Saturninus of Arles (bishop from 347 - 361) was a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

bishop of Arles The former French Catholic Archbishopric of Arles had its episcopal seat in the city of Arles, in southern France. At the apex of the delta (Camargue) of the Rhone River, some 40 miles from the sea, Arles grew under Liburnian, Celtic, and Punic in ...

in the early 4th century who under

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

was Primate of Gaul. He is known for his opposition to Saint

Hilary of Poitiers Hilary of Poitiers (; ) was Bishop of Poitiers and a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" () and the " Athanasius of the West". His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful. In addition t ...

bishop of Poitiers The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Poitiers (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Pictaviensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse Metropolitain de Poitiers'') is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archepiscopal see is in the city of ...

, at the Church Council of Arles of 353.

Council of Arles

Arianism Arianism (, ) is a Christology, Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is co ...

had been condemned at the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...

in 325. However, there were still a number of Arian bishops in the empire protected by the Arian Roman Emperor

. The Church Council of Arles of 353 was called by

Pope Liberius Pope Liberius (310 – 24 September 366) was the bishop of Rome from 17 May 352 until his death on 24 September 366. According to the '' Catalogus Liberianus'', he was consecrated on 22 May as the successor to Julius I. He is not mentione ...

to reconcile the remaining Arian bishops and it was in this setting that Saturninus came into opposition with Saint Hilary, bishop of Poitiers. The acts of this council are lost, and nothing is known of what was said except what was reported about them by chroniclers who were hostile to Constantius. When the emperor threatened bishops who did not condemn the creed of

Athanasius Athanasius I of Alexandria ( – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor, or, among Coptic Christians, Athanasius the Apostolic, was a Christian theologian and the 20th patriarch of Alexandria (as Athanasius ...

, all bishops in the Synod led by Saturninus acquiesced, except Paulinus of Trier, a friend of Athanasius who was then exiled to

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

where he died in 358 of ill-treatment.

Council of Rimini

In 359 Saturninus, with the support of the bishops of the Viennoise and the Narbonnaise, called the

Council of Rimini The Council of Ariminum, also known as the Council of Rimini, was an early Christian church synod in Ariminum, modern-day Rimini, in 359. Called by Roman Emperor Constantius II to resolve the Arian controversy, the Council of Ariminum for western ...

, which defined an Arian dogma in opposition to the

Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of N ...

. When Constantius II died and was replaced by the

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

emperor

Julian the Apostate Julian (; ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism ...

, Hilary, with the exiled bishops, was allowed to return, whereupon he held the

Council of Paris The Council of Paris ( French: ''Conseil de Paris'', ) is the deliberative body responsible for governing Paris, the capital of France. It possesses both the powers of a municipal council (''conseil municipal'') and those of a departmental co ...

First Council of Paris

The First Council of Paris was held in 361, under the presidency of Hilary of Poitiers, to condemn Arianism and its defenders, including Saturninus, whom Hilary deposed and excommunicated.On the Council of Paris and the texts that were adopted see Jean Gaudemet, ''Conciles gaulois du IVe siècle'', Sources chrétiennes 241, Le Cerf, Paris, 1977

References

{{reflist Bishops of Arles 4th-century Gallo-Roman people