Donatism was a Christiansect leading to aschism from theCatholic Church in the region of the localChurch of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued thatChristian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers andsacraments to be valid. Donatism had its roots in the long-established Christian community of theRoman provinceAfrica Proconsularis (present-dayTunisia, the northeast ofAlgeria, and the western coast ofLibya) andMauretania Tingitana (roughly with the northern part of present-dayMorocco),[1] in thepersecutions of Christians under Diocletian. Named after the Berber Christian bishopDonatus Magnus, Donatism flourished during the fourth and fifth centuries.[2] Donatism mainly spread among the indigenousBerber population,[3] and Donatists were able to blend Christianity with many of the Berber local customs.[4]
The Roman governor of North Africa, lenient to the large Christian minority under his rule throughoutthe Diocletianic Persecutions, was satisfied when Christians handed over theirscriptures as a token repudiation of faith. When the persecution ended, Christians who did so were calledtraditores—"those who handed (the holy things) over"—by their critics (who were mainly from the poorer classes).[5]
Like third-centuryNovatianism,[6] the Donatists wererigorists; the church must be a church of "saints" (not "sinners"), and sacraments administered bytraditores were invalid. In 311Caecilian (a new bishop ofCarthage) was consecrated byFelix of Aptungi, an allegedtraditor. His opponents consecratedMajorinus, a short-lived rival who was succeeded by Donatus.[7]
Two years later, a commission appointed byPope Miltiades condemned the Donatists. They persisted, seeing themselves as the true church with valid sacraments. Because of their association with theCircumcellions, the Donatists were repressed by Roman authorities. Although they had local support, their opponents were supported by Rome and by the rest of theCatholic Church. The Donatists were still a force during the lifetime ofAugustine of Hippo, and disappeared only after the seventh- and eighth-centuryMuslim conquest.[8] The Donatists refused to accept the sacraments andspiritual authority of priests and bishops who weretraditores during the persecution. Thetraditores had returned to positions of authority underConstantine I; according to the Donatists, sacraments administered by thetraditores were invalid.[citation needed]
Whether thesacrament of Penance could reconcile atraditor to full communion was questioned, and the church's position was that the sacrament could. The church still imposed years- (sometimes decades-) long publicpenance for serious sins. A penitent would first beg for the prayers of those entering a church from outside its doors. They would next be permitted to kneel inside the church during theLiturgy. After being allowed to stand with the congregation, the penitent would finally be allowed to receive theEucharist again. According to Donatists, apostasy would permanently disqualify a man from church leadership.[9]
The validity of sacraments administered by priests and bishops who had beentraditores was denied by the Donatists. According to Augustine, a sacrament was from God andex opere operato (Latin for "from the work carried out"). A priest or bishop in a state ofmortal sin could continue to administer valid sacraments.[10] The Donatists believed that a repentant apostate priest could no longer consecrate the Eucharist. Some towns had both Donatist and orthodox congregations.[citation needed]
The sect developed and grew in North Africa, with unrest and threatened riots in Carthage connected to the bishop controversy.[11][a] Constantine, hoping to defuse the unrest, gave money to the non-Donatist bishopCaecilian as payment for churches damaged or confiscated during the persecution. Nothing was given to the Donatists; Constantine was apparently not fully aware of the seriousness of the dispute, which his gift exacerbated.[11] The Donatists appealed to Rome for equal treatment; Constantine tasked Miltiades with resolving the issue, which led to the 313 commission. The Donatists refused to abide by the decision of the Roman council, demanding that a local council adjudicate the dispute and appealing directly to Constantine. In a surviving letter, a frustrated Constantine called for what became thefirst Council of Arles in 314. The council ruled against the Donatists, who again appealed to Constantine. The emperor ordered all parties to Rome for a hearing, ruled in favour of Caecilian and warned against unrest.[12] A delegation from Rome travelled to Carthage in a vain attempt to seek compromise. The Donatists fomented protests and street violence,[13] refusing to compromise in favor of the orthodox bishop.[citation needed]
After theConstantinian shift, when other Christians accepted the emperor's decision, the Donatists continued to demonize him. After several attempts at reconciliation, in 317 Constantine issued an edict threateningdeath to anyone who disturbed the imperial peace; another edict followed, calling for the confiscation of all Donatist church property. Donatus refused to surrender his buildings inCarthage, and the local Roman governor sent troops to deal with him and his followers. Although the historical record is unclear, some Donatists were apparently killed and their clergy exiled.[citation needed]
Outside Carthage, Donatist churches and clergy were undisturbed.[14] Constantine's efforts to unite the church and the Donatists failed, and by 321 he asked the bishops to show moderation and patience to the sect in an open letter.[15] During the brief reign ofJulian, the Donatists were revitalized and, due to imperial protection, occupied churches and carried out atrocities.[16] Laws against the Donatists were decreed byValentinian I after the defeat of the DonatistusurperFirmus in North Africa.[17]
Augustine of Hippo campaigned against Donatism as bishop; through his efforts, orthodoxy gained the upper hand. According to Augustine and the church, the validity of sacraments was a property of the priesthood independent of individual character. Influenced by theOld Testament, he believed in discipline as a means of education.[18]
In his letter to Vincentius, Augustine used theNew TestamentParable of the Great Banquet to justify using force against the Donatists: "You are of opinion that no one should be compelled to follow righteousness; and yet you read that the householder said to his servants, 'Whomsoever ye shall find, compel them to come in.'"[19]
In 409, EmperorHonorius's secretary of state,Marcellinus of Carthage, issued a decree which condemned the Donatists asheretical and demanded that they surrender their churches. This was made possible by acollatio in which St. Augustine legally proved that Constantine had chosen the Nicene church over the Donatists as the imperial church. The Donatists were persecuted by the Roman authorities to such a degree that Augustine protested their treatment.[20]
TheCouncil of Trent (1545-1563) taught that in the divine sacrifice of theHoly Mass " is contained and immolated, in an unbloody manner, the same Christ that offered Himself in a bloody manner upon thealtar of the Cross. Hence, it is the same victim, the same sacrificing-priest who offers Himself now through the ministry of priests and who once offers Himself upon the Cross." The worth of the sacrifice does not depend on the celebrating priest (or bishop), but on the "worth of the victim and on the dignity of thechief priest- none other than Jesus Christ Himself".[21]
The effects of Augustine's theological success and the emperor's legal action were somewhat reversed when theVandals conquered North Africa. Donatism may have also gradually declined because Donatists and orthodox Christians were equally marginalised by theArian Vandals,[22] but it survived the Vandal occupation andJustinian I'sByzantine reconquest. Although it is unknown how long Donatism persisted, some Christian historians believe that the schism and its ensuing unrest in the Christian community facilitated the seventh-centuryMuslim conquest of the region.[23]
Donatism is associated with a number of other groups, including:
InMauretania andNumidia, theCatholic Encyclopedia claims that the splinter groups were so numerous that the Donatists could not name them all.[7]
The Donatists followed a succession of bishops:
For several centuries during theHigh Middle Ages and theReformation, accusations of Donatism were levelled against church-reform movements which criticized clerical immorality on theological grounds. The early reformersJohn Wycliffe andJan Hus were accused of Donatism by their theological opponents. Wycliffe taught that the moral corruption of priests invalidated their offices and sacraments, a belief characterizing Donatism.[31] Hus similarly argued that a prelate's moral character determined his ecclesiastical authority, a position his contemporaries compared to Donatism and condemned asheresy at theCouncil of Constance.[citation needed]
During the Reformation, Roman CatholicCounter-Reformers such asJohann Eck accused themagisterial Reformers of Donatism (although the latter had partially distanced themselves from Wycliffe's theology to avoid such a charge).[32] Magisterial Reformers likeUlrich Zwingli labeledradical Reformers, such as theAnabaptists, as Donatists;[33] Roman Catholics were portrayed in Reformation rhetoric asPelagian, another early Christian heresy. InEastern Orthodoxy, theBezpopovtsy (priestless) strain ofOld Believers believed that because the Russian bishops acquiesced toPatriarch Nikon's reforms they (and the other patriarchs) forfeited any claim toapostolic succession.[citation needed]
Accusations of Donatism remain common in contemporary intra-Christian polemics. ConservativeLutherans are sometimes called Donatists by their liberal brethren, referring to their doctrine of church fellowship[34] and their position that churches which deny that Jesus' body and blood are eaten during theEucharist do not celebrate a validLord's Supper.[35]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Donatists".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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