Novatian

Novatian (c. 200–258) was a scholar, priest, theologian and antipope between 251 and 258. Some Greek authors, give his name as Novatianus.

He was a noted theologian and writer, the first Roman theologian who used the Latin language, at a time when there was much debate about how to deal with Christians who had lapsed and wished to return, and the issue of penance. Consecrated as pope by three bishops in 251, he adopted a more rigorous position than the established Pope Cornelius. Novatian was shortly afterwards excommunicated: the schismatic church which he established persisted for several centuries (see Novatianism). Novatian fled during a period of persecutions, and may have been a martyr.

Few details are known as to his life. He was a man of learning and had been trained in literary composition.

Pope Cornelius, in a letter to Fabius of Antioch, states that a catechumen called Novatian was possessed by Satan for a whole season. He was exorcised but became so ill after the rite that he expected to soon die and so his baptism was brought forward. When he recovered, he was not given the rest of the sacraments, and the bishop would not confirm him. He thus asked Cornelian, "How, then, can I receive the Holy Spirit?"

For his profound learning, Cornelius sarcastically defined him as "that creator of dogmas, that champion of ecclesiastical culture", but his eloquence impressed Saint Cyprian of Carthage and a pope, probably Pope Fabian, made him a priest despite the protests of the clergy that one who had been baptised only and had not been confirmed could not become a priest. The story told by Eulogius, bishop of Alexandria, that Novatian was an archdeacon of Rome consecrated a priest by the pope in order to prevent his succeeding to the papacy, is contradicted by Cornelius and is based on a later state of affairs in which Roman deacons were statesmen rather than religious ministers.

...
Wikipedia