Caecilian
Archdeacon and then bishop of Carthage after the Great Persecution. His opponents held his consecration void and set up a rival bishop. Councils at Rome and Arles and the emperor Constantine upheld him, and the Donatist schism followed.
Caecilian was archdeacon of Carthage under Bishop Mensurius and, according to Optatus, had made an enemy of an influential woman named Lucilla by rebuking her for kissing a martyr’s bone before communion. After the persecution he was elected bishop and consecrated by Felix of Aptunga. His opponents, with bishops from Numidia, charged that Felix had handed over the Scriptures and consecrated Majorinus against him (Optatus, Against the Donatists 1.16–19).
Constantine treated Caecilian as the lawful bishop from the start and wrote to him about a grant of money for his clergy (Eusebius, Church History 10.6). The bishops who heard the case at Rome in 313 found nothing proved against him (Optatus, Against the Donatists 1.24), and Constantine then ordered him to Arles for a second hearing (Optatus, Against the Donatists Appendix 3), where the council again rejected his accusers (Council of Arles (314) letter to Silvester). Augustine reports that the emperor finally heard both parties himself at Milan and declared Caecilian innocent (Augustine, Letter 43.20). See the Donatist Schism and the Council of Arles.
In the timeline
- AD 314, firm dateThe Donatist Schism and the Council of Arles
Two rival bishops claim Carthage after the persecution. One party appeals to Constantine, who refers the case to bishops at Rome and then to a council at Arles. Both find for Caecilian, but the African church is still divided ninety years later.
Primary sources
Against the Donatists
- Optatus, Against the Donatists 1.16–19tertullian.org
- Optatus, Against the Donatists 1.24tertullian.org
- Optatus, Against the Donatists Appendix 3tertullian.org
Letters
- Augustine, Letter 43.20newadvent.org