Synod of Carthage (253)
The Synod of Carthage in 253 dealt with the problem of the Lapsi , like its two predecessors .
prehistory
With regard to the prehistory, reference can be made to the articles Synod of Carthage (251) and Synod of Carthage (252) .
Like the Synods of 251 and 252, the Synod of 253 is only passed on through knowledge from the letter collections of the then Bishop of Carthage, Cyprian . According to an investigation by Luc Duquenne, letters 56 and 57 come into question. The previous literature, on the other hand, assumed that both letters refer to the Synod of 252.
Letter 56 deals again with the Lapsi's problem. Specifically, six bishops had inquired how to proceed in a case involving three Lapsi named Ninus, Florus and Clementianus. In the persecution of Christians under Decius, all three had only become weak under torture and had made the pagan sacrifices demanded. According to the resolutions of the Synod of 251, they had already repented for three years. The bishops then asked Cyprian, who as bishop of the provincial capital Carthage (province Africa Proconsularis ) held a senior episcopal function, whether the attenuating circumstances of this case would enable an earlier re-entry into the community (reconciliation). Cyprian expressed himself positively in his letter, but wanted to submit the question to a synod again.
The Synod
According to Duquenne's knowledge, the synod met in the spring of 253. Cyprian's letter 57 is a synodal letter that is addressed to Pope Cornelius († summer 253). In the letterhead is the oldest fully recorded list of Council participants. There were 41 bishops from the northern part of the Africa Proconsularis province.
The synod dealt with the question put forward by the three lapses and immediately decided to draw a line under the previous practice of reconciliation with its long penances. The background to this was that in 253 a new wave of persecution of Christians was expected. In this situation the Synod Fathers believed that the faithful were dependent on the strengthening of the ecclesiastical sacraments . These, however, were only given to those who were in full unity with the community.
The synod therefore decided in a modification, but after repealing the resolutions of 251, after examining the individual cases, to take the affected lapses back into the community as soon as possible and thus strengthen them for the upcoming religious struggle. Bishops who would not subscribe to this would have to answer for their "inhuman hardship" before the judgment of God. With that, the Lapsi's question was finally resolved.
Contrary to what the Synod Fathers feared, there was no new persecution of Christians in Province 253. Instead, it began in Rome, where, as a later letter from Cyprian shows, the modified treatment of the Lapsi in the Carthaginian province had been adopted.
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, Konziliengeschichte, p. 201, referring to: Duquenne, Luc: Chronologie des lettres St. Cyprien
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 202
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 202
- ↑ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 203
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 209
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 214
- ^ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 213
- ↑ Fischer / Lumpe, Council History, p. 215