Councils of Orange

Two synods held at Orange (Arausio) in S France (Vaucluse) in 441 and 529. Hilary of Arles* presided at the first, with sixteen bishops attending, where thirty canons were issued on disciplinary matters. Caesarius of Arles* presided at the second, championing Augustinian prevenient grace in the struggle against Semi-Pelagianism.* In a contest with Felix IV he triumphed, submitting to thirteen bishops in Orange a declaration on grace and free will, in the form of capitula, which they signed and which Boniface II approved in 531. These upheld much of Augustine's* doctrine on grace as the corrective to the views of John Cassian* and Faustus of Riez,* stressing the need for grace and condemning predestination of man to evil. Theories, not persons, were condemned. The 529 council ended the Semi-Pelagian controversy in S Gaul.