Pope Victor I (died 199) was the
bishop of Rome
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...
in the late second century (189–199 A.D.). The dates of his tenure are uncertain, but one source states he became pope in 189 and gives the year of his death as 199.
[Kirsch, Johann Peter (1912). "Pope St. Victor I" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.] He was born in the Roman Province of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
—probably in
Leptis Magna
Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names in antiquity, was a prominent city of the Carthaginian Empire and Roman Libya at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda in the Mediterranean.
Originally a 7th-centuryBC Phoenician foundation, it was great ...
(or
Tripolitania
Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...
). He was later considered a saint. His
feast day was celebrated on 28 July as "St Victor I, Pope and Martyr".
Biography
The primary sources vary over the dates assigned to Victor's episcopate, but indicate it included the last decade of the second century.
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 Chris ...
puts his accession in the tenth year of
Commodus (i.e. A.D. 189), which is accepted by Lipsius as the correct date. Jerome's version of the Chronicle puts his accession in the reign of
Pertinax
Publius Helvius Pertinax (; 1 August 126 – 28 March 193) was Roman emperor for the first three months of 193. He succeeded Commodus to become the first emperor during the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors.
Born the son of a freed slav ...
, or the first year of
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
(i.e. 193), while the Armenian version puts it in the seventh year of Commodus (186). The ''
Liber Pontificalis'' dates his accession to the consulate of Commodus and Glabrio (i.e. 186), while the ''
Liberian Catalogue
{{Short description, 4th-century list of Christian popes
The ''Liberian Catalogue'' ( la, Catalogus Liberianus) is a list of the bishops of Rome from Peter to Liberius (died 366). For each bishop, the list gives the lengths of his episcopate, the ...
'', a surviving copy of the source the ''Liber Pontificalis'' drew upon for its chronology, is damaged at this point
Concerning the duration of his episcopate, Eusebius, in his
Ecclesiastical History
__NOTOC__
Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception.
Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...
, does not state directly the duration of his episcopate, but the Armenian version of Eusebius' Chronicle gives it as 12 years. The Liberian Catalogue gives his episcopate a length of nine years two months and ten days, while the ''Liber Pontificalis'' states it was ten years and the same number of months and days; the Felician Catalogue something over ten. Finally, Eusebius in his ''History'' (5.28) states Zephyrinus succeeded him "about the ninth year of Severus", (201), while the ''Liber Pontificalis'' dates it to the consulate of Laternus and Rufinus (197). 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 an anonymous writer quoted by Eusebius, Victor excommunicated
Theodotus of Byzantium
Theodotus of Byzantium ( grc, Θεόδoτoς ''Theodotos''; also known as Theodotus the Tanner, Theodotus the Shoemaker, Theodotus the Cobbler, and Theodotus the Fuller; flourished late 2nd century) was an Adoptionist theologian from 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
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
between
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 the bishops of
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
had been tolerated by both the Roman and Eastern churches.
The churches in Asia Minor celebrated Easter on the
14th of the Jewish month of Nisan, the day before Jewish
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...
, regardless of what day of the week it fell on, as the Crucifixion had occurred on the Friday before Passover, justifying this as the custom they had learned from the apostles; for this the Latins called them ''Quartodecimans''. Synods were held on the subject in various parts—in Judea under Theophilus of Caesarea and Narcissus of Jerusalem, in Pontus under Palmas, in Gaul under
Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
, in Corinth under its bishop, Bachillus, at Osrhoene in Mesopotamia, and elsewhere—all of which disapproved of this practice and consequently issued by synodical letters declaring that "on the Lord's Day only the mystery of the resurrection of the Lord from the dead was accomplished, and that on that day only we keep the close of the paschal fast" (Eusebius H. E. v. 23).
Despite this disapproval, the general feeling was that this divergent tradition was not sufficient grounds for
excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
. Victor alone was intolerant of this difference, and severed ties with these ancient churches, whose bishops included
Polycrates of Ephesus
Polycrates of Ephesus (; el, Πολυκράτης; fl. c. 130 – 196) was an Early Christian bishop at Ephesus. Polycrates convened a synod to establish Quartodecimanism as the official position on Easter. His letter was written between 186-195 ...
; in response he was rebuked by Irenaeus and others, according to Eusebius.
Quartodeciman Controversy
![Saint Victor de Tunis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Saint_Victor_de_Tunis.jpg)
During the reign of Victor I, bishop of Rome, a universal dispute arose amongst the Christians concerning the feast of the Passover. A synod was convened to discuss the issue, and those in attendance agreed that the paschal fast must end on a Sunday. In response to the ruling of the synod and the command issued by Victor I, the churches of the East, led by Polycrates, wrote a reply that is recorded by Eusebius the historian as such:
"We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord's coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis; and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. And Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna. Why need I mention the bishop and martyr Sagaris who fell asleep in Laodicea, or the blessed Papirius, or Melito, the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from heaven, when he shall rise from the dead? All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, do according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed. For seven of my relatives were bishops; and I am the eighth. And my relatives always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said 'We ought to obey God rather than man...I could mention the bishops who were present, whom I summoned at your desire; whose names, should I write them, would constitute a great multitude. And they, beholding my littleness, gave their consent to the letter, knowing that I did not bear my gray hairs in vain, but had always governed my life by the Lord Jesus."
These events and Victor's response to Polycrates' letter are recorded by Socrates Scholasticus as such: "In Asia Minor most people kept the fourteenth day of the moon, disregarding the sabbath: yet they never separated from those who did otherwise, until Victor, bishop of Rome, influenced by too ardent a zeal, fulminated a sentence of excommunication against the Quartodecimans in Asia."
This led to a sharp rebuke by many prominent bishops (including the most well known, Irenaeus).
See also
*
List of Catholic saints
This is an incomplete list of people and angels whom the Catholic Church has canonized as saints. According to Catholic theology, all saints enjoy the beatific vision. Many of the saints listed here are to be found in the General Roman Cale ...
*
List of popes
This chronological list of popes corresponds to that given in the ''Annuario Pontificio'' under the heading "I Sommi Pontefici Romani" (The Roman Supreme Pontiffs), excluding those that are explicitly indicated as antipopes. Published every ye ...
References
Literature
*
*
* Handl A. (2016). Viktor I. (189?-199?) von Rom und die Etablierung des “monarchischen” Episkopats in Rom. ''Sacris Erudiri: a Journal on the Inheritance of Early and Medieval Christianity,'' 55, 7-56.
External links
*
*
San Vittore I Papa e martire - 28 luglio*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victor 01
199 deaths
2nd-century archbishops
2nd-century Berber people
2nd-century Christian saints
2nd-century popes
2nd-century Romans
African popes
Berber Christians
Papal saints
Popes
Saints from Roman Africa (province)
Year of birth unknown
Burials at St. Peter's Basilica