1.
Pope Victor I
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Pope Victor I was a bishop of Rome, and hence a pope, in the late second century. He was from a Berber origin. The dates of his tenure are uncertain and he was the first bishop of Rome born in the Roman Province of Africa—probably in Leptis Magna. He was later considered a saint and his feast day is celebrated on 28 July as St Victor I, Pope and Martyr. The primary sources vary over the dates assigned to Victor’s episcopate, Eusebius puts his accession in the tenth year of Commodus, which is accepted by Lipsius as the correct date. Jerome’s version of the Chronicle puts his accession in the reign of Pertinax, or the first year of Septimius Severus, while the Armenian version puts it in the seventh year of Commodus. Finally, Eusebius in his History states Zephyrinus succeeded him about the year of Severus. Lipsius, considering Victor in connection with his successors, concludes that he held office between nine and ten years, and therefore gives as his dates 189–198 or 199. According to a writer quoted by Eusebius, Victor excommunicated Theodotus of Byzantium for teaching that Christ was a mere man. However, he is best known for his role in the Quartodeciman controversy, prior to his elevation, a difference in dating the celebration of the Christian Passover/Easter between Rome and the bishops of Asia Minor had been tolerated by both the Roman and Eastern churches. Despite this disapproval, the feeling was that this divergent tradition was not sufficient grounds for excommunication. List of Catholic saints List of popes Josef Rist, Pope St. Victor I CE Pope St. Victor I
2.
Pope Callixtus I
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Pope Callixtus I, also called Callistus I, was the bishop of Rome from c.218 to his death c. He lived during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Elagabalus and Alexander Severus, eusebius and the Liberian catalogue gave him five years of episcopate. He was martyred for his Christian faith and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church, according to the tale, Callixtus jumped overboard to avoid capture but was rescued and taken back to his master. Philosophumena claims that, denounced as a Christian, Callixtus was sentenced to work in the mines of Sardinia and he was released with other Christians at the request of Hyacinthus, a eunuch presbyter, who represented Marcia, the favourite mistress of Emperor Commodus. At this time his health was so weakened that his fellow Christians sent him to Antium to recuperate, in 199, Callixtus was ordained a deacon by Pope Zephyrinus and appointed superintendent of the Christian cemetery on the Appian Way. That place, which is to this day called the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, Emperor Julian the Apostate, writing to a pagan priest, said, Christians have gained most popularity because of their charity to strangers and because of their care for the burial of their dead. In the third century, nine Bishops of Rome were interred in the Catacomb of Callixtus and these catacombs were rediscovered by the archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi in 1849. In 217, when Callixtus followed Zephyrinus as Bishop of Rome and he fought with success the heretics, and established the practice of absolution of all sins, including adultery and murder. As a consequence also of doctrinal differences, Hippolytus was elected as a bishop of Rome. The Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere was a titulus of which Callixtus was the patron, the 4th-century basilica of Ss Callixti et Iuliani was rebuilt in the 12th century by Pope Innocent II and rededicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the apocryphal Acts of Saint Callixtus, Asterius, a priest of Rome, recovered the body of Callixtus after it had been tossed into a well and buried Callixtus body at night. Asterius was arrested for this action by the prefect Alexander and then killed by being thrown off a bridge into the Tiber River. He was buried in the cemetery of Calepodius on the Aurelian Way and his anniversary is given by the 4th-century Depositio Martirum, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates his optional memorial on 14 October. His relics were transferred in the 9th century to Santa Maria in Trastevere, List of Catholic saints List of popes Kelly, J. N. D. Bishop Callistus I. of Rome, A Martyr or a Confessor, in Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum/Journal of Ancient Christianity 18, p. 390-419
3.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
4.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
5.
Pope
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The pope is the Bishop of Rome and, therefore, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, the office of the pope is the papacy. The pope is considered one of the worlds most powerful people because of his diplomatic and he is also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the Italian capital city of Rome. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history, the popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of importance in Western Europe. Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, Popes, who originally had no temporal powers, in some periods of history accrued wide powers similar to those of temporal rulers. In recent centuries, popes were gradually forced to give up temporal power, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning father. The earliest record of the use of title was in regard to the by then deceased Patriarch of Alexandria. Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD180 reflect a belief that Peter founded and organised the Church at Rome. Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peters presence in the early Roman Church, Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the struggles in our time and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, first, the greatest and most just columns, the good apostles Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, many agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero. Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome, others, using Peters own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter. First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches, gradually, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas. Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome, some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus, Cletus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops, documents of the 1st century and early 2nd century indicate that the Holy See had some kind of pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole, though the detail of what this meant is unclear. It seems that at first the terms episcopos and presbyter were used interchangeably, the consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable
6.
Septimius Severus
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Septimius Severus, also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa, as a young man he advanced through the cursus honorum—the customary succession of offices—under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors, after deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, Severus fought his rival claimants, the generals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus in Cilicia, later that year Severus waged a short punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier, annexing the Kingdom of Osroene as a new province. Severus defeated Albinus three years later at the Battle of Lugdunum in Gaul, furthermore, he enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus in Arabia Petraea. In 202, he campaigned in Africa and Mauretania against the Garamantes, capturing their capital Garama, late in his reign he travelled to Britain, strengthening Hadrians Wall and reoccupying the Antonine Wall. In 208 he invaded Caledonia, but his ambitions were cut short when he fell ill in late 210. Severus died in early 211 at Eboracum, succeeded by his sons Caracalla, with the succession of his sons, Severus founded the Severan dynasty, the last dynasty of the empire before the Crisis of the Third Century. Born on 11 April 145 at Leptis Magna as the son of Publius Septimius Geta and Fulvia Pia, Septimius Severus came from a wealthy and he had Italian Roman ancestry on his mothers side and descended from Punic - and perhaps also Libyan - forebears on his fathers side. His mothers ancestors had moved from Italy to North Africa, they belonged to the gens Fulvia, Septimius Severus had two siblings, an older brother, Publius Septimius Geta, and a younger sister, Septimia Octavilla. Severuss maternal cousin was Praetorian prefect and consul Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, Septimius Severus grew up in the town of Leptis Magna. He spoke the local Punic language fluently, but he was educated in Latin and Greek. Little else is known of the young Severus education, but according to Cassius Dio the boy had been eager for education than he had actually got. Presumably Severus received lessons in oratory, at age 17 he gave his first public speech, sometime around 162 Septimius Severus set out for Rome seeking a public career. At the recommendation of his relative Gaius Septimius Severus, the emperor Marcus Aurelius granted him entry into the senatorial ranks, membership of the senatorial order was a prerequisite to attain positions within the cursus honorum and to gain entry into the Roman Senate. Nevertheless, it appears that Severus career during the 160s met with some difficulties and it is likely that he served as a vigintivir in Rome, overseeing road maintenance in or near the city, and he may have appeared in court as an advocate. At the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius he was the State Attorney, however, he omitted the military tribunate from the cursus honorum and had to delay his quaestorship until he had reached the required minimum age of 25. To make matters worse, the Antonine Plague swept through the capital in 166, with his career at a halt, Severus decided to temporarily return to Leptis, where the climate was healthier
7.
Optatus
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Saint Optatus, sometimes anglicized as St. Optate, was Bishop of Milevis, in Numidia, in the fourth century, remembered for his writings against Donatism. Optatus probably began as a pagan rhetorician and his work against the Donatists is an answer to Parmenianus, the successor of Donatus in the primatial see of Carthage. St. Jerome tells us it was in six books and was written under Valens and we now possess seven books, and the list of popes is carried as far as Siricius. Similarly the Donatist succession of antipopes is given, as Victor, Bonifatius, Encolpius, Macrobius, Lucianus, Claudianus, the plan of the work is laid down in Book I, and is completed in six books. It seems, then, that the book, which St. Jerome did not know in 392, was an appendix to a new edition in which St. Optatus made additions to the two episcopal lists. The date of the work is fixed by the statement in I, xiii. Photinus is apparently regarded as alive, Julian is dead. Thus the first books were published about 366-70, and the second edition about 385-90, St. Optatus deals with the entire controversy between Catholics and Donatists. He distinguishes between schismatics and heretics, the former have rejected unity, but they have true doctrine and true sacraments, hence Parmenian should not have threatened them with eternal damnation. This mild doctrine is a great contrast to the severity of many of the Fathers against schism and it seems to be motived by the notion that all who have faith will be saved, though after long torments, --a view which St. Augustine has frequently to combat. Donatists and Catholics were agreed as to the unity of the Church. The question was, where is this One Church, Optatus argues that it cannot be only in a corner of Africa, it must be the catholica which is throughout the world. He replies, We must examine who sat first in the chair, therefore in the one chair, which is the first of the dotes Peter first sat, to whom succeeded Linus. Tell us the origin of your chair, you who wish to claim the holy Church for yourselves, Optatus then mocks at the recent succession of Donatist antipopes at Rome. His statement of the efficacy of the sacraments ex opere operato is well known, Sacramenta per se esse sancta. Thus in baptism there must be the Holy Trinity, the believer and the minister, and their importance is in this order, for what is an altar but the seat of the Body and Blood of Christ. The style of St. Optatus is vigorous and animated and he uses Saint Cyprian a great deal, though he refutes his mistaken opinion about baptism, and does not copy his easy style. His descriptions of events are admirable and vivid and it is strange that Dupin should have called him minus nitidus ac politus, for both in the words he employs and in their order he almost incurs the blame of preciosity
8.
Christian heresy
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When heresy is used today with reference to Christianity, it denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith as defined by one or more of the Christian churches. In Western Christianity, heresy most commonly refers to those beliefs which were declared to be anathema by any of the ecumenical councils recognized by the Catholic Church, in the East, the term heresy is eclectic and can refer to anything at variance with Church tradition. Since the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation, various Christian churches have used the concept in proceedings against individuals. The Catholic Church distinguishes between formal heresy and material heresy, the former involves willful and persistent adherence to an error in matters of faith and is a grave sin and produces excommunication. Material heresy is the holding of erroneous opinions through no fault of ones own and is not sinful, historical examination of heresies focuses on a mixture of theological, spiritual, and socio-political underpinnings to explain and describe their development. For example, accusations of heresy have been levelled against a group of believers when their beliefs challenged, or were seen to challenge, some heresies have also been doctrinally based, in which a teaching was deemed to be inconsistent with the fundamental tenets of orthodox dogma. The study of heresy requires an understanding of the development of orthodoxy, Heresy remained an officially punishable offence in Roman Catholic nations until the late 18th century. In Spain, heretics were prosecuted and punished during the Counter-Enlightenment movement of the restoration of the monarchy there after the Napoleonic Era, the word appears in the New Testament and was appropriated by the Church to mean a sect or division that threatened the unity of Christians. Heresy eventually became regarded as a departure from orthodoxy, a sense in which heterodoxy was already in Christian use soon after the year 100. Since the time of the apostles, the term anathema has come to mean a form of religious sanction beyond excommunication. The earliest recorded instance of the form is in the Council of Elvira, in his book Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton asserts that there have been substantial disagreements about faith from the time of the New Testament and Jesus. He pointed out that the Apostles all argued against changing the teachings of Christ as did the earliest church fathers including Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and Polycarp. The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the various opinions is a matter of continuing theological debate. Early attacks upon alleged heresies formed the matter of Tertullians Prescription Against Heretics, the development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the early Church and early heretical groups is a matter of academic debate. Scholars such as Pagels and Ehrman have built on Bauers original thesis, drawing upon distinctions between Jewish Christians, Gentile Christians, and other groups such as Gnostics, they see early Christianity as fragmented and with contemporaneous competing orthodoxies. Ehrmans view is that while the specifics of Bauers demonstration were later rejected, his intuitions are broadly accepted by scholars, turners response was in objection to Bauers. In 2006, Darrell Bock addressed Walter Bauers theory, stating that it does not show an equality between the church and outsiders including Simon Magus. Florovksy stating as an apology that the very tenet of Catholic or sobornost was the churchs response to the idea that there were multiple orthodoxies
9.
Valentinianism
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Valentinianism is a Gnostic Christian movement that was founded by Valentinus in the second century AD. Valentinianism was one of the major Gnostic movements and its influence was extremely widespread, not just within Rome, but also from Northwest Africa to Egypt through to Asia Minor and Syria in the east. Later in the history it broke into two schools, an Eastern school and a Western school. Disciples of Valentinus continued to be active into the 4th century AD, Gnostics were condemned as heretics, and prominent Church fathers such as Irenaeus of Lyons and Hippolytus of Rome wrote against Gnosticism. Most evidence for the Valentinian theory comes from its critics and detractors, most notably Irenaeus, Valentinus was born in approximately 100 AD and died in Alexandria in approximately AD180. According to Epiphanius of Salamis, a Christian scholar, he was born in Egypt, clement of Alexandria, another Christian scholar and teacher, reports that Valentinus was taught by Theudas, a disciple of the apostle Paul. It is reputed that he was an eloquent man who possessed a great deal of charisma and had an innate ability to attract people. He went to Rome some time between AD136 and 140, in the time of Pope Hyginus, and had risen to the peak of his career between AD150 and 155, during the time of Pius. Valentinus is said to have been a successful teacher, and for some time in the mid-2nd century he was even a prominent. At one point during his career he had hoped to attain the office of bishop. Most scholars also believe that Valentinus wrote the Gospel of Truth, notable Valentinians included Heracleon, Ptolemy, Florinus, Axionicus and Theodotus. The theology that Irenaeus attributed to Valentinus is extremely complicated and difficult to follow, according to Irenaeus, the Valentinians believed that at the beginning there was a Pleroma. Sophia’s weakness, curiosity and passion led to her fall from the Pleroma, Valentinians identified the God of the Old Testament as the Demiurge, the imperfect creator of the material world. Man, the highest being in this world, participates in both the spiritual and the material nature. The work of redemption consists in freeing the former from the latter, one needed to recognize the Father, the depth of all being, as the true source of divine power in order to achieve gnosis. Clement wrote that the Valentinians regarded Catholic Christians “as simple people to whom they attributed faith, through the excellent seed that is to be found in them, they are by nature redeemed, and their gnosis is as far removed from faith as the spiritual from the physical”. The superstructure of the system, the celestial world of Aeons, is here developed in the most complicated way. These Aeons belong to the ideal, noumenal, intelligible, or supersensible world, they are immaterial
10.
Eusebius
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Eusebius of Caesarea, also known as Eusebius Pamphili, was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist. He became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima about 314 AD, together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon and is regarded as an extremely well learned Christian of his time. He wrote Demonstrations of the Gospel, Preparations for the Gospel, as Father of Church History he produced the Ecclesiastical History, On the Life of Pamphilus, the Chronicle and On the Martyrs. Little is known about the life of Eusebius and his successor at the See of Caesarea, Acacius, wrote a Life of Eusebius, a work that has since been lost. Eusebius own surviving works probably only represent a portion of his total output. Beyond notices in his extant writings, the sources are the 5th-century ecclesiastical historians Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. There are assorted notices of his activities in the writings of his contemporaries Athanasius, Arius, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Eusebius pupil, Eusebius of Emesa, provides some incidental information. In his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius writes of Dionysius of Alexandria as his contemporary, if this is true, Eusebius birth must have been before Dionysius death in autumn 264, most modern scholars date the birth to some point in the five years between 260 and 265. He was presumably born in the town in which he lived for most of his adult life and he was baptized and instructed in the city, and lived in Palestine in 296, when Diocletians army passed through the region. Eusebius was made presbyter by Agapius of Caesarea, S. Wallace-Hadrill, deem the phrase too ambiguous to support the contention. By the 3rd century, Caesarea had a population of about 100,000 and it had been a pagan city since Pompey had given control of the city to the gentiles during his command of the eastern provinces in the 60s BC. The gentiles retained control of the city for the three centuries to follow, despite Jewish petitions for joint governorship, gentile government was strengthened by the citys refoundation under Herod the Great, when it had taken on the name of Augustus Caesar. In addition to the settlers, Caesarea had large Jewish. Eusebius was probably born into the Christian contingent of the city.46 states that Zacchaeus was the first bishop, through the activities of the theologian Origen and the school of his follower Pamphilus, Caesarea became a center of Christian learning. Origen was largely responsible for the collection of information, or which churches were using which gospels. On his deathbed, Origen had made a bequest of his library to the Christian community in the city. Together with the books of his patron Ambrosius, Origens library formed the core of the collection that Pamphilus established, Pamphilus also managed a school that was similar to that of Origen. Pamphilus was compared to Demetrius of Phalerum and Pisistratus, for he had gathered Bibles from all parts of the world, like his model Origen, Pamphilus maintained close contact with his students
11.
Antipope Natalius
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At times between the 3rd and mid-15th century, antipopes were supported by a fairly significant faction of religious cardinals and secular monarchs and kingdoms. Persons who claim to be pope, but have few followers, hippolytus of Rome is commonly considered to be the earliest antipope, as he headed a separate group within the Church in Rome against Pope Callixtus I. Hippolytus was reconciled to Callixtuss second successor, Pope Pontian, eusebius quotes from an unnamed earlier writer the story of Natalius, a 3rd-century priest who accepted the bishopric of a heretical group in Rome. Natalius soon repented and tearfully begged Pope Zephyrinus to receive him into communion, the period in which antipopes were most numerous was during the struggles between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors of the 11th and 12th centuries. The emperors frequently imposed their own nominees to further their own causes, the popes, likewise, sometimes sponsored rival imperial claimants in Germany to overcome a particular emperor. The Pisan line was named after the town of Pisa, Italy, to end the schism, in May 1415, the Council of Constance deposed antipope John XXIII of the Pisan line. Pope Gregory XII of the Roman line resigned in July 1415, in 1417, the Council also formally deposed antipope Benedict XIII of Avignon, but he refused to resign. Afterwards, Pope Martin V was elected and was accepted everywhere except in the small, the scandal of the Western Schism created anti-papal sentiment and fed into the Protestant Reformation at the turn of the 16th century. The following table gives the names of the antipopes included in the list of popes and antipopes in the Annuario Pontificio, with the addition of the names of Natalius, an asterisk marks those who were included in the conventional numbering of later Popes who took the same name. More commonly, the antipope is ignored in later papal regnal numbers, for example, there was an Antipope John XXIII, for the additional confusion regarding Popes named John, see Pope John. The uncertainty that in some cases results has made it advisable to abandon the assignation of successive numbers in the list of the popes, the Catholic Encyclopedia places him in its List of Popes, but with the annotation, Considered by some to be an antipope. Other sources classify him as an antipope and those with asterisks were counted in subsequent Papal numbering. Many antipopes created cardinals, known as quasi-cardinals, and a few created cardinal-nephews, in modern times various people claim to be pope and, though they do not fit the technical definition of antipope, are sometimes referred to as such. They are usually leaders of sedevacantist groups who view the See of Rome as vacant, a significant number of these have taken the name Peter II, owing to its special significance. From the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church, they are schismatics, the following were elected by allegedly faithful Catholics, none of whom was a cardinal, Popes of the Legio Maria, based in western Kenya, Timothy Joseph Blasio Atila. David Bawden, elected in Kansas, USA, another conclave, this time held in Assisi, Italy, elected the South African Victor von Pentz, an ex-seminarian of the Society of St Pius X, as Pope Linus II in 1994. Linus took up residence in Hertfordshire, England, Pope of the True Catholic Church, Lucian Pulvermacher, elected in Montana, USA. Mirko Fabris, elected in Zagreb, Croatia, joaquín Llorens, elected in Elx, Spain
12.
Mysterii Paschalis
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Mysterii Paschalis is the incipit of an apostolic letter issued motu proprio by Pope Paul VI on 14 February 1969. It reorganized the liturgical year of the Roman Rite and revised the liturgical celebrations of Jesus Christ, the motu proprio and the decree were included, with an unofficial commentary by the Council for the Proper Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, in the book Calendarium Romanum. The new norms became effective on 1 January 1970, a liturgical day is defined as running from midnight to midnight except for Sundays and solemnities, which begin on the previous evening. Sunday, as the day of the resurrection of Christ, is the primordial feast day, in Advent, Lent and Easter, Sundays outrank even solemnities. With a very few exceptions, other celebrations are as a not to be assigned so that they always fall on a Sunday. A new ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite was established with regard to celebrations of saints, in accordance with the relative importance of the celebrations, they are ranked as solemnities, feasts, or memorials. The solemnities of the Nativity of the Lord and Easter each have an octave, special norms apply also to the Paschal Triduum, Eastertide, Lent, Christmastide, Advent, Ordinary Time, and Rogation and Ember days. Some were feasts of saints who died later than 1568, others were added as devotional feasts or because monarchs and religious institutes wanted their own saints inserted. The devotional feasts of the Lord that have kept with high ranking are Trinity Sunday, Body and Blood of Christ, Christ the King, the Holy Family. The Holy Name of Jesus was at first removed but later restored as an optional memorial, progress in historical and hagiographical studies led to distinguishing three classes of saints included in the 1960 calendar that it seemed better not to keep in the revision. One class is that of the saints about whom there are serious historical problems, a third class is that of the founders of the ancient Roman churches known as tituli and about whom there exists a specific genre of legends. For lack of evidence that they were martyrs or confessors, as pictured in the legends, they were excluded from the revision, a similar selection was made among non-martyr saints, with the result that 30 were removed to particular calendars. For the sake of balance, most of these were Italians. The following are changes introduced in 1969 by removal or transfer of celebrations in the calendar as it immediately before. Celebrations that remained unaltered are not indicated, new celebrations were also added to the calendar, the better to reflect the universality of the Catholic Church. For all of these, see General Roman Calendar, the explanations given are those published in Calendarium Romanum in 1969. By particular calendars are meant those of a particular Church or nation or family of religious, the phrase truly of universal importance is also taken from the Second Vatican Councils Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. For pre-1969 removals and transfers of celebrations in the General Roman Calendar, see General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII, telephorus,5 January, added in 1602, deleted, the feast was originally that of an otherwise unknown martyr, who was not a pope
13.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
14.
Public domain
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The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival
15.
Catholic Encyclopedia
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The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index volume in 1914 and later supplementary volumes. It was designed to give its readers full and authoritative information on the cycle of Catholic interests, action. The Catholic Encyclopedia was published by the Robert Appleton Company, a company incorporated at New York in February 1905 for the express purpose of publishing the encyclopedia. The five members of the encyclopedias Editorial Board also served as the directors of the company, in 1912 the companys name was changed to The Encyclopedia Press. Publication of the volumes was the sole business conducted by the company during the projects lifetime. The encyclopedia was designed to serve the Roman Catholic Church, concentrating on information related to the Church and it records the accomplishments of Catholics and others in nearly all intellectual and professional pursuits, including artists, educators, poets and scientists. The volumes came out sequentially the first two in 1907 and the last three in 1912, The editors had their first editorial meeting at the office of The Messenger, on West 16th Street, New York City. The text received a nihil obstat from an official censor, Remy Lafort, on November 1,1908 and this review process was presumably accelerated by the reuse of older authorized publications. A first supplement was published in 1922, a supplement in nine loose-leaf sections was published by The Gilmary Society between 1950 and 1958. In 1912, a special completely illustrated commemorative volume was awarded to patrons who contributed to the start of the enterprise by buying multiple encyclopedia sets early on. The encyclopedia was later updated under the auspices of The Catholic University of America and a 17-volume New Catholic Encyclopedia was first published in 1967, and then in 2002. The Catholic Encyclopedia and its makers states that, The work is entirely new, the editors have insisted that the articles should contain the latest and most accurate information to be obtained from the standard works on each subject. Those who wrote new articles in English include Anthony Maas and Herbert Thurston, under United States copyright law, all works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain. Knight founded the website New Advent to house the undertaking, volunteers from the United States, Canada, France, and Brazil helped in the transcription of the original material. The site went online in 1995, and transcription work ended in 1997, in 2007, Catholic Answers published a watermarked version derived from page scans. This version has since replaced with a transcription of the Encyclopedia similar to that found at the New Advent website. The Catholic Answers transcription, however, is a transcription of the original text, whereas the New Advent version at times modernizes certain words. Other scanned copies of the 1913 Encyclopedia are available on Google Books, at the Internet Archive, wikisource also hosts a transcription project backed by the scans hosted at Commons
16.
Papal name
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A papal name is the regnal name taken by a pope. Both the head of the Catholic Church, usually known as the Pope, as of 2016 Francis is the Catholic Pope, and Tawadros II or Theodoros II is the Coptic Pope. This article discusses and lists the names of Catholic Popes, another article has a list of Coptic Orthodox Popes of Alexandria. While popes in the early centuries retained their names after their accession to the papacy. This first started in the century and became customary in the 10th century. Since 1555, every pope has taken a papal name and it is customary when referring to popes to translate the regnal name into local languages. Thus, for example, Papa Franciscus, is Papa Francesco in Italian, Papa Francisco in his native Spanish, the official style of the Catholic Pope in English is His Holiness Pope. Holy Father is another often used for popes. The official title of the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is Pope of Alexandria, the Successor of St. Mark the Evangelist, Holy Apostle and Martyr, on the Holy Apostolic Throne of the Great City of Alexandria. He is considered to be Father of Fathers, Hierarch of all Hierarchs Honorary titles attributed to the Hierarch of the Alexandrine Throne are The Pillar and Defender of the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church and of the Orthodox Faith. The Dean of the Great Catechetical School of Theology of Alexandria, the Ecumenical Judge of the Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church. The Thirteenth among the Holy Apostles, during the first centuries of the church, the bishops of Rome continued to use their baptismal names after their elections. In the 10th century clerics from beyond the Alps, especially Germany and France, acceded to the papacy, the last pope to use his baptismal name was Marcellus II in 1555, a choice that was even then quite exceptional. Names are freely chosen by popes, and not based on any system, names of immediate or distant predecessors, mentors, saints, or even family members—as was the case with John XXIII—have been adopted. John Paul I was also the first pope in almost 1,100 years since Lando in 913 to adopt a name that had not previously been used. After John Paul Is sudden death a month later, Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła was elected and, wishing to continue his predecessors work, Benedict XVIs own reign, which ended with his resignation on 28 February 2013, also lasted less than 8 years. Saint Peter was the first Pope, no Pope of Rome has chosen the name Peter II, since the 1970s some antipopes, with only a minuscule following, took the name Pope Peter II. Probably because of the controversial fifteenth-century antipope known as Pope John XXIII, immediately after John XXIIIs election as pope in 1958, it was not known if he would be John XXIII or XXIV, he decided that he would be known as John XXIII
17.
Antipope
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At times between the 3rd and mid-15th century, antipopes were supported by a fairly significant faction of religious cardinals and secular monarchs and kingdoms. Persons who claim to be pope, but have few followers, hippolytus of Rome is commonly considered to be the earliest antipope, as he headed a separate group within the Church in Rome against Pope Callixtus I. Hippolytus was reconciled to Callixtuss second successor, Pope Pontian, eusebius quotes from an unnamed earlier writer the story of Natalius, a 3rd-century priest who accepted the bishopric of a heretical group in Rome. Natalius soon repented and tearfully begged Pope Zephyrinus to receive him into communion, the period in which antipopes were most numerous was during the struggles between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors of the 11th and 12th centuries. The emperors frequently imposed their own nominees to further their own causes, the popes, likewise, sometimes sponsored rival imperial claimants in Germany to overcome a particular emperor. The Pisan line was named after the town of Pisa, Italy, to end the schism, in May 1415, the Council of Constance deposed antipope John XXIII of the Pisan line. Pope Gregory XII of the Roman line resigned in July 1415, in 1417, the Council also formally deposed antipope Benedict XIII of Avignon, but he refused to resign. Afterwards, Pope Martin V was elected and was accepted everywhere except in the small, the scandal of the Western Schism created anti-papal sentiment and fed into the Protestant Reformation at the turn of the 16th century. The following table gives the names of the antipopes included in the list of popes and antipopes in the Annuario Pontificio, with the addition of the names of Natalius, an asterisk marks those who were included in the conventional numbering of later Popes who took the same name. More commonly, the antipope is ignored in later papal regnal numbers, for example, there was an Antipope John XXIII, for the additional confusion regarding Popes named John, see Pope John. The uncertainty that in some cases results has made it advisable to abandon the assignation of successive numbers in the list of the popes, the Catholic Encyclopedia places him in its List of Popes, but with the annotation, Considered by some to be an antipope. Other sources classify him as an antipope and those with asterisks were counted in subsequent Papal numbering. Many antipopes created cardinals, known as quasi-cardinals, and a few created cardinal-nephews, in modern times various people claim to be pope and, though they do not fit the technical definition of antipope, are sometimes referred to as such. They are usually leaders of sedevacantist groups who view the See of Rome as vacant, a significant number of these have taken the name Peter II, owing to its special significance. From the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church, they are schismatics, the following were elected by allegedly faithful Catholics, none of whom was a cardinal, Popes of the Legio Maria, based in western Kenya, Timothy Joseph Blasio Atila. David Bawden, elected in Kansas, USA, another conclave, this time held in Assisi, Italy, elected the South African Victor von Pentz, an ex-seminarian of the Society of St Pius X, as Pope Linus II in 1994. Linus took up residence in Hertfordshire, England, Pope of the True Catholic Church, Lucian Pulvermacher, elected in Montana, USA. Mirko Fabris, elected in Zagreb, Croatia, joaquín Llorens, elected in Elx, Spain
18.
Pope emeritus
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Catholics trace the origins of the office of bishop to the apostles, who it is believed were endowed with a special charism by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Catholics believe this special charism has been transmitted through a succession of bishops by the laying on of hands in the sacrament of Holy Orders. Bishops are collectively known as the College of Bishops and can hold such additional titles as archbishop, cardinal, patriarch, as of 2009 there were approximately 5,100 bishops total in the Latin and Eastern churches of the Catholic Church. The traditional role of a bishop is to act as head of a diocese or eparchy, dioceses vary considerably in geographical size and population. Within his own diocese a Latin Church bishop may use pontifical vestments and regalia, but may not do so in another diocese without, at least, See, Appointment of Catholic bishops Article 401. A diocesan bishop is entrusted with the care of a local Church and he is responsible for teaching, governing, and sanctifying the faithful of his diocese, sharing these duties with the priests and deacons who serve under him. He serves as the shepherd of the diocese and has responsibility for the pastoral care of all Catholics living within his ecclesiastical and ritual jurisdiction. He is obliged to celebrate Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation with the intention of praying for those in his care, assign clergy to their posts in various institutions, Latin Catholic bishops also must make regular ad limina visits to the Holy See every five years. Only a bishop has authority to confer the sacrament of holy orders, in the Latin Church the minor orders were abolished after the Second Vatican Council. The sacrament of Confirmation is normally administered by a bishop in the Latin Church, in the case of receiving an adult into full communion with the Catholic Church the presiding priest will administer Confirmation. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, Confirmation is normally administered by priests as it is given at the time as baptism. It is only within the power of the bishop or eparch to bless churches and altars, although he may delegate another bishop, or even a priest. On Holy Thursday Latin Catholic bishops preside over the Mass of the Chrism, though Oil of the Sick for the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is blessed at this Mass, it may also be blessed by any priest in case of necessity. Only a bishop may consecrate Chrism, in the Eastern Catholic Churches chrism is consecrated solely by heads of churches sui juris and diocesan bishops may not do so. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, it was also the prerogative of the bishop to consecrate the paten, one of the changes implemented since the Council, is that a simple blessing is now said and it may be given by any priest. In both Western and Eastern Catholic churches, any priest can celebrate the Mass or Divine Liturgy, a celebret may be issued to travelling priests so that they can demonstrate to pastors and bishops outside of their own diocese that they are in good standing. However, even if a priest does not possess such a document, in the East an antimension signed by the bishop is kept on the altar partly as a reminder of whose altar it is and under whose omophorion the priest at a local parish is serving. To preside at matrimony ceremonies, Latin Church priests and deacons must have appropriate jurisdiction or delegation from a competent authority, in the Eastern tradition, the clergy not only witness the exchange of vows but must impart a blessing for a valid marriage to have taken place
19.
Papal renunciation
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A papal renunciation occurs when the reigning pope of the Roman Catholic Church voluntarily steps down from his position. As the reign of the pope has conventionally been from election until death, before the 21st century, only five popes unambiguously resigned with historical certainty, all between the 10th and 15th centuries. Additionally, disputed claims of four popes having resigned date between the 3rd and 11th centuries, a disputed case may have involved an antipope. Additionally, a few popes during the saeculum obscurum were deposed, the later development of canon law has been in favor of papal supremacy, leaving no recourse to remove a pope involuntarily. The most recent pope to resign was Benedict XVI, who vacated the Holy See on 28 February 2013 at 19,00 UTC and he was the first pope to do so since Gregory XII in 1415. Despite its common usage in discussion of papal renunciations, the abdication is not used in the official documents of the Church for renunciation by a pope. Both the 1983 Code and the 1917 Code make explicit that there is no individual or body of people to whom the pope must manifest his renunciation. During the saeculum obscurum several popes were deposed or coerced into renunciation by political, John X is considered to have been deposed by some, but he seems to have died in prison before his successor Leo VI was elected anyway. As another example, consider the story of John XII, Leo VIII, John XII had been invalidly deposed by the Emperor Otto in 963, never renouncing his claim. Leo VIII was set up as an antipope by Otto at this time, however, John XII won back his rightful place in 964. When John XII died in 964, Benedict V was elected, however, Otto wanted Leo VIII put back on the papal throne and, using military might, forced Benedict to abdicate later that same summer, Benedicts renunciation is considered valid. Leo VIII is then considered the pope until his death in 965. The first historically unquestionable papal renunciation is that of Benedict IX in 1045. Then, in 1045, having regained the papacy for a few months, in order to rid the Church of the scandalous Benedict, Gregory himself resigned in 1046 because the arrangement he had entered into with Benedict could have been considered simony. Gregory was followed by Clement II, and when Clement died, Benedict IX returned to be elected to the papacy for a third time and he thus reigned as pope for three non-consecutive terms, and resigned three separate times. A well-known renunciation of a pope is that of Celestine V, after only five months of pontificate, he issued a solemn decree declaring it permissible for a pope to resign, and then did so himself. He lived two years as a hermit and then prisoner of his successor Boniface VIII and was later canonised. Celestines decree, and Boniface concurring, ended any doubt among canonists about the possibility of a valid papal renunciation, before resigning, he formally convened the already existing Council of Constance and authorized it to elect his successor
20.
Pope-elect Stephen
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Pope-elect Stephen was a Roman priest elected pope in March 752 to succeed Zachary, he died of a stroke a few days later, before being consecrated a bishop. Therefore, he is not listed as a pope in the Annuario Pontificio, in 745, Pope Zachary had made him a cardinal-priest, with the titulus of San Crisogono, the same titulus later held by Cardinal Frederick of Lorraine, who became Pope Stephen IX. The regnal numbering of popes named Stephen has changed over the centuries, regnal numbering was not used for popes until the 10th century, and any numbering attached to earlier popes has been applied posthumously. Until the 10th century, from 752 to 942, eight men who bore the name Stephen, including this priest Stephen, were elected pope, but only seven reigned as pope. The first pope to take the name Stephen after regnal numbering became customary was called Stephen IX during his lifetime and signed all his documents Stephanus Papa Nonus, Latin for Pope Stephen IX. Some writers, but not all, consequently increased the numbering of later Popes of that name and this Pope-elect Stephens name was removed from the list of popes in the Annuario Pontificio in 1961. Divergent usage led to the use of a numbering for these popes. This practice is found in the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Annuario Pontificio, Stephen Vicedomino de Vicedominis List of 10 shortest-reigning popes Pope John XX
21.
Papal selection before 1059
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There was no fixed process for papal selection before 1059. Popes, the bishops of Rome and the leaders of the Catholic Church, were appointed by their predecessors or secular rulers. The practice of papal appointment during this period would give rise to the jus exclusivae. Furthermore, the frequent requirement of approval of elected popes significantly lengthened periods of sede vacante. There is no consensus on when and on what terms Saint Peter arrived in Rome. Moreover, Peter was never referred to as a pope or even a bishop. This anecdote makes clear that the choice of bishop was the concern for the entire Christian community of Rome. Fabian can reliably be regarded as a victim of the persecution of Emperor Decius, the next available evidence comes from the schism between Novatian and Cornelius, both elected bishop by their own factions, and both writing to Cyprian, bishop of Carthage for support. Mark was the first to designate the bishop of Ostia as the first among the consecrators of the new bishop of Rome, even with this new title, however, the method of selection of the bishop of Rome remained much the same. Both the clergy and the laity continued to participate in the selection, other trends can be observed, as well, such as father-to-son succession between Pope Anastasius I and Pope Innocent I. Emperor Honorius stepped in to resolve the schism between Eulalius and Pope Boniface I, siding with Eulalius first and then Boniface I. The Roman Senate disliked the lack of election and denounced Felix, affirming a decree of Pope Anastasius II, Boniface II was supported only by a minority of the clergy, with the larger share supporting Dioscorus, with only Dioscoruss death halting the schism. In fact, Athalaric himself was able to engineer the election of Pope Silverius, upon his invasion of Italy, Justinian I forced Silverius to abdicate and in his place installed Pope Vigilius, a former papal legate to Constantinople. Justinian next appointed Pope Pelagius I, holding only an election to replace Vigilius. Afterwards, Justinian was content with power of approval of the pope, justinians successors continued this practice for over a century. The continuing power of appointment of the Byzantine emperor can be seen in the legend of Pope Gregory I writing to Constantinople and this abated factionalism for the next four successions, each resulting in quick elections and imperial approval. However, Pope Severinus was forced to wait 20 months for approval in 640. So Pope Martin I refused to wait, insisting on being consecrated only days after his election and this resulted in his abduction by Constans II to Constantinople in 653, where he was tried and sentenced to exile
22.
Bishops of Rome under Constantine I
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Constantine Is relationship with the four Bishops of Rome during his reign is an important component of the history of the Papacy, and more generally the history of the Catholic Church. None of this, however, has much to do with the popes, who did not even attend the Council, in fact. The Donation of Constantine, an 8th-century forgery used to enhance the prestige, the legend of the Donation claims that Constantine offered his crown to Sylvester I, and even that Sylvester baptized Constantine. In reality, Constantine was baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia, who, Sylvester was succeeded by Mark and Julius I during the life of Constantine. Although the Donation never occurred, Constantine did hand over the Lateran Palace to the bishop of Rome, the gift of the Lateran probably occurred during the reign of Miltiades, Sylvester Is predecessor, who began using it as his residence. Old St. Peters was begun between 326 and 330 and would have three decades to complete, long after the death of Constantine. In spite of the Diocletian Persecution, Christians constituted approximately one-tenth of the population of the Roman Empire at the time of Constantines rise to power. Christianity was legalized by Galerius, who was the first emperor to issue an edict of toleration for all religious creeds including Christianity in April 311. It was without any single dominant ruling officer, its elders or leaders sharing responsibility, by the eve of the conversion of Constantine, there were more than two dozen of these religious community-centers or tituli. The Roman church was a community, and its bishop exercised little influence outside its members in the time of Constantine. Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity, although he continued in his pre-Christian beliefs. He and co-Emperor Licinius bestowed imperial favor on Christianity through the Edict of Milan promulgated in 313, after the Edict of Milan, the church adopted the same governmental structure as the Empire, geographical provinces ruled by bishops. These bishops of important cities therefore rose in power over the bishops of lesser cities, Miltiades was pope at the time of Constantines victory, and Constantine gifted to Miltiades the Lateran Palace, where he relocated, holding a synod in 313. Turning to Constantine was a move because he had not yet been baptized. Constantine therefore referred the matter to Miltiades, requiring him to collaborate with three bishops from Gaul, eamon Duffy calls this the first direct intervention by an emperor in the affairs of the church. Miltiades died, and his successor, Silvester I, did not travel to Arles, the Arles synod gave Silvester I somewhat of a nod by asking him to circulate their decisions to the other bishops, although he had no part in the process. During Silvester Is reign, construction began on the Lateran Basilica, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Silvester did not attend the first ecumenical council, the First Council of Nicaea, but sent two priests as his representatives, the Western bishops of Carthage and Milan were also in attendance. Ariuss followers did poorly at Nicaea, and the Nicene Creed that was adopted was squarely against their Christological position, the Arians were silenced, not persuaded by the Council, and the controversy in the larger Christian community was not resolved
23.
Saint Peter
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Saint Peter, also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simōn pronunciation, according to the New Testament, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, leaders of the early Christian Great Church. Hippolytus of Rome, a 3rd-century theologian, gave him the title of Apostle of the Apostles, according to Catholic teaching, Peter was ordained by Jesus in the Rock of My Church dialogue in Matthew 16,18. He is traditionally counted as the first Bishop of Rome and by Eastern Christian tradition also as the first Patriarch of Antioch. The ancient Christian churches all venerate Peter as a saint and as founder of the Church of Antioch. The New Testament indicates that Peter was the son of John and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee or Gaulanitis and his brother Andrew was also an apostle. According to New Testament accounts, Peter was one of twelve apostles chosen by Jesus from his first disciples, originally a fisherman, he played a leadership role and was with Jesus during events witnessed by only a few apostles, such as the Transfiguration. According to the gospels, Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah, was part of Jesuss inner circle, thrice denied Jesus and wept bitterly once he realised his deed, according to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero Augustus Caesar. It is traditionally held that he was crucified upside down at his own request, Tradition holds that he was crucified at the site of the Clementine Chapel. His remains are said to be contained in the underground Confessio of St. Peters Basilica. According to Catholic doctrine, the direct successor to Saint Peter is the incumbent pope. Two general epistles in the New Testament are ascribed to Peter, the Gospel of Mark was traditionally thought to show the influence of Peters preaching and eyewitness memories. Peters original name was Shimon or Simeon and he was later given the name Peter, New Testament Greek Πέτρος derived from πέτρα, which means rock. In the Latin translation of the Bible this became Petrus, a form of the feminine petra. Another version of this name is Aramaic, , after his name in Hellenised Aramaic. The English, Dutch and German Peter, French Pierre, the Italian Pietro, the Spanish and Portuguese Pedro, the Syriac or Aramaic word for rock is kepa, which in Greek became Πέτρος, also meaning rock. He is also known as Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha, both Cephas and Kepha also mean rock. In the New Testament, he is among the first of the disciples called during Jesus ministry, Peter became the first listed apostle ordained by Jesus in the early church. Peter was a fisherman in Bethsaida and he was named Simon, son of Jonah or John
24.
Pope Linus
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Linus pronunciation was, according to several early sources, the second Bishop of Rome, and is listed by the Catholic Church as the second pope. According to other sources, Pope Clement I was the second pope, according to the Catholic Churchs Annuario Pontificio, however. Among those believed by the Catholic Church to have held the position of pope, only Peter, Linus, the Oxford Dictionary of Popes interprets Irenaeus as classifying Linus as the first bishop of Rome. Tertullian too wrote of Clement as the successor of Peter, jerome classified Clement as the fourth bishop of Rome after Peter, adding that, most of the Latins think that Clement was second after the apostle. The Apostolic Constitutions denote that Linus, who was consecrated by Paul, was the first bishop of Rome and was succeeded by Clement, who was ordained and consecrated by Peter. Cletus is considered Linuss successor by Irenaeus, and the others cited above, a man named Linus is mentioned in the closing greeting of the Second Epistle to Timothy. In that epistle, Linus is noted as being with Paul in Rome near the end of Pauls life, irenæus stated that this is the same Linus who became Bishop of Rome, a view that is generally still accepted. According to the Liber Pontificalis, Linus was an Italian born in Volterra in the Tuscany region and his fathers name was recorded as Herculanus. The Apostolic Constitutions name his mother as Claudia and it gives the date of his death as 23 September, the date on which his feast is still celebrated. His name is included in the Roman Canon of the Mass, the statement made in the same source, that Linus suffered martyrdom, cannot be proved and is improbable. For between Nero and Domitian there is no mention of any persecution of the Roman Church, the Roman Martyrology does not list Linus as a martyr. A tomb found in St. Peters Basilica in 1615 by Torrigio was inscribed with the letters LINVS, however a note by Torrigio shows that these were merely the last five letters of a longer name. A letter on the martyrdom of Peter and Paul was once attributed to him, List of Catholic saints List of popes Louise Ropes Loomis, The Book of Popes. I SOMMI PONTEFICI ROMANI, The Roman Pontiffs Herbermann, Charles, ed. Pope St. Linus
25.
Pope Anacletus
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Pope Anacletus, also known as Cletus, was the third Bishop of Rome, following Saint Peter and Pope Linus. Anacletus served as pope between c.79 and his death, c, the name Cletus in Ancient Greek means one who has been called, and Anacletus means one who has been called back. The Roman Martyrology mentions the Pope in question only under the name of Cletus, the Annuario Pontificio gives both forms as alternatives. Eusebius, Saint Irenaeus, Saint Augustine and Optatus all suggest that both refer to the same individual. St. Cletus/Anacletus was traditionally understood to have been a Roman who served as pope for twelve years, the Annuario Pontificio states, For the first two centuries, the dates of the start and the end of the pontificate are uncertain. It gives the years 80 to 92 as the reign of Pope Cletus/Anacletus, other sources give the years 77 to 88. According to tradition, Pope Anacletus divided Rome into twenty-five parishes, one of the few surviving records concerning his papacy mentions him as having ordained an uncertain number of priests. He died and was buried next to his predecessor, Saint Linus, near the grave of St. Peters and his name is included in the Roman Canon of the Mass. The Tridentine Calendar reserved 26 April as the feast day of Saint Cletus, who the church honoured jointly with Saint Marcellinus, and 13 July for solely Saint Anacletus. In 1960, Pope John XXIII, while keeping the 26 April feast, although the day of his death is unknown, Saint Cletus continues to be listed in the Roman Martyrology among the saints of 26 April. List of Catholic saints List of popes Donald Attwater and Catherine Rachel John, The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, 3rd edition, New York, louise Ropes Loomis, The Book of Popes. ISBN 1-889758-86-8 (Reprint of the 1916 edition, richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes. ISBN 0-06-065304-3 This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles. Writings attributed to Pope Anacletus/Cletus The Society of Pope Saint Anacletus, an Independent Catholic association in the United States
26.
Pope Clement I
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Pope Clement I, also known as Saint Clement of Rome, is listed by Irenaeus and Tertullian as Bishop of Rome, holding office from 88 to his death in 99. He is considered to be the first Apostolic Father of the Church, few details are known about Clements life. Clement was said to have been consecrated by Saint Peter, early church lists place him as the second or third bishop of Rome after Saint Peter. Tertullian considered Clement to be the successor of Peter. In one of his works, Jerome listed Clement as the bishop of Rome after Peter. Clement is put after Linus and Cletus/Anacletus in the earliest account, that of Irenaeus, Clements only genuine extant writing is his letter to the church at Corinth in response to a dispute in which certain presbyters of the Corinthian church had been deposed. He asserted the authority of the presbyters as rulers of the church on the ground that the Apostles had appointed such. His letter, which is one of the oldest extant Christian documents outside of the New Testament, was read in church, along with other epistles and these works were the first to affirm the apostolic authority of the clergy. A second epistle,2 Clement, was attributed to Clement, in the legendary Clementine Literature, Clement is the intermediary through whom the apostles teach the church. According to tradition, Clement was imprisoned under the Emperor Trajan, thereafter he was executed by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea. Clement is recognized as a saint in many Christian churches and is considered a saint of mariners. He is commemorated on 23 November in the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity his feast is kept on 24 or 25 November. Starting in the 3rd and 4th century, tradition has identified him as the Clement that Paul mentioned in Philippians 4,3, a fellow laborer in Christ. The 2nd-century Shepherd of Hermas mentions a Clement whose office it was to communicate with other churches, most likely, the Liber Pontificalis, which documents the reigns of popes, states that Clement had known Saint Peter. It also states that he wrote two letters and that he died in Greece in the year of Emperor Trajans reign. A large congregation existed in Rome c,58, when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans. His Captivity Epistles, as well as Mark, Luke, Acts, Paul and Peter were said to have been martyred here. Nero persecuted Roman Christians after Rome burned in 64, and the congregation may have suffered persecution under Domitian
27.
Pope Evaristus
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Pope Evaristus is accounted as the fifth Bishop of Rome, holding office from c.99 to his death c. He was also known as Aristus and he is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Little is known about St. Evaristus, according to the Liber Pontificalis, he came from a family of Greek Ioudaioi living in Bethlehem. He was elected during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, the time of the general persecution. Eusebius, in his Church History IV, I, stated that Evaristus died in the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Trajan after holding the office of bishop of the Romans for eight years. He is said by the Liber Pontificalis to have divided Rome into several titles, assigning a priest to each, and appointed seven deacons for the city. He is usually accorded the title of martyr, however, there is no confirmation of this, as Pope Evaristus is listed without that title in the Roman Martyrology and it is probable that Evaristus was buried near Saint Peters tomb in the Vatican. It is also probable that John the Apostle died during the beginning of Evaristus reign. List of Catholic saints List of popes Writings attributed to Pope St Evaristus Patron Saints Index, Pope Saint Evaristus Catholic Online – Saints & Angels, St. Evaristus Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Evaristus
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Pope Alexander I
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Pope Alexander I can also refer to Pope Alexander I of Alexandria. Pope Alexander I was the Bishop of Rome from c.107 to his death c, the Holy Sees Annuario Pontificio identifies him as a Roman who reigned from 108 or 109 to 116 or 119. Some believe he suffered martyrdom under the Roman Emperor Trajan or Hadrian, according to the Liber Pontificalis, it was Alexander I who inserted the narration of the Last Supper into the liturgy of the Mass. However, the article on Saint Alexander I in the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia, written by Thomas Shahan, judges this tradition to be inaccurate, some sources consider these attributions unlikely. It is certainly possible, however, that Alexander played an important part in the development of the Church of Romes emerging liturgical. A later tradition holds that in the reign of Emperor Hadrian, Alexander I converted the Roman governor Hermes by miraculous means, Saint Quirinus of Neuss, who was Alexanders supposed jailer, and Quirinus daughter Saint Balbina were also among his converts. Alexander is said to have seen a vision of the infant Jesus and his remains are said to have been transferred to Freising in Bavaria, Germany in AD834. Some editions of the Roman Missal identified with Pope Alexander I the Saint Alexander that they give as commemorated, together with Saints Eventius and Theodulus, see, for instance, the General Roman Calendar of 1954. But nothing is known of three saints other than their names, together with the fact that they were martyred and were buried at the seventh milestone of the Via Nomentana on 3 May of some year. The Roman Martyrology lists them as Eventius, Alexander and Theodulus, List of Catholic saints List of popes Benedict XVI. Port Washington, NY, Kennikat Press,1971, fortescue, Adrian, and Scott M. P. Reid. The Early Papacy, To the Synod of Chalcedon in 451, the Drama of the Lost Disciples. ISBN 1-889758-86-8 Pope St. Alexander I] Encyclopaedia Britannica, Saint Alexander I
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Pope Sixtus I
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Pope Sixtus I was the Bishop of Rome from c.115 to his death c. He succeeded Pope Alexander I and was in turn succeeded by Pope Telesphorus, in the oldest documents, Xystus is the spelling used for the first three popes of that name. Pope Sixtus I is also the sixth Pope after Peter, leading to questions whether the name Sixtus might be fictitious, the Holy Sees Annuario Pontificio identifies him as a Roman who served from 117 or 119 to 126 or 128. According to the Liberian Catalogue of popes, he served the Church during the reign of Hadrian a consulatu Negro et Aproniani usque Vero III et Ambibulo, that is, from 117 to 126. Eusebius states in his Chronicon that Sixtus I was pope from 114 to 124, while his Historia Ecclesiastica, using a different catalogue of popes, all authorities agree that he reigned about ten years. Sixtus I instituted several Roman Catholic liturgical and administrative traditions, like most of his predecessors, Sixtus I was believed to have been buried near Saint Peters grave on Vatican Hill, although there are differing traditions concerning where his body lies today. He was a Roman by birth, and his fathers name was Pastor, alban Butler states that Clement X gave some of his relics to Cardinal de Retz, who placed them in the Abbey of St. Michael in Lorraine. The Xystus who is commemorated in the Catholic Canon of the Mass is Xystus II and his feast is celebrated on 6 April. List of Catholic saints List of popes Image of Pope Saint Sixtus as seen on a fresco at Chalivoy-Milon in the Berry, Pope St. Sixtus I CE Sixtus I. in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints Collected works in Migne Patrologia Latina
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Pope Telesphorus
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Pope Saint Telesphorus was the Bishop of Rome from c.126 to his death c. 137, during the reigns of Roman Emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius and he was of Greek ancestry and born in Terranova da Sibari, Calabria, Italy. Telesphorus is traditionally considered as being the seventh Roman bishop in succession after Saint Peter, the Liber Pontificalis mentions that he had been an anchorite monk prior to assuming office. According to the testimony of Irenæus, he suffered a glorious martyrdom, although most early popes are called martyrs by sources such as the Liber Pontificalis, Telesphorus is the first to whom Irenaeus, writing considerably earlier, gives this title. Eusebius places the beginning of his pontificate in the year of the reign of Emperor Hadrian. In Roman Martyrology, his feast is celebrated on 5 January, unlike Victor, however, Telesphorus remained in communion with those communities that did not follow this custom. The Carmelites venerate Telesphorus as a saint of the order since some sources depict him as a hermit living on Mount Carmel. The town of Saint-Télesphore, in the part of Canadas Quebec province, is named after him. List of Catholic saints List of popes Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John, port Washington, NY, Kennikat Press,1971. Fortescue, Adrian, and Scott M. P. Reid, the Early Papacy, To the Synod of Chalcedon in 451. ISBN 1-889758-86-8 The Works of Pope Telesphorus Pope St. Telesphorus Catholic Encyclopedia Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Telesphorus
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Pope Hyginus
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Pope Hyginus was the Bishop of Rome from c.138 to c. Tradition holds that during his papacy he determined the various prerogatives of the clergy and he also decreed that all churches be consecrated. He is said to have died a martyr under the persecution of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the chronology of the early bishops of Rome cannot be determined with any degree of exactitude today. According to the Liber Pontificalis, Hyginus was a Greek by birth, irenaeus says that the Gnostic Valentinus came to Rome in Hyginuss time, remaining there until Anicetus became pontiff. How many of these took place during the time of Hyginus is not known. The Liber Pontificalis also relates that this pope organized the hierarchy and this general observation recurs also in the biography of Pope Hormisdas, but has no historical value. According to Louis Duchesne, the writer referred to the lower orders of the clergy. The ancient sources contain no information as to his having died a martyr, at his death he was buried on the Vatican Hill, near the tomb of St. Peter. His feast is celebrated on 11 January, three letters attributed to him have survived. List of Catholic saints List of popes Opera Omnia Chisholm, Hugh, fontes Latinae de papis usque ad annum 530 Liber pontificalis
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Pope Pius I
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Pope Saint Pius I is said to have been the Bishop of Rome from c.140 to his death c. 154, according to the Annuario Pontificio and his dates are listed as 142 or 146 to 157 or 161, respectively. Pius is believed to have born at Aquileia, in Northern Italy. His father was an Italian called Rufinus, who was also a native of Aquileia according to the Liber Pontificalis, according to the 2nd century Muratorian Canon and the Liberian Catalogue, that he was the brother of Hermas, author of the text known as The Shepherd of Hermas. The writer of the text identifies himself as a former slave. This has led to speculation that both Hermas and Pius were freedmen, however Hermas statement that he was a slave may just mean that he belonged to a low-ranking plebeian family. According to Catholic tradition, St Pius I governed the Church in the middle of the 2nd century during the reigns of the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is held to be the successor of Saint Peter. Although credited with ordering the publication of the Liber Pontificalis, compilation of that document was not started before the beginning of the 6th century and he is also said to have built one of the oldest churches in Rome, Santa Pudenziana. Saint Justin taught Christian doctrine in Rome during the pontificate of St Pius I. The heretics Valentinus, Cerdon, and Marcion visited Rome during that period, Catholic apologists see this as an argument for the primacy of the Roman See during the 2nd century. Pope Pius I is believed to have opposed the Valentinians and Gnostics under Marcion, there is some conjecture that he was a martyr in Rome, a conjecture that entered earlier editions of the Roman Breviary. Pius Is feast day is 11 July, in the Tridentine Calendar it was given the rank of Simple and celebrated as the feast of a martyr. The rank of the feast was reduced to a Commemoration in the 1955 General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII and the General Roman Calendar of 1960. List of Catholic saints List of popes This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles. Lives of the Saints, For Every Day of the Year, edited by Rev. Hugo Hoever, new York, Catholic Book Publishing Co
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Pope Anicetus
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Pope Anicetus was the Bishop of Rome from c.157 to his death in 168. According to the Annuario Pontificio, the start of his papacy may have been 153 and his name is Greek for unconquered. According to the Liber Pontificalis, Anicetus was a Syrian from the city of Emesa, according to Irenaeus, it was during his pontificate that the aged Polycarp of Smyrna, a disciple of John the Evangelist, visited Rome to discuss the celebration of Passover with Anicetus. The two did not agree on a date, but Anicetus conceded to St. Polycarp. The controversy was to grow heated in the following centuries, the Christian historian Hegesippus also visited Rome during Anicetuss pontificate. This visit is often cited as a sign of the importance of the Roman See. Anicetus actively opposed the Gnostics and Marcionism, Liber Pontificalis records that Anicetus decreed that priests are not allowed to have long hair. According to legend, St. Anicetus suffered martyrdom during the reign of the Roman Co-Emperor Lucius Verus,16,17 and 20 April are all cited as the date of his death, but 20 April is currently celebrated as his feast day. Before 1970, the chosen was 17 April. The Liber Pontificalis states he was buried in the cemetery of Callistus, List of Catholic saints List of popes Quartodeciman Campbell, Thomas Joseph. Saints and Sinners, A History of the Popes, Yale University Press,2001, p.13. ISBN 0-300-09165-6 Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. Chronicle of the Popes, The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Papacy from St. Peter to the Present, Thames & Hudson,2002, Anicetus in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints Collected works of Migne Patrologia Latina
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Pope Soter
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Pope Soter was the Bishop of Rome from c.167 to his death c. According to the Annuario Pontificio, the dates may have ranged from 162–168 to 170–177 and he was born in Fondi, Campania, today Lazio region, Italy. Soter is known for declaring that marriage was only as a sacrament blessed by a priest. His name, from Greek σωτήρ saviour, would be his baptismal name, Saint Soters feast day is celebrated on 22 April, as is that of Saint Caius. It has often been supposed that all the earliest Popes suffered martyrdom, the book detailing the 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar states, There are no grounds for including Saint Soter and Saint Caius among the martyrs. The Montanist movement, which originated in Asia Minor, made its way to Rome and Gaul in the half of the 2nd century. Its nature did not diverge so much from the orthodoxy of the time for it to initially be labeled heresy. During the violent persecution at Lyon, in 177, local confessors wrote from their prison concerning the new movement to the Asiatic, the bearer of their letter to the pope was the presbyter Irenaeus, soon to become Bishop of Lyon. When the Roman church took its stand against Montanism is not precisely known. Another ancient source states that Holy Soter, Pope of the City, wrote against them a book, as did the master, against these wrote the priest Tertullian of Carthage. Who in all ways wrote well, wrote first and wrote incomparably, in this alone did reprehensibly, at Rome, the Gnostics and Marcionites continued to preach against the Catholic Church. List of Catholic saints List of popes
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Pope Eleutherius
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Pope Eleuterus, also known as Eleutherius, was the Bishop of Rome from c.174 to his death. According to the Liber Pontificalis, he was a Greek born in Nicopolis in Epirus and his contemporary Hegesippus wrote that he was a deacon of the Roman Church under Pope Anicetus, and remained so under Pope Soter, whom he succeeded around 174. The 6th-century recension of Liber Pontificalis known as the Felician Catalog includes additional commentary to the earlier entry on Eleuterus. Such a decree might have been issued against early continuations of Jewish dietary law and against similar laws practiced by the Gnostics and Montanists. It is also possible, however, that the editor of the attributed to Eleuterus a decree similar to another issued around the year 500 in order to give it greater authority. Another addition credited Eleuterus with receiving a letter from Lucius, King of Britain or King of the Britons, no earlier accounts of this mission have been found. It is now considered to be a pious forgery, although there remains disagreement over its original purpose. Duchesne dated the entry a little later to the pontificate of Boniface II around 530, the first Englishman to mention the story was Bede and he seems to have taken it, not from native texts or traditions, but from The Book of the Popes. The account, however, dates this baptism to AD167, in the 12th century, more details began to be added to the story. Geoffrey of Monmouths pseudohistorical History of the Kings of Britain goes into detail concerning Lucius. The 12th-century Book of Llandaf placed the court of Lucius in southern Wales and names his emissaries to the pope as Elfan, an echo of this legend penetrated even to Switzerland. In this way Lucius, the missionary of the Swiss district of Chur. Harnack suggests that in the document which the compiler of the Liber Pontificalis drew his information, the name found was not Britanio, now this is the name of the fortress of Edessa. The king in question is, therefore, Lucius Ælius Septimus Megas Abgar IX, of Edessa, according to the Liber Pontificalis, Pope Eleutherius died on 24 May and was buried on the Vatican Hill near the body of St. Peter. Later tradition has his body moved to the church of San Giovanni della Pigna, in 1591, his remains were again moved to the church of Santa Susanna at the request of Camilla Peretti, the sister of Pope Sixtus V. His feast is celebrated on 26 May, List of popes List of Catholic saints
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Pope Urban I
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Pope Urban I was Bishop of Rome or pope from 222 to 23 May 230. He was born in Rome and succeeded Pope Callixtus I, who had been martyred and it was previously believed for centuries that Urban I was also martyred. However, recent historical discoveries now lead scholars to believe that he died of natural causes, much of Urbans life is shrouded in mystery, leading to many myths and misconceptions. Despite the lack of sources he is the first Pope whose reign can be definitely dated, two prominent sources do exist for Urbans pontificate, Eusebius history of the early Church and also an inscription in the Coemeterium Callisti which names the Pope. Urban ascended to the Chair of Saint Peter in the year of the Roman Emperor Elagabalus assassination and it is believed that Urbans pontificate was during a peaceful time for Christians in the Empire as Severus did not promote the persecution of Christianity. Urban is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church and it is believed that the schismatic Hippolytus was still leading a rival Christian Congregation in Rome, and that he published the Philosophumena, an attack on Pope Urbans predecessor Callixtus. Urban is said to have maintained the policy of Callixtus when dealing with the schismatic party. Due to the freedoms the Christian community had during Severus reign the Church in Rome grew. It had been believed that he was buried in the Coemetarium Praetextati where a tomb was inscribed with his name, however, when excavating the Catacomb of Callixtus Italian archaeologist Giovanni de Rossi uncovered the lid of a sarcophagus which suggested that Pope Urban was in fact buried there. De Rossi also found a list of martyrs and confessors who were buried at St. Callistus, de Rossi therefore concluded that the Urban buried in the Coemetarium Praetextati was another bishop and Pope Urban was located in Catacomb of St. Callistus. Therefore, it is possible that Pope Urban is indeed buried in the Coemetarium Praetextati, as no contemporary accounts of Urbans pontificate exist there have been many legends and acts attributed to him which are fictitious or difficult to ascertain the factual nature of. The legendary Acts of St. Cecilia and the Liber Pontificalis both contain information on Urban, although of doubtable accuracy, chaucer had him a character in his Second Nuns Tale in the Canterbury Tales. A story that was included in the Catholic Churchs Breviary states that Saint Urban had many converts among whom were Tiburtius and his brother Valerianus. Tradition credits Saint Urban with the miracle of toppling an idol through prayer and this event is believed to have led to Saint Urban being beaten and tortured before being sentenced to death by beheading. A further belief, now known as an invention from the century, was that Urban had ordered the making of silver liturgical vessels. Urban is found in pieces of artwork usually in one of two forms. Often he is found sitting wearing the Papal Tiara, Papal robes, otherwise Urban may be portrayed wearing Papal garb and a Bishops Mitre while holding a bible and a bunch of grapes. An image of Pope Saint Urbanus is on a 12th-century fresco at Chalivoy-Milon in the Berry Art Gallery, other less common depictions of Pope Urban are, after his beheading, with the papal tiara near him
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Pope Pontian
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Pope St. Pontian, was the Bishop of Rome from 21 July 230 to 28 September 235. In 235, during the persecution of Christians in the reign of the Emperor Maximinus the Thracian, Pontian was arrested and he resigned to make the election of a new pope possible. Pontians pontificate was relatively peaceful under the reign of the Emperor Severus Alexander, according to early church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, the next emperor, Maximinus, overturned his predecessors policy of tolerance towards Christianity. Both Pope Pontian and the Antipope Hippolytus of Rome were arrested and exiled to labor in the mines of Sardinia, in light of his sentence, Pontian resigned as bishop on 28 September 235, so as to allow an orderly transition in the Church of Rome. This action ended a schism that had existed in the Roman Church for eighteen years and he was beaten to death with sticks. Neither Hippolytus nor Pontian survived, reconciling with one another there before their deaths, Pope Fabian had the bodies of both Pontian and Hippolytus brought back to Rome in 236 or 237 and buried in the papal crypt in the Catacomb of Callixtus on the Appian Way. The slab covering his tomb was discovered in 1909, on it is inscribed in Greek, Ποντιανός Επίσκ. The inscription Μάρτυρ, MARTUR had been added in another hand, pontians feast day was previously celebrated on 19 November, but since 1969 both he and Hippolytus are commemorated jointly on 13 August. List of Catholic saints List of popes Herbermann, Charles, ed. Pope St. Pontian
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Pope Anterus
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Pope Anterus was the Bishop of Rome from 21 November 235 to his death in 236. He succeeded Pope Pontian, who had been deported from Rome to Sardinia, Anterus was the son of Romulus, born in Petilia Policastro, Calabria. He is thought to have been of Greek origin, and his name may indicate that he was a freed slave and he created one bishop, for the city of Fondi. Some scholars believe he was martyred, because he ordered greater strictness in searching into the acts of the martyrs, other scholars doubt this and believe it is more likely that he died in undramatic circumstances during the persecutions of Emperor Maximinus the Thracian. He was buried in the crypt of the Catacomb of Callixtus. His ashes had been removed to the Church of Saint Sylvester in the Campus Martius and were discovered on 17 November 1595, List of popes List of Catholic saints
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Pope Fabian
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Fabian was the Bishop of Rome from 10 January 236 to his death in 250, succeeding Anterus. He is famous for the nature of his election, in which a dove is said to have descended on his head to mark him as the Holy Spirits unexpected choice to become the next pope. It was also probably during his reign that the schism between the two corresponding Roman congregations of these leaders was ended and he was highly esteemed by Cyprian, Novatian refers to his nobilissima memoriae, and he corresponded with Origen. One authority refers to him as Flavian, the Liber Pontificalis, a fourth-century document that survives in later copies, says that he divided Rome into diaconates and appointed secretaries to collect the records of the martyrs. He is also said, probably without basis, to have baptized the emperor Philip the Arab, more plausible is the report in the Liberian Catalogue that he sent out seven apostles to the Gauls as missionaries. He died a martyr at the beginning of the Decian persecution and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church, Fabians feast day is commemorated on January 20, the same as Saint Sebastian, in whose church his sepulcher lies in Rome. According to the Liber Pontificalis, Fabian was a noble Roman by birth, nothing more is known about his background. The legend concerning the circumstances of his election is preserved by the fourth-century writer Eusebius of Caesarea, after the short reign of Pope Anterus, Fabian had come to Rome from the countryside when the new papal election began. Although present, says Eusebius, Fabian was in the mind of none, while the names of several illustrious and noble churchmen were being considered over the course of thirteen days, a dove suddenly descended upon the head of Fabian. To the assembled electors, this strange sight recalled the scene of the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at the time of his baptism by John the Baptist. The congregation took this as a sign that he was marked out for this dignity, during Fabians reign of 14 years, there was a lull in the storm of persecution which had resulted in the exile of both Anterus predecessor Pontian and the antipope Hippolytus. Fabian had enough influence at court to effect the return of the bodies of both of these martyrs from Sardinia, where they had died at hard labor in the mines. According to the sixth-century historian Gregory of Tours Fabian sent out the apostles to the Gauls to Christianise Gaul in A. D.245 and he also condemned Privatus, the originator of a new heresy in Africa. The Liber Pontificalis says that Fabian divided the Christian communities of Rome into seven districts, Eusebius adds that he appointed seven subdeacons to help collect the acta of the martyrs—the reports of the court proceedings on the occasion of their trials. There is also a tradition that he instituted the four minor orders, Porter, lector, exorcist. However most scholars believe these offices evolved gradually and were instituted at a later date. With the advent of Emperor Decius, the Roman governments tolerant policy toward Christianity temporarily ended, Decius ordered leading Christians to demonstrate their loyalty to Rome by offering incense to the cult images of deities which represented the Roman state. This was unacceptable to many Christians, who, while no longer holding most of the laws of the Old Testament to apply to them, took the commandment against idolatry with deadly seriousness
40.
Pope Cornelius
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Pope Cornelius was the Bishop of Rome from 6 or 13 March 251 to his martyrdom in 253. Many Christians refused and were martyred, while others partook in the sacrifices in order to save their own lives, two schools of thought arose after the persecution. Under this philosophy, the way to re-enter the church would be re-baptism. The opposing side, including Cornelius and Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage, instead they thought that the sinners should only need to show contrition and true repentance to be welcomed back into the church. In hopes that Christianity would fade away, Decius prevented the election of a new pope, however, soon afterwards Decius was forced to leave the area to fight the invading Goths and while he was away the elections for pope were held. In the 14 months without a pope, the leading candidate, Novatian believed that he would be elected, however Cornelius was unwillingly elected the twenty-first pope in March 251. Novatian was very angry not only that he was not elected pope and he thus proclaimed himself the antipope to Cornelius, driving a schism through the church. Corneliuss next action was to convene a synod of 60 bishops to restate himself as the rightful pope, also addressed in the synod was that Christians who stopped practising during Emperor Deciuss persecution could receive communion only after doing penance. The verdict of the synod was sent to the Christian bishops, most notably the bishop of Antioch, the letters that Cornelius sent to surrounding bishops provide knowledge of the size of the church during the period. His letters also inform that Cornelius had a staff of over 150 clergy members, from these numbers, it has been estimated that there were at least 50,000 Christians in Rome during the papacy of Pope Cornelius. In June 251, Decius was killed in battle with the Goths, persecution began again in June 252, and Pope Cornelius was exiled to Centumcellae, Italy, where he died in June 253. The Liberian catalogue lists his death as being from the hardships of banishment, however, later sources claim he was beheaded. Cornelius is not buried in the chapel of the popes, but in a catacomb. This suggests that Cornelius did not come from a wealthy family. A letter from Cornelius while in exile mentions an office of exorcist in the church for the first time, canon law has since then required each diocese to have an exorcist. St. Cornelius is not mentioned much in most texts, when he is referenced, it seems to be in conjunction with his anti-pope Novatian, who eventually founded his own church with his own bishops, his predecessor St Fabian, or his successor St. Lucius. His papacy was short, reigning two years, three months, and ten days, and little was probably circulated at the due to the persecution in Christian centers. Over time, St. Cornelius seems to have been overlooked and passed over for other great Catholic popes whose papacies lasted longer, had political power
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope St. Zephyrinus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.
