Skip to content
EntityQ435987· pop 32· linked from 1,763 articles

Cornelius the Centurion

Sign in to save

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

~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.