Leon Wielki wobec manicheizmu [Leon Wielki, Epistulae: 7,8 i 15 CPL 1656; Turribius Asturicensis, Epistula ad Idacium CPL 564]

Abstract

The article includes an introduction to the Polish translation of Letter 7,8 and 15 of Leo the Great (pope from 440 to 461) and a supplement to the Polish translation of Turibius of Astorga’s letter to the bishops of Galatia concerning Manichaeism and Priscillianism. The first Polish translation of these sources reveals new, for the 5th century, tactics of the Catholic Church fight against Manichaeism, with not only theological arguments, but also with an appeal to the help of the state (the whole Letter 8 is a copy of a proper rescript of the emperor Theodosius and Valentinian on Manichaeism). Letters of Leo the Great and Turibius of Astorga reveal also some gaps in theological knowledge of the Latin bishops, who probably did not notice the danger of false spirituality and religious life spread by “asceticism” of Manichaeism.