FILA and FILOROMO, saints, martyrs. — Fila, from his youth, held important civil offices; wealthy, learned, and influential, he later became bishop of Tmuis. Arrested with other bishops during the persecution of Diocletian, he wrote from prison, along with them, to Meletius of Lycopolis, who was illicitly ordaining bishops in other dioceses. He also wrote to his faithful about the heroism of the martyrs. His courage in facing martyrdom converted the high-ranking official Philoromo, who was beheaded with him. Feast day: February 4.
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The Letter to Philemon (abbreviated F.) is one of the most delicate and profound compositions of St. Paul. In it, the Apostle, while not directly condemning slavery, clearly indicates the path that Christian teaching would take regarding this institution. Without advocating violent or revolutionary means, he presents the abolition of slavery as the fruit of a slow but profound transformation of collective conscience.
The affinity of the subject has suggested a comparison between F. and two letters addressed by Pliny the Younger to Sabinianus (Opera, ed. A. M. Guillemin, III, Paris 1928, pp. 114 ff., 118). In the first, Pliny intercedes on behalf of a freedman who had fled from Sabinianus' household; in the second, he thanks Sabinianus for having granted his request. The case, therefore, concerns not a slave but a freedman. Moreover, Pliny implies that a relapse would be punishable: this contrasts with the proposal of F., which envisions entirely new relationships between master and slave, inspired by mutual love. The distance between servant and master remains intact in Pliny's letters; nor could it be bridged by that fundamental Stoic virtue, the cult of what is fitting (τὸ πρέπον; cf. J. Huby, p. 117 ff.). Even in terms of skill in handling the subject, spontaneity, and wit, F. surpasses the pagan writing, remaining a masterpiece of apostolic art. As E. Renan observes (L'Antéchrist, Paris 1873, p. 96), it is above all a work of Christian dignity and nobility, grounded in the most solid motives of participation in the divine life in Christ. F. was to offer future generations a practical example of the application of these principles.
The Pauline authenticity of F. has been questioned only by a few adherents of the most radical criticism, such as F. C. Burkitt, C. Weizsäcker, and B. Weiss; while others agree in recognizing that F. bears the best guarantees of its origin (cf. P. Feine-J. Behm, Einleitung in das Neue Testament, 8th ed., Leipzig 1936, p. 95). That it was little cited in antiquity is not surprising, given its brevity, its private destination, and the fact that its doctrinal content was more clearly expressed in other letters of Paul. St. Jerome speaks in general terms of some doubts that arose regarding its Pauline authenticity, with implications for the sacred character of the writing; however, this did not prevent the Church from accepting one point or another (In Epist. ad Philem.: PL 26, 635-38). Explicit recognition is found in the Muratorian Fragment (Schriftliche Biblicum, Rome 1927, no. 4), in Origen (In Ier., 19, 2: PG 13, 501), and in Tertullian (Contra Marcionem, 5, 21: PL 2, 524 [556]).