St. Cornelius d. ca. 253 A.D., St. Cyprian d. ca. 258 A.D.
Latin Fathers of the Church
Historical background
St. Cornelius, Pope, and St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, were friends who guided the Church through a difficult period in history. It was a time when the persecution of Christians under Emperor Decius reached its most violent peak. Such a severe persecution led many Christians to betray their faith. St. Cyprian proposed to welcome back these Christians who were repentant, but only after the proper penance was fulfilled. St. Cornelius backed up St. Cyprian in this proposal and decided to accept them back.
A priest, whose name was Novatian, was a strong leader among his fellow priests. Novatian set himself against St. Cornelius, and declared himself Pope - becoming the first antipope of the Church.Novatian also had set up Felicissimus, as an antibishop to St. Cyprian. This situation led to the schism regarding the lapsi, those Christians who have apostasized and lapsed from the Christian faith.
Before we examine how this schism developed in the early years of Christianity, let us learn about the backgrounds of both St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian of Carthage.
St. Cornelius
St. Cornelius was a Roman priest at first. He was elected Pope to succeed Pope Fabian, who was martyred by Emperor Decius in 250 A.D. The election to the papacy of St. Cornelius was delayed by fourteen months, because of Decius' persecution of the Christians. When however St. Cornelius eventually ascended to the papacy, he had to solve the issue of Christians who had apostasized during the persecution. He condemned those confessors who were lax in not demanding penance from the apostates. St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian of Carthage were in agreement as regards this matter and both were opposed to the faction of the antipope Novatian.
St. Cyprian of Carthage (ca. 200-258 A.D.)
A.k.a. Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus, St. Cyprian was probably born at Carthage, and became a pagan rhetorician, lawyer, and teacher. He was converted to Christianity by Caecilius, an old priest, about 246 A.D., became a profound scholar of the Bible, and the great religious authors - particularly Tertullian. Cyprian was ordained priest, and in 248 A.D., was elected to the episcopate of Carthage. More on St. Cyprian
The issue of the lapsi
The serious issue that St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian had to face was Novatus' reception of those who lapsed from the faith (the lapsi), without a proper penance. St. Cyprian denounced Novatus for his undue leniency and convened a Council at Carthage in 251 A.D. In this Council, St. Cyprian set forth the terms under which the lapsi could be received back into the Church. He excommunicated the schismatic leaders, and asserted the supremacy of the Pope. It was at this Council that St. Cyprian read his famous De unitate ecclesiae. Novatus then went to Rome and joined the antipope, Novatian, against Pope St. Cornelius, whom St. Cyprian actively supported, rallying the African bishops behind Pope St. Cornelius.
The exile of St. Cornelius
The antipope Novatian claimed that the Church did not have the power to forgive apostasy - the sin of giving up the Christian faith. He also stated that the Church also did not have the power to forgive certain other sins, no matter how repentant the sinner might be. As this conflict intensified, Emperor Gallus exiled Pope St. Cornelius to Centum Cellae (Civita Vecchia), and the persecutions of Christians began anew in 253 A.D. St. Cornelius died in Civita Vecchia a martyr, probably due to the hardships he was forced to endure. His body was later buried in the Cemetery of St. Callistus. St. Cyprian wrote him that he was able to suffer for Christ. He also noted that, in the persecution during the reign of Gallus, not a single Christian had apostasized from the Church.
Carthage stricken with a plague
In the years 252-254 A.D., Carthage was stricken with a terrible plague. With kindness and courage, vigour and steadiness, St. Cyprian urged his people to care for everyone: both their fellow Christians and their enemies and persecutors. Much was accomplished under St. Cyprian's leadership. The wealthy donated a lot of their money and the others gave a lot of their time for the care of the plague's victims.
St. Cyprian's martyrdom
In the reign of Emperor Valerian, the Christian persecution reached Africa in 257 A.D. St. Cyprian was arrested and sent into exile to Curubis, a small town near Carthage. When St. Cyprian refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods, he was sentenced to death and beheaded on September 14. St. Cyprian wrote numerous theological treatises on the Church, ministry, the Bible, virginity, and the lapsi. Together with Pope St. Cornelius, they are among the great Fathers of the Church.
References of this post
- Pocket Catholic Dictionary, by John A. Hardon, S.J.
- A Year with the Saints, by Don Bosco Press Inc.
- Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
- Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom
No comments:
Post a Comment