good reason and proven merit entrusted this to your predecessor Anysius — We commit to you the care of the Churches in Illyricum. We urge that no pretense or negligence arise in their governance, so that We may rejoice in their progress under your oversight, as delegated by the Apostolic See. For as honor accrues to the one who diligently fulfills the priestly authority entrusted to him, so too is the burden recognized for the one who fails to use that same power with due moderation.

III. Candidates for Ordination Must Be Carefully Examined; Bigamous Men and Those Who Married Widows Are Barred from the Priesthood

Hold vigilantly, dearest brother, the governance entrusted to you — keeping your mind’s eye on all that lies under your care, guarding what will profit your reward, and standing firm against all who would undermine canonical discipline. The sacred canons must be observed above all in ordinations. We decree that those who are consecrated as priests in your provinces be men whose life and clerical progress merit approval — leaving no room for personal favoritism, ambition, or purchased support. Candidates must be thoroughly examined and trained over time in ecclesiastical discipline. They must meet all the requirements the holy Fathers established and the blessed Apostle Paul prescribed: they must be husbands of one wife, having taken a virgin — not a widow nor a divorced woman — as divine law commands (1 Tim. 3:2; Lev. 21:13–14; Ezek. 44:22). This must be upheld with such diligence that no excuse is possible. No one should think he can attain the priesthood if — before receiving Christ’s grace — he took a wife, lost her, and then married another after baptism; for while baptism remits sins, it does not erase the number of wives.

IV. Provincial Bishops Are Ordained by Metropolitans With the Exarch’s Consent; Metropolitans Are Ordained by the Exarch

No bishop should be ordained in those churches without your consent — so that the fear of your scrutiny may ensure sound judgment in elections. If any bishop is ordained by metropolitans without your knowledge, in violation of Our decree, he shall have no standing with Us, and those responsible will answer for their presumption. While metropolitans are authorized to ordain in their own provinces, We decree that metropolitans themselves are to be ordained by you, with mature and well-considered judgment. Though all bishops should be upright and pleasing to God, We desire those who govern other priests to excel above all — and We admonish you to act with great care, heeding the Apostle’s warning: Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands (1 Tim. 5:22).

V. Any Case That the Exarch Cannot Resolve Must Be Referred to the Apostolic See

Whoever is summoned to a synod must attend and not refuse the sacred gathering where matters of ecclesiastical discipline are to be addressed. Frequent consultations among the Lord’s priests prevent faults, foster mutual correction, and build up charity. Most disputes, with God’s help, can be resolved without lingering contention — uniting brothers in the bond of peace. But if a case arises that you, presiding, cannot bring to resolution, let your report consult Us, so that — the Lord revealing His will — We may respond with what He inspires, upholding through Our judgment the reverence owed to the authority of the Apostolic See, according to ancient tradition.

VI. All Ordinations — Not Bishops Alone — Must Take Place on Sundays

Let these matters be made known to all brothers, so that no one may claim ignorance as an excuse for neglecting Our decrees. We have sent letters to the metropolitans of each province, admonishing that they must obey the judgments of the Apostolic See. They obey Us when they obey you, as delegated by Our authority. We have learned — and cannot pass over in silence — that some brothers ordain bishops only on Sundays, but then ordain priests and deacons on any day of their choosing, as though the consecration of lesser orders requires no particular care. Since priests and deacons require a consecration no less sacred than that of bishops, We decree that this usurpation against the canons and the tradition of the Fathers be corrected, so that the customs governing all sacred orders are observed without exception — and candidates progress through all the clerical ranks over time, learning what they will one day be called to teach.

Dated the day before the Ides of January, in the consulship of Theodosius, for the eighteenth time, and Albinus.

Source/Reference

PL 54:616

Notes / Historical Commentary

Letter VI, dated January 12, 444, was written on the same day as Letter V and dispatched together with it — one letter addressed to all the metropolitan bishops of Illyricum, this one addressed personally to Anastasius of Thessalonica, the newly commissioned papal vicar for the region. The two letters form a single governance communication, each calibrated to its specific audience.

The letter opens, before getting to business, with a reflection on what fraternal correspondence means to Leo — and it is worth pausing on this, since it says something important about his understanding of his office. Leo does not merely value letters from other bishops as pleasant exchanges between colleagues. He values them because they inform him of the state of the Churches, thereby enabling him to exercise his pastoral vigilance. The Roman bishop’s solicitude for all the Churches is not a theoretical claim; it requires information, and correspondence is the mechanism by which that information flows to Rome. Anastasius’s role as vicar is, in part, to be Rome’s eyes and ears throughout Illyricum.

Chapter II’s invocation of Siricius is the key moment for the continuity argument. Leo names Siricius specifically — the pope who first committed the vicariate to writing — and presents himself as doing exactly what Siricius had done before him. The chain of apostolic succession is also a chain of institutional inheritance: each pope transmits to his successor not only the faith but the institutional structures through which the faith is governed. This is the same principle visible in Letter IV’s citation of Innocent and “all Our predecessors.” Leo is not inventing the vicariate; he is renewing it.

Chapter V’s reservation of unresolvable cases to the Apostolic See completes the judicial structure sketched in Letter V. The tiered system runs: the provincial bishop handles ordinary matters; the metropolitan handles regional ones; the vicar (Anastasius) handles cases the metropolitans cannot resolve; and the Apostolic See itself issues final judgment on cases the vicar cannot resolve. Rome is the apex of a genuine appellate hierarchy — not a remote supervisor occasionally consulted on extraordinary matters, but the court of final resort built into the normal operations of ecclesiastical governance.

Chapter VI’s ruling on Sunday ordinations is less dramatic but worth noting. Leo finds that some bishops are observing the Sunday requirement for episcopal ordinations while treating the ordination of priests and deacons as less significant — ordaining them on any convenient day. He corrects this by insisting that all ordinations, at every level, carry the same weight and must follow the same canonical discipline. The underlying principle is that the sacramental dignity of ordination does not vary by rank: a priest’s ordination is no less sacred than a bishop’s, and the same reverence and care is owed to it.