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Pope Agapetus I
Pope Agapetus I (489/490 – 22 April 536) was the bishop of Rome from 13 May 535 to his death. His father, Gordianus, was a priest in Rome and he may have been related to two previous popes, Felix III and Gregory I. In 536, Agapetus traveled to Constantinople at the behest of King Theodahad of the Ostrogoths and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Emperor Justinian I to call off a Byzantine invasion of the Ostrogoth kingdom. While in Constantinople, Agapetus also deposed the patriarch Anthimus I and personally consecrated his successor who is Mennas of Constantinople. Four of Agapetus’ letters from this period have survived: two addressed to Justinian, one to the bishops of Africa, and one to the Bishop of Carthage. Agapetus was canonized in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions; his feast day is 20 September in the former and 22 April in the latter. Family Agapetus was born in Rome, although his exact date of birth is unknown. He was the son of Gordianus, a Roman prie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Saint
This article lists the popes who have been canonised or recognised as saints in the Roman Catholic Church they had led. A total of 83 out of 264 deceased popes have been recognised universally as canonised saints, including all of the first 35 popes (31 of whom were martyrs) and 52 of the first 54. If Pope Liberius is numbered amongst the saints as in Eastern Christianity, all of the first 49 popes become recognised as saints, of whom 31 are martyr-saints, and 53 of the first 54 pontiffs would be acknowledged as saints. In addition, 13 other popes are in the process of becoming canonised saints: , two are recognised as being Servants of God, one is recognised as being Venerable, and 10 have been declared Blessed or , making a total of 95 (97 if Pope Liberius and Pope Adeodatus II are recognised to be saints) of the 266 Roman pontiffs being recognised and venerated for their heroic virtues and inestimable contributions to the Church. The most recently reigning Pope to have b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Catholic Church. An archdeacon is often responsible for administration within an archdeaconry, which is the principal subdivision of the diocese. The ''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' has defined an archdeacon as "A cleric having a defined administrative authority delegated to him by the bishop in the whole or part of the diocese.". The office has often been described metaphorically as that of ''oculus episcopi'', the "bishop's eye". Roman Catholic Church In the Latin Catholic Church, the post of archdeacon, originally an ordained deacon (rather than a priest), was once one of great importance as a senior offic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bishop Of Riez
The former French Catholic diocese of Riez existed at least from fifth century Gaul to the French Revolution. Its see was at Riez, in the modern department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. History According to an unsupported tradition, the establishment of the Church in this diocese is attributed to the first century and to Eusebius of Eudochius, companion of Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead by Christ himself. A certain Prosper of Reggio of Reggio in Emilia (at the beginning of the fifth century) figures in the history of Riez and was perhaps its bishop. The first certainly known bishop of Riez is Maximus (433-60), who succeeded Honoratus as Abbot of Lérins and who, in November 439, held a synod at Riez with a view to regularizing the situation of the churches of Southern Gaul, particularly the competing ambitions of the metropolitans of Embrun and Arles. The synod was presided over by Archbishop Hilary of Arles. His successor, Faustus of Riez (461-93), also Abbot of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contumeliosus
Contumeliosus of Riez was a sixth century Bishop of Riez in Gaul. Pope John II deposed Contumeliosus in 534 for adulterous behaviour and authorized Caesarius of Arles to appoint a temporary bishop to the diocese. Contumeliosus' deposition is notable for being the first act of jurisdiction of this kind recorded of a bishop of Rome. Life and fall Contumeliosus was the bishop of Riez in Gaul, and a sufficiently learned man that Bishop Avitus of Vienne forwarded to him some of his works for editing. Contumeliosus was accused of adultery and alienation of church property. At a Council of Marseilles, convened in 533 by Caesarius, Metropolitan Archbishop of Arles, Contumeliosus admitted to the charges and was deposed. Archbishop Caesarius then wrote Pope John II regarding the disposition of the case. In 534 Pope John, wrote to Caesarius, to the bishops of Gaul, and to the clergy of Riez, directing the guilty bishop be confined to a monastery where he might perform an appropriate penanc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lay Communion
''Lay communion'' is a term applied in the Catholic Church, to describe the status of a cleric who is in communion with the Church, but only with the standing of a lay person. In modern times lay communion is sometimes imposed, but only in exceptional cases. Origins The primitive discipline of the Church established a different punishment for certain crimes according as they were committed by laymen or clerics. The former entailed a shorter and ordinarily lighter penance than the latter, which were punished with a special penalty. The layman was excluded from the community of the faithful, the cleric was excluded from the hierarchy and reduced to the ''lay communion'', that is to say, he was forbidden to exercise his functions. The nature of this latter punishment is not quite certain. According to one opinion, it consisted in excommunication, together with a prohibition to receive the Eucharist; according to another, the penitent was allowed to receive Holy Communion but only wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arianism
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God the Father with the difference that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten within time by God the Father, therefore Jesus was not coeternal with God the Father. Arius's trinitarian theology, later given an extreme form by Aetius and his disciple Eunomius and called anomoean ("dissimilar"), asserts a total dissimilarity between the Son and the Father. Arianism holds that the Son is distinct from the Father and therefore subordinate to him. The term ''Arian'' is derived from the name Arius; it was not what the followers of Arius's teachings called themselves, but rather a term used by outsiders. The nature of Arius's teachings and his supporters were opposed to the theological doctrines held by Homoousian Christians, reg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area between the lower Oder and Vistula rivers in the second century BC and settled in Silesia from around 120 BC. They are associated with the Przeworsk culture and were possibly the same people as the Lugii. Expanding into Dacia during the Marcomannic Wars and to Pannonia during the Crisis of the Third Century, the Vandals were confined to Pannonia by the Goths around 330 AD, where they received permission to settle from Constantine the Great. Around 400, raids by the Huns from the east forced many Germanic tribes to migrate west into the territory of the Roman Empire and, fearing that they might be targeted next, the Vandals were also pushed westwards, crossing the Rhine into Gaul along with other tribes in 406. In 409, the Vandals crossed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Council Of Carthage
The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian to consider the treatment of the Lapsi, excommunicated Felicissimus and five other Novatian bishops (Rigorists), and declared that the lapsi should be dealt with, not with indiscriminate severity, but according to the degree of individual guilt. These decisions were confirmed by a synod of Rome in the autumn of the same year. Other Carthaginian synods concerning the lapsi were held in 252 and 254. Synod of 256 Two synods, in 255 and 256, held under Cyprian, pronounced against the validity of heretical baptism, thus taking direct issue with Stephen I, bishop of Rome, who promptly repudiated them. A third synod in September 256, possibly following the repudiation, unanimously reaffirmed the position of the other two. Stephen's claims to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vivarium (monastery)
The Vivarium was a monastery, library, and biblical studies center founded c. 544 by Cassiodorus near Squillace, in Calabria, Italy. Cassiodorus also established a biblical studies center on the Bible and a library inside. It became a place of preservation for classical Greek and Latin literature. The Vivarium was meant to build bridges across the cultural fault lines of the sixth century: those between Romans and Goths, between orthodox Catholics and their Arian rulers, between the east and west, between the Greek and the Latin worlds, and between pagans and Christians. At the outbreak of the Graeco-Gothic War, Cassiodorus decided to retire from politics and left Italy for Constantinople, where he remained until at least 544. During this time, he focused on the study of religious issues. The Constantinopolitan period contributed significantly to the deepening of his theological knowledge. Around 544, he returned to home, and founded the Vivarium near Scolacium, on the sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cassiodorus
Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' was part of his surname; not his rank. He also founded a monastery, Vivarium, where he spent the last years of his life. Life Cassiodorus was born at Scylletium, near Catanzaro in Calabria, Italy. Some modern historians speculate that his family was of Syrian origin based on his Greek name. His ancestry included some of the most prominent ministers of the state extending back several generations. His great-grandfather held a command in the defense of the coasts of southern Italy from Vandal sea-raiders in the middle of the fifth century; his grandfather appears in a Roman embassy to Attila the Hun, and his father (who bore the same name) served as ''comes sacrarum largitionum'' and ''comes rerum privatarum'' to Odovacer and as Pra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simony
Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to impart the power of the Holy Spirit to anyone on whom he would place his hands. The term extends to other forms of trafficking for money in "spiritual things". Origin The purchase or sale of ecclesiastical office was condemned from the fifth century, but it was only in the sixth century that it was associated with the figure of Simon Magus in the Book of Acts. Key in making this association was Pope Gregory I, who labelled such exchanges as the "simoniac heresy". Simony in the Middle Ages Although considered a serious offense against canon law, simony is thought to have become widespread in the Catholic Church during the 9th and 10th centuries. In the eleventh century, it was the focus of a great deal of debate. Central to this de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
