St. Cornelius

Who they were

Cornelius was elected bishop of Rome in 251, after the see had stood empty for over a year because holding it was close to a death sentence. His whole short pontificate was consumed by one question: what to do with the enormous number of Christians who had lapsed during the Decian persecution and now wanted to come home.

The rigorists, led by the antipope Novatian, said the Church had no power to readmit them. Cornelius, supported decisively by Cyprian of Carthage, ruled that the fallen could be restored after penance, and a Roman synod backed him. It is one of the most consequential mercy decisions in the Church's history, and it settled the matter permanently. Exiled by a renewed persecution, he died at Civitavecchia in 253, and the Church keeps his name beside Cyprian's on one feast and in the Roman Canon.

Why people turn to St. Cornelius

The same constituency as Cyprian: everyone coming back. And leaders who have to decide how much mercy an institution can bear, which he decided under threat of death and got right.

How to ask their intercession

For the person who thinks their absence has disqualified them. Cornelius spent his entire pontificate on exactly that question.