Pope Pontian ( la, Pontianus; died October 235) was the

bishop of Rome A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop i ...

from 21 July 230 to 28 September 235.Kirsch, Johann Peter (1911). "Pope St. Pontian" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company. In 235, during the persecution of Christians in the reign of the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, Pontian was arrested and sent to the island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label= Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, af ...

. He abdicated to make the election of a new pope possible. When Pontian resigned on 28 September 235, he was the first pope to do so. It allowed an orderly transition in the Church of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and so ended a

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

that had existed in the Church for eighteen years. Some accounts say he was beaten to death only weeks after his arrival on Sardinia.

Life

A little more is known of Pontian than his predecessors, apparently from a lost papal chronicle that was available to the compiler of the '' Liberian Catalogue'' of the bishops of Rome, written in the fourth century. The '' Liber Pontificalis'' states that he was a Roman citizen and that his father's name was Calpurnius. Early Church historian

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christ ...

wrote that his pontificate lasted six years. Pontian's

pontificate The pontificate is the form of government used in Vatican City. The word came to English from French and simply means ''papacy'', or "to perform the functions of the Pope or other high official in the Church". Since there is only one bishop of Ro ...

was initially relatively peaceful under the reign of the tolerant Emperor

Severus Alexander Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself wa ...

. He presided over the Roman synod which approved

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and the ...

's expulsion and deposition by

Pope Demetrius I of Alexandria Demetrius I (died 22 October 232), 12th Bishop and Patriarch of Alexandria. Sextus Julius Africanus, who visited Alexandria in the Bishoprice of Demetrius, places his accession as eleventh bishop from Mark in the tenth year of Roman Emperor ...

in 230 or 231. According to Eusebius, the next emperor, Maximinus, overturned his predecessor's policy of tolerance towards

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

. Both Pope Pontian and the

Antipope An antipope ( la, antipapa) is a person who makes a significant and substantial attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. At times between the 3rd and mid- ...

Hippolytus of Rome were arrested and exiled to labor in the mines of Sardinia, generally regarded as a death sentence. In light of his sentence, Pontian resigned, the first pope to do so, so as to allow an orderly transition in the Church of Rome, on 28 September 235. This date was recorded in the Liberian Catalogue and is notable for being the first full date of a papal reign given by contemporaries. This action ended a schism that had existed in the Church for eighteen years. Pontian was beaten to death with sticks. Neither Hippolytus nor Pontian survived, possibly reconciling with one another there or in Rome before their deaths. Pontian died in October 235.

Veneration

Pope Fabian had the bodies of both Pontian and Hippolytus brought back to Rome in 236 or 237, and the former buried in the papal crypt in the Catacomb of Callixtus on the

Appian Way The Appian Way ( Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, ...

. The slab covering his tomb was discovered in 1909. On it is inscribed in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ''Ποντιανός Επίσκ'' (''Pontianus Episk''; in English ''Pontianus Bish''). The inscription "Μάρτυρ", "MARTUR" had been added in another hand. In the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

and the General Roman Calendar of 1969, Pontian and Hippolytus are commemorated jointly on 13 August. In those Catholic communities which use a historical calendar such as the General Roman Calendar of 1960, Pontian's feast day is celebrated on 19 November. San Ponziano, a

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church is a church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the clergy who is created a cardinal. These are Catholic churches in the city, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome, that serve as honorary de ...

in Rome, is named in his honour. Churches named for Pontian are also found in Spoleto,

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as ...

and Carbonia, Sardinia.

References

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontian 235 deaths 3rd-century archbishops 3rd-century Christian saints 3rd-century Romans Papal saints Popes Popes who abdicated Year of birth unknown 3rd-century popes

Life

Veneration

See also

References

Sources

External links