Pope St. Stephen I and St.
Cyprian of Carthage
Pope Cornelius was succeeded by Lucius I in 253, who was in turn
succeeded by St. Stephen I just one year later. St. Stephen was a Roman by
birth, rose to the position of Archdeacon, and was appointed Pope by
Lucius I just before his martyrdom. St. Stephen’s pontificate would also be
a short one, lasting just three years. It fell within the brief lull between the
Decian and Valerian persecutions. Nevertheless, it was not without its
dramas, the most notable being the growth of the schismatic Novatianists
and St. Stephen’s clash with St. Cyprian of Carthage over the re-baptism of
heretics.
The Decian persecution had caused an unprecedented number of apostates,
many of whom sought re-admission back into the Church after the storm.
Pope Cornelius had already laid down a balanced policy for re-admission
of the lapsed, one that was based on a procedure first implemented by St.
Cyprian in Africa. The main opposition came from the excommunicated
antipope Novatian and his rigorist followers. They denied the power of the
Church to absolve under any circumstance the lapsed through the
Exomologesis. Apostates might repent and be admitted to a lifelong
penance, but their forgiveness was to be left in the hands of God. The
subsequent followers of Novatian would later extend refusal of the
Exomologesis to all mortal sins, being influenced by the works of
Tertullian. They also condemned second marriages and rebaptized
Catholics who joined them.
The Novatian Church had its own hierarchy, sacraments, churches and
cemeteries. They eventually spread to every province, and in some places
they were numerous. They called themselves the Katapoi (or Puritans).
Lasting for centuries, this sect would be opposed by Sts. Cyprian, Pacian of
Barcelona, Ambrose and Augustine in the West, and Sts. Epiphanius,
Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzus and Chrysostom in the East. Pope
Honorius in 412 included them in a law against heretics. Not long after,
Pope St. Celestine expelled them from Rome, as did St. Cyril from
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