Letter 1.18 to Subdeacon Peter (January 591)
Gregory writes to his envoy in Sicily, the Subdeacon Peter, to send to him clerics and monks worthy of priesthood to become ordained, as many Sicilian churches are lacking pastors; many priests were demoted due to their misdeeds. As their successors are to be ordained priests (sacerdotes) directly by Gregory the Great in Rome, not the local bishops, Gregory refers probably only to episcopal ordination. Gregory urges Peter only to send proven candidates, as it is better for a church to have no pastor than to be led by a bad one.
(ed. Norberg 1982: 17–18; summarised by J. Szafranowski)