St. Cornelius was Pope from March 251 to June 253. He held that Christians who had sacrificed to pagan gods under the Decian persecution (the lapsi) could be readmitted after penance, opposing the rigorist antipope Novatian. Exiled to Centumcellae (modern Civitavecchia) by Emperor Trebonianus Gallus, he died in June 253 and was buried in the Catacomb of Callixtus on the Appian Way. His tomb bears the inscription "Cornelius Martyr." Patron against epilepsy and earache; patron of Kornelimünster near Aachen.
Pilgrimage Sites Dedicated to St. Cornelius
Rome
Italy · Europe
Rome holds the tombs of Peter and Paul, the four papal basilicas, the Holy Stairs and the catacombs of the early Church.
Aachen
Germany · Europe
Aachen Cathedral houses four great relics and hosts the Heiligtumsfahrt pilgrimage every seven years since 1349, attracting faithful to venerate treasures collected by Charlemagne.