Lentorama 2007: The Non-Canonized Catholic Person of the Day

I'm actually going with two today, both birthday boys.

The first is Constantine the Great, the Roman emporer whose conversion to Christianity and tolerance of the faith in the Edict of Milan are considered milestones in religious history. Of course, it's never that easy; Galerius passed a law tolerating Christianity two years before the Edict of Milan, and there's some debate as to how and when Constantine converted.

Constantine is also remembered for calling the Council of Nicea, the first ecumenical council of bishops, which went a long way towards standardizing Christian practice. He's also attached to the Donation of Constantine, a document that purported to give the pope control of Rome and the western Roman empire. Used for centuries by popes to maintain temporal control of various parts of Europe, an analysis of the document's language and content point to it being a fake.

The other person with a bithday today is The Knights of Prosperity star Donal Logue. I'm not sure how Catholic he is, but his dad left the priesthood to get married and start a family. Logue was also born in Canada and has Canadian and Irish passports, even though he's spent most of his life living in southern California. I just thought that was interesting.