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The issue came to a head in 311, Caecilian was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] bishop of Carthage. His consecration was disputed by many Carthaginians because one of the three consecrating [[bishop]]s, Felix, bishop of Aptunga, had surrendered copies of the Scriptures to Roman persecutors and was considered a traditor. A subsequent council of some seventy “purist” bishops formalized the dispute and declared Caecilian’s consecration invalid. They then elected as bishop Majorinus, who had denounced “Roman collaborators” and refused to reconcile clergy who had lapsed. After he died in 315, the schismatics elected [[Donatus Magnus|Donatus]] of Casae Nigrae, a Berber Christian, as bishop of Carthage. In his long tenure (315 to 355) he became the spokesman for the sect and lent his name as the identity for the schismatics, the Donatists.
In addition to their practice of aesthetic and extreme purity, the sect’s practice of re-[[baptism|baptizing]] lapsed Christians was offensive to the Orthodox. While the established church would accept lapsed clergy back to serve after a period of penance, the Donastists declared that they were ineligible to perform the sacraments. The sect’s practices were condemned at the Orthodox [[Council of Arles of 314|Synodof Arles]] of Arles in 314 and by the emperor, [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]]. In 316, the Donatists formed their own [[hierarchy]] and split from the Church.
The Donatists schism grew until, by 350, they outnumbered the Orthodox in north Africa. Each city had both an Orthodox and a Donatist bishop. The tide did not turn against the Donatists until the fifth century when St. [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] in his writings and debates with Donatist bishops in Carthage strongly challenged their position. The Donatist movement then waned greatly, and they completely disappeared under the force of the [[Muslim]] conquests of the seventh century.
