The Presbyters Project

Epistula 20

Cyprianus presbyteris et diaconibus Romae consistentibvs fratribus s[alutem]

Cyprian explains his recent behaviour; he refers to the letters he sent to his clergy and the decisions he took. He refers to the issue of reconciliation being granted too rashly by some presbyters:

II,3. Item presbyteris et diaconibus non defuit sacerdotii uigor, ut quidam minus disciplinae memores et temeraria festinatione praecipites, qui cum lapsis communicare iam coeperant, conprimerentur intercedentibus nobis. [...]

(ed. Diercks 1994: 106.108)

Letter 20

Cyprian to his brethren the presbyters and deacons assembled at Rome, greeting.

II,3. To the presbyters and deacons also was not wanting the vigour of the priesthood; so that some, too little mindful of discipline, and hasty, with a rash precipitation, who had already begun to communicate with the lapsed, were restrained by my interposition.

(trans. R.E. Wallis, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iv.iv.xiv.html)

Discussion:

This letter of Cyprian is a response to the letter sent by the presbyters of Rome to Carthage (probably mainly to the clergy) after the death of Bishop Fabian of Rome, in which they condemned the escape of Cyprian and presented the ideal of the clergy that remain with their flock during the persecutions (Letter 8 in the epistolary of Cyprian). Cyprian refers to his decision announced in Letters 15 [1084], 16 [1085], and 17 [1086].

The expression of the “vigour of the priesthood” (sacerdotii vigor) used here is unclear, it may refer either to the rashness of the action of the presbyters and deacons of Carthage, usurping the right to reconcile the penitents, or to the firm countermeasures taken by Cyprian.

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Carthage

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 1-57, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 3B, Turnhout 1994.

Bibliography:

Saint Cyprien, Lettres 1-20, Introduction, texte, traduction et commentaire par S. Deléani, Paris 2007.

H. Gülzow, Cyprian und Novatian. Der Briefwechsel zwischen den Gemeinden in Rom und Karthago zur Zeit der Verfolgung des Kaisers Decius, Tübingen 1975.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Usurping episcopal power

Ritual activity - Reconciliation/Administering penance

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1226, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1226