Quodvultdeus

Who was Quodvultdeus?

Saint Quodvultdeus was a fifth-century church father and bishop of Carthage who was exiled to Naples. He was known to have been living in Carthage around 407 and became a deacon in 421 AD. He corresponded with Saint Augustine of Hippo, who served as Quodvultdeus' spiritual teacher. Augustine also dedicated some of his writings to Quodvultdeus.

Quodvultdeus was exiled when Carthage was captured by the Genseric, who followed Arianism. Tradition states that he and other Catholic churchmen were loaded onto leaky ships. The ships landed at Naples around 439 AD and Quodvultus established himself in Italy.

His name means 'What God wants.'

One of the mosaic burial portraits in the Galleria dei Vescovi in the Catacombs of San Gennaro depicts Quodvultdeus.