Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 684
Augustine, bishop of Hippo Regius (North Africa), writes to Pancarius, a layman, about the accusations raised by the people of Germaniciana (in the diocese of Hippo) against their presbyter, Secundinus. Augustine, Letter 251, AD 395/430.
Letter 251
 
Domino dilectissimo meritoque honorabili filio Pancario Augustinus in Domino salutem.
 
Cum, antequam ueniret religio tua, presbyter Secundinus Germanicianensibus non displiceret, unde modo factum est, ut eum, sicut scripsisti, etiam de nescio quibus criminibus accusare parati sint, nescio, domine dilectissime meritoque honorabilis fili. Verum tamen nullo modo nos possumus contemnere, quod presbytero uidentur obicere, tantum si catholici sunt, qui obiciunt; nam haereticorum accusationes contra catholicum presbyterum admittere nec possumus nec debemus. Proinde hoc primo agat prudentia tua, ut haeretici non sint, ubi ante aduentum tuum non fuerunt, et audiemus causam presbyteri, sicut eam oportet audiri. Illud sane moneo, quia dignaris, quoniam et salus et existimatio tua carissima nobis est et ipsi Germanicianenses pertinent ad curam humilitatis nostrae, ut ea, quae a gloriosissimis imperatoribus impetrasti, et ea, quae apud competentes iudices egisti, fidenter allegare digneris, ut appareat omnibus nihil te inordinate agere, ne iterum in causa uestra, qui de possessione contenditis, ipsi miseri fatigentur et grauius afflicti dispereant. Simul etiam commendo, ut eiusdem presbyteri domus non diripiatur neque uastetur; nam de ecclesia sua nuntiatum est nobis, quod eam nescio qui uelint deponere; sed non puto, quod ullo pacto possit hoc a tua religione permitti.
 
(ed. Goldbacher 1911: 599-600)
Letter 251
 
To his most beloved lord and rightly honorable son, Pancarius, Augustine sends greetings in the Lord.
 
Since before the arrival of Your Piety the presbyter Secundinus was not a source of displeasure to the people of Germaniciana, I do not know, my most beloved lord and rightly honorable son, why it has now come about that, as you wrote, they are ready to accuse him of some crimes or other. But we can only take into consideration the objections they raise against the presbyter if the people who lodge these objections are Catholics. For we neither can nor ought to admit the objections of heretics against a Catholic presbyter. Hence Your Wisdom ought first of all to make sure that there are no heretics present where there were none present before your arrival, and we will hear the case of the presbyter as it ought to be heard. Because your welfare and reputation is most dear to us and because the people of Germaniciana fall under our humble care, I am in fact warning you, because you are being so gracious, to deign confidently to make known what [concessions] you have obtained from the most glorious emperors and what actions you have taken before competent judges. In that way all may see that you are doing nothing out of order, so that in a case in which you are in a dispute over property these poor people do not suffer again and be completely ruined through more serious losses. At the same time I suggest to you that the house of the same presbyter not be plundered and destroyed, as it has been reported to us from his Church that certain people want to tear it down, but I do not think that this can in any way be permitted by Your Piety.
 
(trans. R. Teske, slightly altered)

Discussion:

We do not know what was the exact role and function of Pancarius. Augustine is very suspicious that the accusations against the presbyter Secundinus were raised only after the arrival of Pancarius. He thinks that heretics (ie. the Donatists) are behind them, and he insists on judging Secundinus according to the ecclesiastical discipline. We do not know what the accusations were about, they may have touched some property issues, since it seems that the house of the presbyter is threatened with destruction by his opponents.

Place of event:

Region
  • Latin North Africa
City
  • Germaniciana
  • Hippo Regius

About the source:

Author: Augustine of Hippo
Title: Letters, Epistulae
Origin: Hippo Regius (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
The letters of Augustine of Hippo cover a wide range of topics: Holy Scripture, dogma and liturgy, philosophy, religious practice and everyday life. They range from full-scale theological treatises to small notes asking someone for a favour. The preserved corpus includes 308 letters, 252 written by Augustine, 49 that others sent to him and seven exchanged between third parties. 29 letters have been discovered only in the 20th century and edited in 1981 by Johannes Divjak; they are distinguished by the asterisk (*) after their number.
The preserved letters of Augustine extend over the period from his stay at Cassiciacum in 386 to his death in Hippo in 430.
Edition:
Edition:
A. Goldbacher ed., S. Augustini Hipponiensis Episcopi Epistulae, Pars 4, Ep. 185-270, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 57, Vienna-Leipzig 1911.
 
Translation:
 Saint Augustine, Letters 211–270, 1*–29*, trans. R. Teske, New York 2005.
 

Categories:

Food/Clothes/Housing - Type of housing
Functions within the Church - Rural presbyter
Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Public law - Ecclesiastical
Conflict
Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
Relation with - Noble
Relation with - Townsman
Relation with - Heretic/Schismatic
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER684, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=684