Donatism
Named for Donatus Magnus (275?-355?), bishop of Carthage and the leader of the Donatists, a rigorist Early Christian sect in North Africa. The Donatist schism in Africa began in 311 and flourished just one hundred years, until the conference at Carthage in 411, after which its importance waned.
Donatism holds that only those who lead a blameless life can belong in the church or can administer the sacraments.
The primary disagreement between Donatists and the rest of the early Christian church was over the treatment of those who renounced their faith during the persecution of Roman emperor Diocletian (303–305). The Donatists refused to accept the sacraments and spiritual authority of priests and bishops who had fallen away from the faith during the persecution. Many church leaders had gone so far as to renounce Christ to avoid martyrdom, had turned Christians over to Roman authorities, and had handed over sacred religious texts to authorities to be publicly burned. These people were called traditors (“people who had handed over”). These traditors had returned to positions of authority under Constantine I, and the Donatists proclaimed that any sacraments celebrated by these priests and bishops were invalid.
The Donatists, by denying the intrinsic efficacy of the sacraments, claimed the sacraments could be celebrated validly only by those in the state of grace. They required the re-baptism of any Catholic who came over to their sect.
The first question was whether the Sacrament of Penance can effect a reconciliation where the apostate, or in some cases specifically the traditor, may be returned to full communion. The Orthodox Catholic position was that the sacrament was for precisely such cases of reconciliation of the penitent with the Church. The Donatists held that such a crime rendered one unfit for further membership in the Church, a position of extreme rigorism.
The second question was the validity of sacraments confected by priests and bishops who had been apostates under the persecution. The Donatists held that all such sacraments were invalid: by their sinful act, such clerics had rendered themselves incapable of celebrating valid sacraments. This is known as: ex opere operantis — Latin for from the work of the one doing the working, that is, that the validity of the sacrament depends upon the worthiness and holiness of the minister confecting it. The Catholic position was (and is): ex opere operato — from the work having been worked, in other words, that the validity of the sacrament depends upon the holiness of God, the minister being a mere instrument of God's work, so that any priest or bishop, even one in a state of mortal sin, who speaks the formula of the sacrament with valid matter and the intent of causing the sacrament to occur acts validly.
Donatists had the outward forms of Catholicism, including bishops, priests, and deacons, Mass, and the veneration of the relics of martyrs. The heresy of Donatism lay not primarily in the denial of particular Catholic doctrines but in the assertion that only "sinless" men could administer the sacraments validly. The schism was effected by the rejection of the lawful authority of validly-elected Catholic bishops and culminated in illicit but valid ordinations of schismatic bishops, priests, and deacons.
Augustine of Hippo campaigned against Donatism throughout his tenure as bishop of Hippo, and through his efforts the Orthodox Catholic Church gained the upper hand. His view, which was also the majority view within the Church, was that it was the office of priest, not the personal character of the incumbent, that gave validity to the celebration of the sacraments.
Donatism was condemned as a heresy at various councils, most notably the Synod of Arles of 314.
By 411 the Donatists were still quite numerous in Numidia and the rest Northern Africa, but, with their theological errors so completely refuted by Augustine, Optatus, and other Catholic apologists, their vigor waned quickly, though it would take two centuries more before they finally disappeared. Donatism survived the Vandal occupation and the Byzantine reconquest under Justinian I. It is unknown how long this belief persisted into the Muslim period, but some Christian historians believe the Donatist schism and the discord it caused in the Christian community made the military takeover of the region by Islam easier.
Sources:New Advent Catholic EncyclopediaCatholic Answers: DonatismWikipedia (I know, I know, but everything from this source was checked against another)
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