non tantum has Provincias potestate propria gubernaret; verum etiam omnes Gallias sibi Apostolicae Sedis vice mandatas, sub omni ecclesiastica regula contineret.  And Pope Pelagius I. A.C. 556, in his Epistle to Sapaudus Bishop of Arles:  Majorum nostrorum, operante Dei misericordia, cupientes inhaerere vestigiis & eorum actus divino examine in omnibus imitari:  Charitati tuae per universam Galliam, sanctae Sedis Apostolicae, cui divina gratia praesidemus, vices injungimus.

By the influence of the same imperial Edict, not only Spain and Gallia, but also Illyricum became subject to the Pope. Damasus made Ascholius, or Acholius, Bishop of Thessalonica the Metropolis of Oriental Illyricum, his Vicar for hearing of causes; and in the year 382, Acholius being summoned by Pope Damasus, came to a Council at Rome.  Pope Siricius the successor of Damasus, decreed that no Bishop should be ordained in Illyricum without the consent of Anysius the successor of Acholius.  And the following Popes gave Rufus the successor of Anysius, a power of calling Provincial Councils:  for in the Collections of Holstenius there is an account of a Council of Rome convened under Pope Boniface II. in which were produced Letters of Damasus, Syricius, Innocent I. Boniface I. and Caelestine Bishops of Rome, to Ascholius, Anysius and Rufus, Bishops of Thessalonica:  in which Letters they commend to them the hearing of causes in Illyricum, granted by the Lord and the holy Canons to the Apostolic See thro’out that Province.  And Pope Siricius saith in his Epistle to Anysius:  Etiam dudum, frater charissime, per Candidianum Episcopum, qui nos praecessit ad Dominum, hujusmodi literas dederamus, ut nulla licentia esset, sine consensu tuo in Illyrico Episcopos ordinare praesumere, quae utrum ad te pervenerint scire non potui.  Multa enim gesta sunt per contentionem ab Episcopis in ordinationibus faciendis, quod tua melius caritas novit.  And a little after:  Ad omnem enim hujusmodi audaciam comprimendam vigilare debet instantia tua, Spiritu in te Sancto fervente:  ut vel ipse, si potes, vel quos judicaveris Episcopos idoneos, cum literis dirigas, dato consensu qui possit, in ejus locum qui defunctus vel depositus fuerit, Catholicum Episcopum vita & moribus probatum, secundum Nicaenae Synodi statuta vel Ecclesiae Romanae, Clericum de Clero meritum ordinare.  And Pope Innocent I. saith in his Epistle to Anysius:  Cui [Anysio] etiam anteriores tanti ac tales viri praedecessores mei Episcopi, id est, sanctae memoriae Damasus, Siricius, atque supra memoratus vir ita detulerunt; ut omnia quae in omnibus illis partibus gererentur, Sanctitati tuae, quae plena justitiae est, traderent cognoscenda.