Synod of Carthage (252)
The Carthage Synod of 252 was a regional church assembly that immediately followed the Synod of 251 . She dealt again with the problem of lapsis , infant baptism and a schism that had developed from the apostasy of several bishops and other clergy.
prehistory
The meeting of 252 was preceded by that of 251, which dealt intensively with the Lapsi question and also passed resolutions on it. In this respect, reference can be made to the descriptions there.
The Synod
As from the Synod of 251, no files have been preserved from this assembly. However, the letters of the then Bishop of Carthage Cyprian have survived , from which the content of the deliberations can be reconstructed. Specifically, these are letters 59 and 64.
The synod took place around May 15th of the year 252. 67 bishops from the region attended it. The place of the conference was, like 251, the episcopal church in the city of Carthage.
The implementation of the resolution of 251 regarding the Lapsi
The Synod of 251 had finally clarified the question of the Lapsi. However, a Bishop Fidus had informed Cyprian by letter that a certain Bishop Therapius had violated these resolutions in the case of the former Presbyter Viktor and had taken him back into the ecclesiastical community before the end of the full period of penance. The letter from Fidus itself has not survived, but Cyprian's reply has (Letter 64, see above). With his actions, Bishop Therapius had opposed the authority of the Synod, which caused displeasure at the assembly. The point has been debated for a long time. The synod decided to reprimand the bishop for this action and to tell him not to do it again. The former presbyter Viktor was allowed to remain in the ecclesiastical community, as one no longer wanted to undo the peace once granted by a bishop of God (a sacerdote Dei).
Child baptism
The second request from Fidus concerned infant baptism . Analogous to the Jewish circumcision rite, Fidus meant that children should not be baptized until the eighth day after birth. In the African Church some Jewish traditions were preserved. The council, as Cyprian Fidus informed in Letter 64, unanimously rejected the view of Fidus. According to the synod, God's mercy and grace should not be withheld from anyone, which is why baptism should be given at the earliest possible time. This was addressed to the Christian parents.
The Schism of Privatus and His Followers
From Letter 59 we learn that in addition to the topics already described, the council also dealt with the case of some apostate bishops and clergymen. Privatus had once been Bishop of Lambaesis in Numidia before he was deposed by a council in 236/40. The Roman bishop also agreed with the judgment. Privatus was looking for a way back into the ecclesiastical community, but since he had not repented, his appeal to the Synod of 252 was not allowed.
Among the supporters of Privatus were the pseudo-bishop Felix and the excommunicated bishops Jovinus, Maximus and Repostus. The last three had apostatized during the persecution of Christians by Decius and made the required sacrifices. The synod also refused communion to these people because they had not even begun a penance, as the resolutions of the synod of 251 provided for.
Thereupon the excommunicated bishops consecrated Fortunatus from the camp of the Felicissimus party as counter-bishop to Cyprian. The Felicissimus party was a group of clergymen under the leadership of the deacon Felicissimus, who had already belonged to Cyprian's opponents in 251 and whose exclusion from the community had been confirmed at the synod. Fortunatus, not to be confused with the North African bishop whom Cyprian had sent to Rome in 251, immediately sent a delegation as well as Felicissimus himself to Rome to bring charges against Cyprian. But Pope Cornelius rejected the delegation and excommunicated Felicissimus as well. Fortunatus subsequently lost many followers, so that the schism gradually died down.
literature
- Joseph Anton Fischer, Adolf Lumpe: The synods from the beginnings to the eve of the Nicaenum in: Walter Brandmüller (ed.), Konziliengeschichte, Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 1997 ISBN 3-506-74674-X
Individual evidence
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, pp. 190f
- ↑ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 192
- ↑ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 192
- ↑ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 192
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 193
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 193
- ↑ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 194
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 195
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 198
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 198
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 178
- ↑ cf. Synod of Carthage (251) #The Roman episcopal question
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, pp. 199f