✝ Biography
Pope Cornelius (Greek: Κορνήλιος; died June 253) was the bishop of Rome from the 6th, or the 13th of March, 251 A. , until his martyrdom in June, 253 A. He was pope during and following a period of persecution of the church, while a schism occurred over how repentant church members who had practiced pagan sacrifices to protect themselves could be readmitted to the church. This position was in contrast to the Novatianists, who held that those who failed to maintain their confession of faith under persecution would not be received again into communion with the church.