Donatism

Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to be valid. He was a popular minister and an effective leader, considered a successor to Cyprian of Carthage by both friend and foe (see Aug. Serm. 33.3).

Definitions of Donatism from one point of view:

"a schismatic Christian religion in northern Africa from the 4th to the 7th century; held that only those who led a blameless life belonged in the church or could administer the sacraments. type of: Christian religion, Christianity."

Even Augustine of Hippo, who opposed the Donatist faction throughout his life, named Donatus one of the “precious stones” of the African church. This was the rallying cry with which they harangued Catholics. One distinctive characteristic of the Donatists was their desire for martyrdom. Donatus taught that death for the “cause,” even death by suicide, was holy and merited a martyr's crown and eternal life.

Augustine, responding to Donatists in a letter to Vincentius in 408 A.D., admits he believed “that no one should be coerced into the unity of Christ, that we must act only by words, fight only by arguments, and prevail by force of reason, lest we have those whom we knew as avowed heretics feigning themselves to be Catholics.” This idea would be lost in the the deeds of inquisition because of the idolatry of those who licensed the way of Constantine and his roll as the benefactor of his church.

Augustine eventually believes that Donatists merely remained with the sect because they lacked the will to repent. His letter to Vincentius suggests that many “supposed the sect of Donatus to be the true Church, merely because ease had made them too listless, or conceited, or sluggish, to take pains to examine Catholic truth” and, “believing that it mattered not to which party a Christian might belong, remained in the schism of Donatus only because they had been born in it, and no one was compelling them to forsake it and pass over into the Catholic Church.”

The Donatist schism was rooted in the Great Diocletianic Persecution under Roman Emperor Diocletian (reigned 284-305 CE). Christians were forced to hand over holy books, Scriptures, and sacred objects to secular authorities. To be holy is to be separate. The true Ekklesia established by Jesus Christ is not a part of the secular world. This line has been always blurred by the Church legalized by Constantine.

Donatist, a member of a Christian group in North Africa that broke with the Roman Catholics in 312 over the election of Caecilian as bishop of Carthage; the name derived from their leader, Donatus (d. c. 355). This was a division in the church established by Constantine.

Marcellinus of Carthage, Emperor Honorius's secretary of state, decreed the Donatists as heretical and demanded that they surrender their churches in 409. This was made possible by the argument that "Augustine legally proved that Constantine had chosen the church over the Donatists as the imperial church".

The Roman government continued the persecution of Donatists to a degree that Augustine would eventually protest rather than make his letter to Vincentius total hypocrisy.

The Council of Trent (1545-1563) continued to muddy the dirty waters of apostacy by teaching that in the divine sacrifice of the Holy Mass "is contained and immolated, in an unbloody manner, the same Christ that offered Himself in a bloody manner upon the altar 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 the chief priest- none other than Jesus Christ Himself".

Donatism was named after the Berber Christian bishop Donatus Magnus. During the fourth and fifth centuries it spread among the indigenous Berber population where Donatists were able to blend Christianity with Berber customs and traditions.

Not to be confused with Saint Donatus of Arezzo who is said to have accomplished several miracles, such as successfully fighting a dragon, purifying well waters, saving the emperors' daughter, and reviving the dead. He is said to be a 2nd-century Roman soldier and martyr. His parents were named Faustus and Flaminia. When Faustus was deathly ill, his wife Flaminia sought the intercession of Saint Gervasius, who assured her that her husband would recover and beget a son.