Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 1099
Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage (North Africa) congratulates Bishop Lucius of Rome on the unity of the Roman clergy in the face of persecutions. Cyprian, Letter 61, AD 253.
Epistula 61
 
III,1. Intellegimus, frater carissime, et tota cordis nostri luce perspicimus diuinae maiestatis salutaria et sancta consilia, unde illic repentina persecutio nuper exorta sit, unde contra ecclesiam Christi et episcopum Cornelium beatum martyrem uosque omnes saecularis potestas subito proruperit, ut ad confundendos haereticos et retundendos ostenderet dominus quae esset ecclesia, quis episcopus eius unus diuina ordinatione delectus, qui cum episcopo presbyteri sacerdotali honore coniuncti, quis adunatus et uerus Christi populus dominici gregis caritate conexus, qui essent quos inimicus lacesseret, qui contra quibus diabolus ut suis parceret. [...]
 
(ed. Diercks 1996: 382)
Letter 61
 
III,1. We understand, dearest brother, and we perceive with the whole light of our heart, the salutary and holy plans of the divine majesty, whence the sudden persecution lately arose there—whence the secular power suddenly broke forth against the Church of Christ and the bishop Cornelius, the blessed martyr, and all of you; so that, for the confusion and beating down of heretics, the Lord might show which was the Church—which is its one bishop chosen by divine appointment—which presbyters are associated with the bishop in priestly honour—which is the united and true people of Christ, linked together in the love of the Lord’s flock—who they were whom the enemy would harass; whom, on the other hand, the devil would spare as being his own. [...]
 

Place of event:

Region
  • Rome
City
  • Rome

About the source:

Author: Cyprian
Title: Letters, Epistulae, Epistolae
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Cyprian was born probably about 200 AD. He converted to Christianity in about 245 and in 248 was elected Bishop of Carthage. Soon after, the Decian persecution began (in 249/250) and Cyprian went into hiding. In 251 he returned to the city. Under Valerian, he was exiled in 257 and executed in 258. The epistolary of Cyprian consists of 81 letters (16 of them by his correspondents, and 6 synodal or collective), the majority of them are from the period of 250-251, when they were the means of Cyprian`s communication with his clergy. They offer us a wide view on the organization of the Church in Carthage in the middle of the third century, her relation with the Church of Rome, on the development of the persecutions, and on the conflicts that they caused inside the Church.
Edition:
G.F. Diercks ed., Sancti Cypriani Episcopi Epistularium. Epistulae 58-81, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 3C, Turnhout 1996.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
    Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς
      Public law - Secular
        Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
          Equal prerogatives of presbyters and bishops
            Theoretical considerations - On priesthood
              Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1099, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1099