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Cornelius the Centurion

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Also known as Cornelius

first Gentile to convert to Christianity

Key facts

Born
unknown
Died
unknown
Venerated in
Roman Catholic Church , Eastern Orthodox Church , Anglican Communion , Armenian Apostolic Church
Feast
20 October, 2 February, 4 February, 7 February, 13 September
Attributes
Roman military garb

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Gender
male
Citizenship
Ancient Rome
Religion
Christianity
Military branch
Roman army
Military rank
centurion
Image
Baptism of cornelius.jpg
Significant event
baptism
Show 9 more facts
Commons category
Cornelius the centurion
canonization status
hieromartyr
date of birth
0100-01-01
date of death
0100-01-01
time period
Roman Empire
feast day
February 2
present in work
Acts 10
described by source
Pauly–Wissowa
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Cornelius (Greek: Κορνήλιος, romanized: Kornḗlios; Latin: Cornēlius [kɔrˈneː.li.ʊs]; fl. 1st century AD) 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.

Biblical account

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Cornelius the Centurion” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.