Editing Cyril of Jerusalem (section)

==Episcopacy==
Relations between [[Metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] [[Acacius of Caesarea]] and Cyril became strained. Acacius is presented as a leading [[Arianism|Arian]] by the orthodox historians, and his opposition to Cyril in the 350s is attributed by these writers to this. [[Sozomen]] also suggests that the tension may have been increased by Acacius's jealousy of the importance assigned to Cyril's See by the [[First Council of Nicaea|Council of Nicaea]], as well as by the threat posed to Caesarea by the rising influence of the seat of Jerusalem as it developed into the prime Christian holy place and became a centre of pilgrimage.<ref>Sozomen, ''HE'', 4.25.</ref>

Acacius charged Cyril with selling church property.<ref>Frances Young with Andrew Teal, ''From Nicaea to Chalcedon: A Guide to the Literature and its Background'', (2nd edn, 2004), p187.</ref> The city of Jerusalem had suffered drastic food shortages at which point church historians Sozomen and Theodoret report "Cyril secretly sold sacramental ornaments of the church and a valuable holy robe, fashioned with gold thread that the emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] had once donated for the bishop to wear when he performed the rite of [[Baptism]]",{{sfn|Drijvers|2004|p=65}} possibly to keep people from starving.

For two years, Cyril resisted Acacius' summons to account for his actions, but a church council held under Acacius's influence in 357 AD deposed Cyril in his absence, and Cyril took refuge with Silvanus, Bishop of [[Tarsus (city)|Tarsus]].<ref>Di Berardino, Angelo. 1992. Encyclopedia of the early church. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 312.</ref> The following year, 359 AD, in an atmosphere more hostile to Acacius, the [[Council of Seleucia]] reinstated Cyril and deposed Acacius. In 360 AD, this was reversed by Emperor Constantius again,<ref>The reasons for this reversal are not entirely clear. According to Theodoret, (''HE'' 2.23), Acacius informed the emperor that one of the things sold by Cyril was a 'holy robe' dedicated by Constantine himself, which consequently turned Constantius against Cyril. The truth of this is not clear though.</ref> and Cyril suffered another year's exile from Jerusalem until the Emperor [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]]'s accession allowed him to return in 361.{{sfn|Norris|2007|p=77}}

Cyril was once again banished from Jerusalem by the [[Arianism|Arian]] Emperor [[Valens]] in 367 AD but was able to return again after Valens's death in 378 AD, after which he remained undisturbed until his death in 386. In 380 AD, [[Gregory of Nyssa]] came to Jerusalem on the recommendation of a council held at Antioch in the preceding year. He seemingly found the faith in good shape, but worried that the city was prey to parties and corrupt in morals.<ref name=":0">Henry Palmer Chapman (1908). "[[wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Cyril of Jerusalem|St. Cyril of Jerusalem]]". In ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. '''4'''. New York: Robert Appleton Company.</ref> Cyril's jurisdiction over Jerusalem was expressly confirmed by the [[First Council of Constantinople]] (381), at which he was present.<ref name=Foley/> At that council he voted for acceptance of the term ''[[homoousian|homoousios]]'' (which defined the nature between "God the Father", and "God the Son"), having been finally convinced that there was no better alternative.<ref name = "laielh"/> His story is perhaps best representative of those Eastern bishops (perhaps a majority) initially mistrustful of Nicaea, who came to accept the creed of that council, and the doctrine of the ''[[homoousion]]''.<ref name="Andrew Louth 2010 p284">Andrew Louth, 'Palestine', in Frances Young et al., ''The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature'', (2010), p284.</ref>