Cornelius the Centurion


Cornelius the Centurion
Peter Baptizing the Centurion Cornelius, by Francesco Trevisani, 1709
The First Convert
Bornunknown
Diedunknown
Venerated inRoman Catholicism
Eastern Orthodox Church
Anglican Communion
Armenian Apostolic Church
Feast20 October, 2 February,[1] 4 February,[2] 7 February, 13 September
AttributesRoman military garb

Cornelius (fl. 1st century A.D.) (Greek: Κορνήλιος, romanizedKornḗlios; Latin: Cornelius) was a Roman centurion who is considered by some Christians to be the first Gentile to convert to the faith, as related in Acts of the Apostles (see Ethiopian eunuch for the competing tradition). The baptism of Cornelius is an important event in the history of the early Christian church. He may have belonged to the gens Cornelia, a prominent Roman family.

  1. ^ Jones, Terry. "Cornelius the Centurion". Patron Saints Index. Archived from the original on 2007-02-09. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference teccalendar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).