Cornelius, a priest of the Roman Church, was chosen as shepherd of the community after a long vacancy of the See of Peter, caused by the devastation of the harsh persecution under Decius. He governed from 251 to 253, not without grave difficulties. A rigorist minority, led by Novatian, opposed the new pope and even accused him of being a libellaticus—that is, of having obtained a certificate from the Roman authorities declaring loyalty to the emperor, persecutor of Christians.
Saint Cyprian, bishop of Carthage and the leading figure of the African Church, supported Cornelius, as did most bishops near Rome. Yet the Emperor Gallus exiled Cornelius to Centumcellae (modern Civitavecchia), where he died. Though not a martyr in the strict sense, he died as a confessor of the faith and was buried in the catacombs of Saint Callistus.
Cyprian, once a celebrated rhetorician, became bishop of Carthage soon after his conversion to Christianity. During the persecution of Decius, he governed his diocese in secret. He played a major role in the controversy about the treatment of those who had lapsed in the faith. Later, he opposed Pope Stephen I on the question of rebaptism, holding that heretics, lacking the Spirit themselves, could not confer the grace of baptism. Thanks to Saint Dionysius of Alexandria, a schism between Rome and Carthage was avoided.
Under the persecution of Valerian, Cyprian was first exiled to Curubis and later beheaded in Carthage on September 14, 258. The official acts of his trial still survive.
Saint Cyprian is the most important Latin writer before Saint Augustine. More moralist than speculative, he was a true Roman in spirit, and together with his teacher Tertullian, helped form the foundation of Christian Latin.
By the mid-fourth century, the memory of Cornelius and Cyprian was already celebrated together in Rome, as testified by the Depositio Martyrum. Ancient Roman liturgical books assign them a common feast. Since Cornelius died in June 253 and Cyprian on September 14, their joint celebration was eventually set for September 16, because the 14th is the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the 15th is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
