Celestius

CELESTIUS. - Coryphaeus of Pelagianism, he was probably a native of Italy. He was practicing law in Rome when, around 405, he met Pelagius and accepted his doctrines. Being an orator, expert in every dialectical artifice, an energetic, bold and intriguing man, he took delight in accentuating the irritating character of Pelagian doctrines, such as the denial of original sin (it may be said that the Celestian heresy of which the contemporaries of St. Augustine speak consists precisely in this denial), the relative uselessness of Baptism, the irreconcilability of Grace with human freedom. Foreseeing the sack of Rome by the Visigoths, he went to Syracuse (409) and then to Carthage (410). Hoping to be ordained a priest there, he stayed there, while Pelagius passed into Palestine. Soon his doctrines attracted the attention of the deacon Paulinus, formerly secretary of St. Ambrose, who denounced him to Aurelius, bishop of Carthage. The latter had him condemned by the Council convoked for that purpose in 411. C. appealed to Rome, but departed for Ephesus. Innocent I confirmed the condemnation (27 Jan. 417), while nevertheless hinting at the possibility of pardon in case of repentance. In the meantime C. had succeeded in Ephesus in having himself ordained a priest; but soon, on account of his propaganda, he was expelled from there as well, and likewise, shortly afterward, from Constantinople. He then returned to Rome, where the new pope, Zosimus, seemed inclined to revise the condemnation. The improper and intriguing conduct of C. ruined everything. The emperor ordered his expulsion (30 Apr. 418) and Zosimus confirmed the condemnation (cf. Epist. Tractoria of the summer of 418). The exile, protected by devoted friends, was able to escape arrest; indeed he dared to reappear in Rome in 423 and in Constantinople in 429. From then on every trace of him is lost. He probably died in 431. Various writings are attributed to him: Three letters on the monastic life; The book against the transmission of original sin; The definitions etc. Of all these works there remain to us only fragments, collected by J. Garnier in the edition of the works of Marius Mercator (Paris 1673), reprinted in PL 48, 497 ff.

Ireneo Daniele