Hormisdas to the Synod of Old Epirus:

Blessed be God who unites the members of His Church. Blessed be God who, despite the enemy’s instigation, brings together those who were divided, restoring them to the unity they once had.

Even though the enemy has long cried out like a partridge and gathered those he did not beget, as the prophet asserts, he will be desolate in his bottomless confusion. For the Lord’s sheep do not follow a stranger, nor listen to another shepherd’s voice. Thus, we do not marvel that you have returned to the path of salvation, but rather we lament the delay in this reconciliation.

Dear brothers, we ought to use appropriate evidence for the stability we seek. When Timothy of Cherson was stern in learning, he was even sterner in teaching. A follower of Dioscorus and equally the mentor of Peter, he showed the ferocity of his recklessness against the blessed memory of Proterius, surpassing all in cruelty, committing the murder of a holy man within the very altars, barely holding back his jaws from that holy blood.

At that time, the Universal Church rose up against the parricide, stripping the perpetrator of such a crime not only of communion but even of the Christian name itself. The minds of all were struck with new amazement at the audacity of such presumption. Then, the blessed Eugenius, holding the primacy of your parish, along with the holy synod subject to him, demonstrated a certain zeal commended to God by his faith.

The memory of these deeds cannot be concealed by time; indeed, every day, their reputation grows among the orthodox. To neglect these earnest efforts and not cherish their decisions is to sin against the confession of our Lord Himself. Now, after your profession and letters, it is necessary to pray for all similar doctrines of faith, with God bringing His people together, that your will, which has lifted our spirits, may remain steadfast in confession.

However, it is essential, without fear, to attack the madness of those who strive with diverse faith. The greater the error of the infidels, the more our security is commended if it resists. These things should not be neglected through patience; this evil, animated by the vice of corrupt habit, has grown among many under a certain pretense of law, when either evil pursuits agree in one, or good ones withdraw themselves.

To speak of the present matter, Eutyches, the inventor of a heinous heresy, is excluded even by those who cherish his doctrines. Among them, he is so hated and to be avoided that they detest even the mention of his name. Yet, the perverse ministers of religious institutions, whom they detest as a true heretic, embrace him by another way as a true orthodox. Since at the holy Council of Chalcedon, Dioscorus, sharing the same opinion, was condemned in equal measure, and with both being pursued by one decision, if anyone follows and loves either of these, he must say how he is exempted by that decision which condemned them both.

Since those whom equality in transgression or impiety unites are undoubtedly bound together by the same bond of condemnation, Timothy and Peter, their followers, men with corrupt minds and a detestable plague under the Catholic name, whose communion Acacius embraced in Peter, likewise deserved to endure the same judgment. Acacius, treating this evil as a small matter, never turning to better things, abstained not even from those whom we detest in Antioch; in Apamea, too, he acted hostilely, managing the Tyrian Church without the proper integrity.

Therefore, dearest brothers, releasing ourselves from their entanglement, let us abandon such a pestiferous religion and keep to apostolic discipline, ensuring our salvation with all diligence and care. Let us avoid the errors of the impious Nestorius with the same care with which we persecute the impious inventions of Eutyches.

Especially now, religious doctrines of faith are attacked by different assaults by those previously mentioned, who weave their wicked arguments according to the times, seeking how they may introduce the deceit of their impiety into the paths of the innocent. Therefore, like wise and prudent exchangers, separating what is praiseworthy from what is to be rejected, you can multiply the substance of the talent entrusted to you.

We have written these things, dearest brothers, driven by the fullness of charity, because we have presumed upon the hope of your faith—first by God’s gift and then by the profession of our brother John, who presides over you. In his profession, he has declared that all those whom the Apostolic and general Catholic Church condemns are detestable to him; it was also fitting that you, in your letters, should explicitly name them. It cannot suffice for you to think that it is enough, especially amidst the cunning traps of the deceivers, whom it is fitting to pursue individually and specifically, to condemn them and not simply to include them under some general condemnation.

Ancient wounds demand diligent medicine; whatever is used for the integrity of faith and the stability of religion is not considered excessive. Therefore, we have sent a document with letters, into which you should insert your own subscriptions, so that your faith, which the writings sent through the deacon Rufinus attest to us, may become even clearer with the addition of this repetition.

Given on the 12th of the Calends of December (20th November), in the year of our Lord 516, during the consulship of Petrus, a man of consular rank.