CHAPTER XVI. The accursed and shameful practices of the Manichaeans laid bare
At Carthage also when a certain procurator of the royal house, Ursus by name, and a man of the Catholic faith, had come into an assembly of certain Manichaeans whom they call Elect, both men and women, and when they had been led away by him to the church and were examined by the bishops, they were given a hearing with formal record. Among these bishops was also Augustine, of holy memory, who knew the accursed sect better than the others did, and by disclosing their damnable blasphemies from places in the books which the Manichaeans accept he even brought them to a confession of the same. The base and unworthy things they practiced to their own great harm are revealed in the ecclesiastical records through the disclosures of those women—Elect indeed. And so by the watchfulness of the shepherds an increase was made in the Lord's flock and strong defence was maintained against the thieves and robbers.
With a certain Felix, also a member of those whom the Manichaeans call Elect, Augustine argued in public in the church at Hippo while the people were present and the reporters took down the record. After the second or third meeting the emptiness and error of the sect were exposed and that |79 Manichaean was converted to our faith and Church, as these writings will show if they are consulted.