The Presbyters Project

Epistula 71

Cyprianus Quinto fratri s[alutem].

I,1. Retulit ad me, frater carissime, Lucianus conpresbyter noster te desiderasse ut significaremus tibi quid sentiamus de his qui apud haereticos et schismaticos baptizati uideantur. De qua re quid nuper in concilio plurimi coepiscopi cum conpresbyteris qui aderant censuerimus ut scires, eiusdem epistulae exemplum tibi misi.

(ed. Diercks 1996: 516)

Letter 71

Cyprian to Quintus his brother, greeting.

I,1. Lucian, our co-presbyter, has reported to me, dearest brother, that you have wished me to declare to you what I think concerning those who seem to have been baptized by heretics and schismatics; of which matter, that you may know what several of us fellow bishops, with the brother presbyters who were present, lately determined in council, I have sent you a copy of the same epistle.

(trans. R.E. Wallis, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050670.htm)

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

About the source:

Author: Cyprian
Title: Letters, Epistulae, Epistolae
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Cyprian was born probably about AD 200. 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. Different numerations of Cyprian's letters exist, I follow the edition of Diercks in Corpus Christianorum.

Edition:

G.F. Diercks ed., Sancti Cypriani Episcopi Epistularium. Epistulae 58-81, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 3C, Turnhout 1996.

Categories:

Writing activity - Correspondence

PR576.

Ecclesiastical administration - Participation in councils and ecclesiastical courts

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

PR576.

Described by a title - Conpresbyter

PR576.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1103, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1103