Saint Abel of Reims
See	Reims
Personal details
Born	unknown Possibly Ireland
Died	c.751 Lobbes Abbey
Sainthood
Feast day	5 August (Bollandists)
Venerated in	Catholic Church

Abel (fl. 744–747) served as theBishop of Reims inFrancia, now modern-dayFrance.^[1] He has sometimes been venerated as asaint in theCatholic Church, particularly by theBollandists.

In the late 10th century,Folcuin wrote that Abel had been a monk inLobbes Abbey (modern day Belgium) while Bishop Ermino (d. 737) served as abbot, and had been born inIreland. In contrastBoniface, in a letter to a priest in the English kingdom ofMercia, insisted that Abel had in fact been born and raised in England. The modern historianWilhelm Levison has suggested there were two individuals with the same name, but Eugen Ewig accepts the identification by Boniface as more accurate. If Folcuin's later testimony has any basis in reality, it may be that Abel, like his near contemporaryEcgberht (d. 729), had once visited Ireland and formed a close association.^[1]

In March 744,Boniface presided over theCouncil of Soissons and the conciliar acts record that Abel was elected archbishop (but of an unspecified see). In June,Pope Zacharias confirmed this decision by sending Abel thepallium which conferred episcopal authority.^[1] Abel is next named in the sources as one of Boniface's 'fellow bishops' who around 746 sent a letter of exhortation toÆthelbald, king of Mercia as part of his wider missionary efforts. It seems thatMilo (bishop of Trier) in effect controlled a number of episcopal sees (despite only being a laymen), while Abel remained in office only as suffragan bishop. In 751, Boniface once more addressed a letter to Pope Zacharias, in which he lamented the injustices of lay control over the church, but his erstwhile ambitions to change this were not realised in his lifetime.^[1] It is unknown when Abel gave up his position or died. The 9th-centuryLife ofSaint Remigius, written byHincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, claims that Milo had driven Abel out from the see in favour ofTilpin. The date given is 748, but it also may be the case that Tilpin only succeeded in 762 or 763 when Able died. It's suggested that Abel may have retired in his later years to Lobbes Abbey to become abbot.^[1]

Abel has been recognized at various times as apre-congregationsaint in theCatholic Church. In the early modern period, Abel's name was inserted in a number ofmartyrologies, under a variety of dates - despite the fact he was not martyred. Examples are the 17th-century martyrology ofGabriel Bucelin, theMartyrologium Gallicanum (1637) ofAndré du Saussay, andJohn Mabillon. TheBollandists include aLife of Abel under 5 August, compiled by John Pinius.^[2]

• Acts of the Council of Soissons (744), ed.A. Werminghoff (1906–1908).Concilia aevi Karolini. 2 vols. MGH Concilia 2. Hanover.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Letters of Boniface, ed.M. Tangl (1916).Die Briefe des heiligen Bonifatius und Lullus. MGH Epistolae Selectae 1. Berlin. nos. 57–8,73–4, 87.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link); tr.Ephraim Emerton (2000).The Letters of Boniface. Records of Western Civilization. New York: Columbia UP.
• Folcuin,Gesta abbatum Lobiensium, ed.G. H. Pertz (1841).Annales, chronica et historiae aevi Carolini et Saxonici. MGH Scriptores 4.
• Hincmar,Vita Remigii episcopi Remensis, ed.B. Krusch (1896).Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici. MGH Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum 3. Hanover.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

• Bishops of Reims
• Belgian Roman Catholic saints
• 8th-century Frankish bishops
• 8th-century Irish bishops
• 8th-century Christian saints
• Irish expatriates in France
• 747 deaths

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