In a message dated 99-10-07 10:13:27 EDT, you write:
<< After all
Popes had been flooding the Western World
with missionaries for hundreds of years before the
9th century. >>
Actually, Rome based missionary activity is and was hit and miss. A lot of
the missionaries came from different quarters (Ireland, England, Frankish
Kingdoms, Byzantium etc.) and for different reasons. If Rome was involved it
was usually as a traffic cop sorting out who had the right of way (as in the
competing missionaries of central europe during the 9th cent.), or to lend a
blessing on activities if asked (I believe Boniface sought as much in the 8th
cent.). Citing the number of bishops in north Africa is no help as the
church at Carthage, from which those bishoprics probably sprang, probably had
a contemporary foundation with the Roman church.
mark
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