EUGENIUS. - Bishop of Carthage, elected in 481, after 24 years of vacant see; through his virtue and his charity he soon became the idol of the people "so that there was no one in Carthage who was not ready to give his life for him" (Victor of Vita). Even the Arian Vandals flocked to hear him, despite the opposition of their bishops. Huneric (477-484) hoped to induce the Catholic bishops to accept Arianism, and convened an assembly of the bishops of the two confessions at Carthage for February 484, but excluding the presence of the overseas bishops, especially that of Rome.

E. then presented a profession of faith, subscribed by all the Catholic bishops of Africa (CSEL, 7, 46-71). This act sparked off a most cruel persecution against the Catholics: E., with 302 other bishops, was interned in Mauretania, at Turris Tamalleni. The guard subjected him to cruel tortures, so that he was struck by paralysis; but he survived. Gunthamund (484-96) recalled him and allowed him to officiate in the

(Vatican Library)
EUGENIO II, POPE - Calendar, month of February, with the announcement of the ordination of E. II - Vatican Library, cod. Vat. lat. 625, f. 6 (18th cent.).

suburbicarian see of St. Agileus (487). Seven years later he obtained the recall of all the bishops and the reopening of the Catholic churches. Trasamund (496-523), however, in 498 relegated him to Albi in Aquitaine. According to Tillement it was on this occasion that E. left his faithful as a testament the Epistola ad cives suas pro custodienda fide catholica (MGH, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum, I, 1, pp. 62-63). He died in exile in 505.

Bibliography10 works

BIBL.: Germodio di Marsiglia, De viris illustribus, cap. 97; PL 58 116-17; Vittore di Vita, De persecutione Vandalica, 11, 10-111; ibid., 201 ssp. e CSEL, 7, 13-38; Gregorio di Traun, Historia Francorum, II, 5-4; PL 71, 191-96; Jero SS. Iulii, III, Anversa 1723, pp. 487-509; Tillement, XVI, pp. 492-601 e 789-802; L. Duchesne, Storia della Chiesa antica, III, Roma 1911, pp. 348-33; Moricca, III, 1, pp. 750-54.

Irenee Daniels

@incollection{ec5_eugenio, author = {Daniele, Ireneo}, title = {Eugenio}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {799--800}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/eugenio} }

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Eugenius

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