uunx
and to proceed against the recalcitrant ones with th«
greatest severitv (see Decius). The consequences of
this first general edict of persecution were dreadful for
the Church. In the long peace which the Christians
had enjoyed, many had Ix^come infected with a
worldly spirit. A great number of the laity, and even
some meml>ers of the clergj', weakened, and, on the
promulgation of the edict, flocked at once to the
altars of the heathen idols to offer sacrifice. We are
particularly well-informed about the events in Africa
and in Rome by the correspondence of St. Cyprian,
Bishop of Carthage, and by his treatises. ** De catho-
licae ecclesi® unitate " and De lapsis " (" Csecilii Cyp-
riani openi omnia", ed. Hartel, I, II, Vienna, 18d8-
71). There were various classes of lapsi, according to
the act by which they fell: (1) sacrificatiy those who
had actuallv offered a sacrifice to idols; (2) thurificcdif
those who had burnt incense on the altar before the
statues of the gods; (3) libdlaticij those who had
drawn up an attestation (libeUus), or had, by bribing
the authorities, caused such certificates to be drawn
up for them, representing them as having offered
■aerifice, without, however, having actually done so.
So far five of these libelli are known to us (one at Ox-
ford, one at Berlin, two at Vienna, one at Alexandria;
see Krebs in "Sitzungsberichte der kais. Akademie
der Wissenschaften in Wien", 1894, pp. 3-9; Idem in
"Patrologia Orientalis", IV, Paris, 1907, pp. 33 sq.;
Franchi de* Cavalieri in " Nuovo Bullettmo di arche-
ologia cristiana", 1895, pp. 68-73). Some Christians
were allowed to present a written declaration to the
authorities to the effect that they had offered the
prescribed sacrifices to the gods, and asked for a cer-
tificate of this act (libdlum tradere): this certificate
was delivered by the authorities, and the petition-
ers received back the attestation (libeUum accijjere),
Hiose who had actually sacrificed (the sacrificati and
the thurificati) also received a certificate of having
done so. The libellatici, in the narrow sense of the
word, were those who obtained certificates without
having actually sacrificed. Some of the libellatici,
who forwarded to the authorities documents drawn
up concerning their real or alleged sacrifices and bear-
ing their signatures, were also called actafadentes.
The names of the Christians, who had shown their apostasy by one of the above-mentioned methods, were entered on the court records. After these weak brethren had received their attestations and knew that their names were thus recorded, they felt them- selves safe from further inquisition and persecution. The majority of the lapsi had indeed only obeyed the edict of Decius out of weakness: at heart they wished to remain Christians. Feeling secure against further persecution, they now wished to attend Christian worship again and to be readmitted into the conmiu- nion of the Church, but this desire was contrary to the then existing penitential discipline. The Lapsi of Carthage succeeded in winning over to their side cer- tain Cmistians who had remaned faithful, and had suffered torture and imprisonment. These confes- sors sent letters of reconmaendation in the name of the dead martyrs (libelli pads) to the bishop in favour of the renegades. On the strength of these letters of peace", the lapsi desired immediate admittance into communion with the Church, and were actually ad- mitted by some of the clergy inimically disposed to pyprian. Similar difficulties arose at Rome, and St. (Brian's Carthaginian opponents sought for support in the capital in their attack against their bishop. Cyprian, who had remained in constant communica- turn with the Roman clergy during the vacancy of the Roman See after the martyrdom of Pope Fabian, de- cided that nothing should be done in the matter of reconciliation of the lapsi until the persecution should be over and he could return to Carthage. Only those apostates who showed that they were penitent, and had received a personal note (kbellus pacts) from a
confessor or a martyr, might obtain absolution ano
admission to communion with the Church and to the
Holy Eucharist, if they were dangerously ill and at the
point of death. At Rome, likewise, the principle was
established that the apostates should not be given up,
but tliat they should be exhorted to do penance, so
that, in case of their being again cited before the pagan
authorities, they might atone for their apostasy by
steadfastly confessing the Faith. Furthermore, com-
munion was not to l^ refused to those who were seri-
ously ill, and wished to atone for their apostasy by
penance.
The party opposed to Cyprian at Carthage did not accept the biahop's decision, and stirred up a schism. When, after the election of St. Ck)rneUus to the Giair of Peter, the Roman priest Novatian set himself up at Rome as anti-pope, he claimed to be the upholder of strict discipline, inasmuch as he refused uncondi- tionally to readmit to communion with the Church any wno had fallen away. He was the founder of Novatianism (q. v.). Shortly after Cyprian's return to his episcopal city in the spring of 251, synods were held in Rome and Africa, at wmch the affair of the
Xwas adjusted by common agreement. It was .ited as a principle that they should be encouraged to repent, and, imder certain conditions and after s^e- quate public penance (exoniologesis), should be read- mitted to communion. In fixing the duration of the penance, the bishops were to take into considera- tion the circumstances of the apostasy, e. g., whether the penitent had offered sacrifice at once or only after torture, whether he had led his family into apostasy or on the other hand had saved them therefrom, after obtaining for himself a certificate of having sacrificed. Those, who of their own accord had actually sacrificed (the sacrificati and thurificati), might be reconciled with the Church only at the point of death. The libellatici might, after a reasonable penanc«, be im- mediately readinitted. In view of the severe perse- cution then inuninent, it was decided at a subsequent Carthaginian synod that all lapsi who had undergone public penance should be readmitted to full com- munion with the Church. Bishop Dionysius of Alex- andria adopted the same attitude towards the lapsi as Pope Cornelius and the Italian bishops, and C^'p- rian and the African bishops. But in the East Kova- tian's rigid views at first found a more sympathetic reception. The united efforts of the supporters of Pope Cornelius succeeded in bringing the ^eat ma- jority of the Eastern bishops to recognise him as the rightful Roman pontiff, with which recognition the acceptance of the principles relative to the case of the lapsi was naturally united. A few groups of Chris- tians in different parts of the empire shared the views of Novatian, anci tlius enabled the latter to form a small schismatic community (see Novatianism).
At the time of the great persecution of Diocletian, matters took the same course as under Decius. Dur- ing this severe affliction which assailed the Church, many showed weakness and fell away, and, as before, p^ormed acts of heathen worship, or tried by arti- fice to evade persecution. Some, with the collusion of the officials, sent their slaves to the pagan sacrifices instead of (^oing themselves; others bribed pagans to assume their names and to perform the required sac- rifices (Petrus Alexandrinus, Liber de poenitentia'* in Routh, *' Reliquiae Sacr.", IV, 2nd ed., 22 sqq). In the Diocletian persecution appeared a new cat^'gory of lapsi called the trcuiitares: tnese were the Christians (mostly clerics) who, in obedience to an edict, gave up the sacred books to the authorities. The term tra- ditorea was given both to those who actually gave up the sacred books, and to those who merely delivered secular works in their stead. As on the previous occa- sion, the lapsi in Rome, under the l^ership of a certain Heraclius, tried forcibly to obtain readmission to communion with the Church without performing
