Editing Donatism (section)

=={{anchor|Doctrinal polemic}}Opposition==

[[Augustine of Hippo]] campaigned against Donatism as bishop; through his efforts, orthodoxy gained the upper hand. According to Augustine and the church, the validity of sacraments was a property of the priesthood independent of individual character. Influenced by the [[Old Testament]], he believed in discipline as a means of education.<ref>Brown, P. 1967. ''Augustine of Hippo''.  London: Faber & Faber.</ref>

In his letter to Vincentius, Augustine used the [[New Testament]] [[Parable of the Great Banquet]] to justify using force against the Donatists: "You are of opinion that no one should be compelled to follow righteousness; and yet you read that the householder said to his servants, 'Whomsoever ye shall find, compel them to come in.{{'"}}<ref>{{cite web 
|author=Augustine |url=http://www.earlychurchtexts.com/public/augustine_letter_93_to_vincentius_cogite_intrare.htm |title=How it is legitimate to 'coerce' Donatist Christians to join the Catholic Church |access-date=September 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925054046/http://www.earlychurchtexts.com/public/augustine_letter_93_to_vincentius_cogite_intrare.htm|archive-date= September 25, 2014 |url-status= live}}</ref>

In 409, Emperor [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]]'s secretary of state, [[Marcellinus of Carthage]],  issued a decree which condemned the Donatists as [[Heresy#Christianity|heretical]] and demanded that they surrender their churches. This was made possible by a ''collatio'' in which St. Augustine legally proved that Constantine had chosen the Nicene church over the Donatists as the imperial church. The Donatists were persecuted by the Roman authorities to such a degree that Augustine protested their treatment.<ref>{{Citation | author = Augustine | title = Letter | number = 134 | section = 2}}.</ref>

The [[Council of Trent]] (1545-1563) taught that in the divine sacrifice of the [[Mass in the Catholic Church#Communion rite|Holy Mass]] "is contained and immolated, in an unbloody manner, the same Christ that offered Himself in a bloody manner upon the [[Altar#antiquity|altar]] of the Cross. Hence, it is the same victim, the same sacrificing-priest who offers Himself now through the ministry of priests and who once offers Himself upon the Cross." The worth of the sacrifice does not depend on the celebrating priest (or bishop), but on the "worth of the victim and on the dignity of the ''[[High Priest of Israel|chief priest]]''- none other than Jesus Christ Himself".<ref>{{cite book | author = Adolphe D. Tanquerey| url = https://archive.org/details/TanquereySpiritualLife | title = The Spiritual life. A treatise on spiritual and mystical theology | language = en | via = [[Internet Archive|archive.org]] | publisher = Society of St John the Evangelist, [[Desclée family|Desclée & Co]] (printers for the Holy See and the Sacred Congr. of Rites) | location = Tournai (BG) | year = 1930 | edition = 2nd | page = [https://archive.org/details/TanquereySpiritualLife/page/n186 139]| archive-url = https://archive.today/20181216233523/https://archive.org/stream/TanquereySpiritualLife/Tanquerey%20--%20Spiritual%20Life_djvu.txt | archive-date = December 16, 2018 | url-status = live}}, with the ''[[Imprimatur#Catholic Church|imprimatur]]'' of [[Michael Joseph Curley|Michael J. Curley]], Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore</ref>