Councils of Carthage

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• In May 251 a synod
  Synod
  
  A synod is a council of a Ecclesia , usually a Christianity church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. An ecumenical council is so named because it is a synod of the whole church ...
  , assembled under the presidency of Cyprian
  Cyprian
  
  Saint Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important early Christianity writer. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa during the Classical Period, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent classical education....
   to consider the treatment of the lapsi
  Lapsi (Christian)
  
  Lapsi was the name given to apostates in the Early Christianity, when Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire to renounce their faith. It also means those who have lapsed or fallen away from their faith and decide later in life to come back to it....
  , 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.

• Two synods, in 255 and 256, held under Cyprian
  Cyprian
  
  Saint Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important early Christianity writer. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa during the Classical Period, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent classical education....
  , pronounced against the validity of heretical baptism
  Baptism
  
  In Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted as a full member of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered....
  , thus taking direct issue with Stephen I
  Pope Stephen I
  
  Pope Saint Stephen I served as Bishop of Rome from 12 May, 254 to 2 August, 257.Of Rome birth but of Greek people ancestry, he became bishop of Rome in 254, having served as archdeacon of Pope Lucius I, who appointed Stephen his successor....
  , bishop of Rome
  Bishop of Rome
  
  The Bishop of Rome is the Bishop of the Holy See, more often referred to in the Catholic Church tradition as the Pope. The first Bishop of Rome to bear the title of "Pope" was Pope Boniface III in 607, the first to assume the title of "Universal Bishop" by decree of Phocas....
  , who promptly repudiated them, and separated himself from the African Church. A third synod, September 256, unanimously reaffirmed the position of the other two. Stephen's pretensions to authority as bishop of bishops were sharply resented, and for some time the relations of the Roman and African Churches were severely strained.

• About 348 a synod of Orthodox bishops, who had met to record their gratitude for the effective official repression of the Circumcelliones (Donatists), declared against the rebaptism of any one who had been baptized in the name of the Trinity, and adopted twelve canons of clerical discipline.

• The Council of Carthage, called the third by Denzinger, on 28 August 397 issued a canon
  Biblical canon
  
  A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or set of Bible books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community, generally in Judaism or Christianity....
   of the Bible
  Bible
  
  The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
   restricted to: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Josue, Judges, Ruth, 4 books of Kingdoms, 2 books of Paralipomenon, Job, Psalter of David, 5 books of Solomon, 12 books of Prophets, Isaias, Jeremias, Daniel, Ezechiel, Tobias, Judith, Esther, 2 books of Esdras, 2 books of Machabees, and in the New Testament: 4 books of Gospels, 1 book of Acts of the Apostles, 13 letters of the Apostle Paul, 1 of him to the Hebrews, 2 of Peter, 3 of John, 1 of James, 1 of Jude, and the Apocalypse of John.

• The Conference of Carthage, held by the command of the Emperor Honorius
  Honorius
  
  Honorius may refer to:* Honorius , western Roman emperor 395-423* Honorius of Canterbury , archbishop of Canterbury 627-655* Honoratus of Amiens , bishop of Amiens...
   in 411 with a view to terminating the Donatist schism, while not strictly a synod, was nevertheless one of the most important assemblies in the history of the African church, and, indeed of the whole Christian church. It was presided over by Marcellinus of Carthage
  Marcellinus of Carthage
  
  Marcellinus of Carthage was a Christianity martyr and saint who died in 413. He was secretary of state of the Western Roman Empire under Roman Emperor Honorius and a close friend of Augustine of Hippo, as well as a correspondent of Jerome's....
   who found in favour of the Catholic party, which led to the violent suppression of the Donatists.

• On the 1st of May 418 a great synod (A Council of Africa, St Augustine calls it), which assembled under the presidency of Aurelius, bishop of Carthage, to take action concerning the errors of Caelestius
  Caelestius
  
  Caelestius was the major follower of the Christian teacher Pelagius and the Christianity doctrine of Pelagianism, which was opposed to Augustine of Hippo and his doctrine in original sin, and was later declared to be heresy....
  , a disciple of Pelagius
  Pelagius
  
  Pelagius was an Asceticism who denied the doctrine of original sin, later developed by Augustine of Hippo, and was declared a heresy by the Councils of Carthage....
  , denounced the Pelagian
  Pelagianism
  
  Pelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius . It is the belief that original sin did not taint Instinct and that mortal will is still capable of choosing Goodness and value theory or evil without special Miracle....
   doctrines of human nature, original sin; grace and perfectibility, and fully approved the contrary views of Augustine. Prompted by the reinstatement by the bishop of Rome of a deposed African priest, the synod enacted that whoever appeals to a court on the other side of the sea (meaning Rome) may not again be received into communion by any one in Africa (canon 17).

• Two synods, one in 419, the other in 424 met regarding the question of appeals to Rome. The latter addressed a letter to the, bishop of Rome, Celestine
  Pope Celestine I
  
  Pope Saint Celestine I was pope from 422 until April 6, 432.Celestine I was a Ancient Rome. Nothing is known of his early history except that his father's name was Priscus....
  , protesting against his claim to appellate jurisdiction, and urgently requesting the immediate recall of his legate, and advising him to send no more judges to Africa.

See also

• Synod of Hippo
  Synod of Hippo
  
  The Synod of Hippo refers to the Synod of A.D. 393 which was hosted in Hippo Regius in northern Africa during the Early Christianity. Additional synods were held in 394, 397, 401 and 426....
  

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