Pope Victor I was an African Bishop of Rome (now called pope) from 189 to 199 (the Vatican cites 186 or 189 to 197 or 201). He was the first African pope, having been born in the province of Africa, and later came to Rome. He was later canonized.
Until his pontificate, a difference in dating the celebration of the Christian Passover/Easter between Rome and the bishops of Asia Minor had been tolerated. The churches in Asia Minor celebrated it on the 14th of the Jewish month of Nisan, the Jewish Passover, regardless of what day it falls, as the Crucifixion had occurred on the Friday before Passover. The Latins called them Quartodecimans (see article Quartodecimanism). Rome and the West celebrated Easter on the Sunday following the 14th of Nisan. Victor is remembered for the intolerance he displayed towards any lack of uniformity in the church by excommunicating the bishops such as Polycrates of Ephesus who opposed his views on Easter.He also excommunicated Theodotus of Byzantium for his beliefs about Christ.
Until Victor's time, Rome celebrated the Mass in Greek. Pope Victor changed the language to Latin, which was used in his native North Africa. According to Jerome, he was the first Christian author to write about theology in Latin.
3 black popes in time
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Pope Miltiades (also called Melchiades, Meltiades, Melciades, Milciades, and Miltides) was Pope from July 10, 310 or 311 to January 10 or 11, 314, and was subsequently made a saint. He appears to have been an African by birth, but of his personal history nothing is known. Even his race is unknown, though some documents say he was not dark skinned. He was elected after a period of sede vacante following the simulatenous banishment of Pope Eusebius to Sicily and of his opponent Heraclius to Sardinia.
He became pope after the Roman emperor Galerius had previously passed an edict of toleration ending the persecution of Christians. During his pontificate, in 313, the Edict of Milan was passed by the tetrarchs Constantine and Licinius, declaring that they would be neutral with regard to religious worship and restoring church property. Constantine presented the pope with the Lateran Palace which became the papal residence and seat of Christian governance.
In 313, Miltiades presided over the Lateran Synod in Rome at which Caecilian was acquitted of the charges brought against him, and Donatus Magnus was condemned as a heretic (see Donatism). He was then summoned to the Council of Arles, the first representative meeting of the Western Roman Empire's Christian bishops, but died before it could be held.
The Liber Pontificalis compiled in the 5th century onwards, attributed the introduction of several later customs to Miltiades.
Miltiades was made a saint following his death, with his feast-day being held on December 10. Although his death seems to have been a natural one, he is nonetheless regarded as a martyr because of his earlier suffering under the anti-Christian emperor Maximian.
He became pope after the Roman emperor Galerius had previously passed an edict of toleration ending the persecution of Christians. During his pontificate, in 313, the Edict of Milan was passed by the tetrarchs Constantine and Licinius, declaring that they would be neutral with regard to religious worship and restoring church property. Constantine presented the pope with the Lateran Palace which became the papal residence and seat of Christian governance.
In 313, Miltiades presided over the Lateran Synod in Rome at which Caecilian was acquitted of the charges brought against him, and Donatus Magnus was condemned as a heretic (see Donatism). He was then summoned to the Council of Arles, the first representative meeting of the Western Roman Empire's Christian bishops, but died before it could be held.
The Liber Pontificalis compiled in the 5th century onwards, attributed the introduction of several later customs to Miltiades.
Miltiades was made a saint following his death, with his feast-day being held on December 10. Although his death seems to have been a natural one, he is nonetheless regarded as a martyr because of his earlier suffering under the anti-Christian emperor Maximian.
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Qdawg
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Pope Gelasius was the third pope of African origin (more exactly from Kabylie) in Catholic history. Gelasius had been closely employed by his predecessor, Felix III, especially in drafting papal documents.
Gelasius' election, March 1, 492, was a gesture for continuity: Gelasius inherited Felix's struggles with Eastern Roman Emperor Anastasius I and the patriarch of Constantinople and exacerbated them by insisting on the removal of the name of the late Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, from the diptychs, in spite of every ecumenical gesture by the current, otherwise quite orthodox patriarch Euphemius.
The split with the emperor and the patriarch of Constantinople was inevitable, from the western point of view, because they had embraced a view of a single, Divine ('Monophysite') nature of Christ, which the papal party viewed as heresy. Gelasius' book De duabus in Christo naturis ('On the dual nature of Christ') delineated the western view.
During the Acacian schism, Gelasius went further than his predecessors in asserting the primacy of Rome over the entire Church, East and West, and he presented this doctrine in terms that set the model for subsequent popes asserting the claims of papal supremacy.
In 494, Gelasius wrote a very influential letter, known from its incipit as Duo sunt, to Anastasius. This letter established the dualistic principle that would underlie all Western European political thought for almost a millennium. In the letter Gelasius expressed a distinction between "two powers", which he called the "holy authority of bishops" (auctoritas sacrata pontificum) and the "royal power" (regalis potestas). These two powers, auctoritas lending justification to potestas, and potestas providing the executive strength for auctoritas were, he said, to be considered independent in their own spheres of operation, yet expected to work together in harmony.
Closer to home, Gelasius finally suppressed the ancient Roman festival of the Lupercalia after a long contest. Gelasius' letter to Andromachus, the senator, covers the main lines of the controversy and incidentally offers some details of this festival combining fertility and purification that might have been lost otherwise. Significantly, the February Lupercalia was replaced with a festival celebrating the purification and fertility of the Virgin Mary instead.
Gelasius smoked out the closeted Manichaeans, the heretical dualists who considered themselves Christians and certainly passed for such and were suspected to be present in Rome in large numbers. Gelasius decreed that the Eucharist had to be received "under both kinds", with wine as well as bread. As the Manichaeans held wine to be impure and essentially sinful, they would refuse the chalice and thus be recognized. Later, with the Manichaeans suppressed, the old method of receiving communion under the form of bread alone returned into vogue.
After a brief but dynamic reign, his death occurred on November 19, 496; his interment occurred on November 21.
Gelasius' election, March 1, 492, was a gesture for continuity: Gelasius inherited Felix's struggles with Eastern Roman Emperor Anastasius I and the patriarch of Constantinople and exacerbated them by insisting on the removal of the name of the late Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, from the diptychs, in spite of every ecumenical gesture by the current, otherwise quite orthodox patriarch Euphemius.
The split with the emperor and the patriarch of Constantinople was inevitable, from the western point of view, because they had embraced a view of a single, Divine ('Monophysite') nature of Christ, which the papal party viewed as heresy. Gelasius' book De duabus in Christo naturis ('On the dual nature of Christ') delineated the western view.
During the Acacian schism, Gelasius went further than his predecessors in asserting the primacy of Rome over the entire Church, East and West, and he presented this doctrine in terms that set the model for subsequent popes asserting the claims of papal supremacy.
In 494, Gelasius wrote a very influential letter, known from its incipit as Duo sunt, to Anastasius. This letter established the dualistic principle that would underlie all Western European political thought for almost a millennium. In the letter Gelasius expressed a distinction between "two powers", which he called the "holy authority of bishops" (auctoritas sacrata pontificum) and the "royal power" (regalis potestas). These two powers, auctoritas lending justification to potestas, and potestas providing the executive strength for auctoritas were, he said, to be considered independent in their own spheres of operation, yet expected to work together in harmony.
Closer to home, Gelasius finally suppressed the ancient Roman festival of the Lupercalia after a long contest. Gelasius' letter to Andromachus, the senator, covers the main lines of the controversy and incidentally offers some details of this festival combining fertility and purification that might have been lost otherwise. Significantly, the February Lupercalia was replaced with a festival celebrating the purification and fertility of the Virgin Mary instead.
Gelasius smoked out the closeted Manichaeans, the heretical dualists who considered themselves Christians and certainly passed for such and were suspected to be present in Rome in large numbers. Gelasius decreed that the Eucharist had to be received "under both kinds", with wine as well as bread. As the Manichaeans held wine to be impure and essentially sinful, they would refuse the chalice and thus be recognized. Later, with the Manichaeans suppressed, the old method of receiving communion under the form of bread alone returned into vogue.
After a brief but dynamic reign, his death occurred on November 19, 496; his interment occurred on November 21.
