Cyril
was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 376, and was the nephew of
Theophilus, the patriarch of the city. When his uncle died in 412, Cyril
took his position on the see of Alexandria. He soon began a series of
attacks against the Novatians, a religion started by the antipope
Novatian. He closed their churches and drove Jews from the city.
In
428, Cyril discovered that the priest/monk Nestorius, the Archbishop of
Alexandria, was preaching heretical theology. Cyril sent the heretic a
mild expostulation, but to no avail. Both parties then appealed to Pope
St. Clementine, and Cyril was appointed to depose Nestorius. In 431,
Cyril presided over the Third General Council at Ephesus, attended by
some two hundred bishops, which condemned all the tenets of Nestorius
and his followers. However, upon the arrival of Archbishop John of
Antioch and forty-two followers who believed Nestorius to be innocent,
they held a council of their own and deposed Cyril. Emperor Theodosius
II had both Cyril and Nestorius arrested but released Cyril on the
arrival of papal legates who confirmed the council's actions against
Nestorius and declared Cyril innocent of all charges leveled against
him.
Two years later, Archbishop John, representing the moderate
Antiochene bishops, and Cyril reached an agreement and issued a joint
condemnation, and Nestorius was forced into exile.
Cyril died in 444 at Antioch. He was named a Doctor of the Church in 1882.
Sunday, June 27, 2021
St. Cyril of Alexandria
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