The granting of this jurisdiction to the Pope gave several Bishops occasion to write to him for his resolutions upon doubtful cases, whereupon he answered by decretal Epistles; and henceforward he gave laws to the Western Churches by such Epistles. Himerius Bishop of Tarraco, the head city of a province in Spain, writing to Pope Damasus for his direction about certain Ecclesiastical matters, and the Letter not arriving at Rome till after the death of Damasus, A.C. 384; his successor Siricius answered the same with a legislative authority, telling him of one thing: Cum hoc fieri — missa ad Provincias a venerandae meroriae praedecessore meo Liberio generalia decreta, prohibeant. Of another: Noverint se ab omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indigne usi sunt, Apostolicae Sedis auctoritate, dejectos. Of another: Scituri posthac omnium Provinciarum summi Qntistites, quod si ultro ad sacros ordines quenquam de talibus esse assumendum, & de suo & de aliorum statu, quos contra Canones & interdicta nostra provexerint, congruam ab Apostolica Sede promendam esse sententiam. And the Epistle he concludes thus: Explicuimus, ut arbitror, frater charissime, universa quae digesta sunt in querelam; & ad singulas causas, de quibus ad Romanam Ecclesiam, utpote ad caput tui corporis, retulisti; sufficientia, quantum opinor, responsa reddidimus.
Nunc fraternitatis tuae animum ad servandos canones, & tenenda decretaliae constituta, magis ac magis incitamus: ad haec quae ad tua consulta rescripsimus in omnium Coepiscoporum perferri facias notionem; & non solum eorum, qui in tua sunt dioecesi constituti, sed etiam ad universos Carthaginenses ac Boeticos, Lusitanos atque Gallicos, vel eos qui vicinis tibi collimitant hinc inde Provinciis, haec quae a nobis sunt salubri ordinatione disposita, sub literarum tuarum prosecutione mittantur. Et quanquam statuta sedis Apostolicae vel Canonum venerabilia definita, nulli Sacerdotum Domini ignorare sit liberum: utilius tamen, atque pro antiquitate sacerdotii tui, dilectioni tuae esse admodum poterit gloriosum, si ea quae ad te speciali nomine generaliter scripta sunt, per unanimitatis tuae sollicitudinem in universorum fratrum nostrorum notitiam perferantur; quatenus & quae a nobis non inconsulte sed provide sub nimia cautela & deliberatione sunt salubriter constituta, intemerata permaneant, & omnibus in posterum excusationibus aditus, qui jam nulli apud nos patere poterit, obstruatur. Dat. 3 Id. Febr. Arcadio & Bautone viris clarissimis Consulibus, A.C. 385. Pope Liberius in the reign of Jovian or Valentinian I. sent general Decrees to the Provinces, ordering that the Arians should not be rebaptized: and this he did in favor of the Council of Alexandria, that nothing more should be required of them than to renounce their opinions. Pope Damasus is said to have decreed in a Roman Council, that Tithes and Tenths should be paid upon pain of Anathema; and that Glory be to the Father, &c. should be said or sung at the end of the Psalms.
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