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How did St. Ambrose respond to the Roman Senate’s request for tolerance of pagan worship?
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St. Ambrose
Image of St. Ambrose, detail from a stained-glass window in a Roman Catholic church in Antwerp, Belgium.
In 384, St. Ambrose successfully secured the rejection of an appeal for the tolerance of pagan worship presented by the Roman Senate.1
Despite the fact that the spokesman for the Senate’s request, Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, was his own relative, Ambrose utilized his influence to oppose the petition. This action was part of his broader effort to establish the church as a dominant force and to ensure that Christianity would not be eclipsed by the influence of the pagan nobility.1