ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the most important obstacles that St Basil the Great faced in his attempt to establish cooperative relations with both the Eastern and Western bishops, and so to strengthen church unity through letters. St Basil remained in the consciousness of all those who came into contact with his work and life as a person endowed with a multitude of qualities. He developed a peerless epistolary mission theology, both for his innate diplomatic skills, aided by a science of composition, logic and argumentation, which he acquired during the time of his studies. St Basil was eager to send a letter to Soranus to respond to false accusations that had put distance between the two otherwise close friends. His increasing prestige and considerable achievements in his spiritual, political and social endeavours inevitably attracted ill-will and a certain degree of envy.
