5th c.Documented
St Cyril of Alexandria
Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας
Led the Third Ecumenical Council against Nestorius, and held that keeping the unrepentant heretic at the altars defiles them.
- Feast day
- 9 June (and 18 January)
- Century
- 5th c.
- Region
- Alexandria
- Rank
- Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria
Biography
Archbishop of Alexandria, Cyril framed the single subject Christology of the incarnate Word and presided over the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus (431), which condemned Nestorius.
The controversy
- Nestorianism, the division of the one Christ and the rejection of the title Theotokos.
Position taken
- That an unrepentant heretic must be driven from the altars he defiles, and that maintaining communion with him is unlawful.
Quotations
Each quotation carries its source and a verification status. Unverified items await checking against a cited edition; placeholders mark texts not yet inserted.
Church FatherStrongly supported
Ἦν δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως χρήσιμόν τε καὶ ἀναγκαῖον… τὸ τῶν θείων ἐλαύνεσθαι θυσιαστηρίων τὸν βεβηλοῦντα αὐτά.It was also otherwise useful and necessary… to drive away from the divine altars the one who defiles them.
Related councils
Bibliography
- Migne, Patrologia Graeca 68 to 77.
- St Cyril of Alexandria, On the Unity of Christ (tr. J. McGuckin).