Roman Letters

Letter 16: The confessors to Father Cyprian, greetings.

Cyprian of Carthage→Cyprian|c. 249 AD|Cyprian of Carthage|Human translated
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The confessors to Father Cyprian, greetings.

We want you to know that we have granted peace to everyone whose conduct since their sin has, in your judgment, been satisfactory. We ask that you make this decision known to the other bishops as well.

We bid you to be at peace with the holy martyrs.

Lucianus wrote this in the presence of members of the clergy — both an exorcist and a reader.

[Context: During the Decian persecution (249-251 AD), many Christians "lapsed" by offering sacrifice to Roman gods. Those who endured imprisonment and torture — the "confessors" — claimed the authority to grant certificates of peace (libelli pacis) readmitting the lapsed to communion. This short certificate, written by the confessor Lucianus, granted a blanket pardon that Cyprian found dangerously broad.]

Human translation - New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)

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Revision history

  1. 2026-03-20v2.1.0-import

    Initial corpus import from New Advent / NPNF.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050616.htm

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