The Church as fraternitas in Cyprian of Carthage‘s writings

Ks. Paweł PietrusiakTo stress the idea of the Church as a community, the Second Vatican Council sometimes used the term fraternitas. It means not only a brotherly relationship among the faithful, but also the community of Christians. The very word first appeared in Christian Latin and in the 2nd-century translations of ‚Vetus Latina‘, then in Tertulian’s writings and, first of all, in Cyprian’s. The bishop of Carthago used the term as the synonym of ‚community‘ and ‚church‘. This way he stressed the identity of the Christian community and family-like ties among the believers. The Church is a community of brethren because everyone is a brother of Jesus Christ through the baptism and faith. Such sense of identity makes the Church the community of its members, whose relationships may be compared to those in a family.Université Catholique d’Afrique Centrale, Yaoundé – Camerou