Give me the scoop on Boniface I. Elected on December 28, 418, St. Boniface I reigned as pope for nearly four years. He’s described in The Catholic Encyclopedia as being “a priest highly esteemed for his charity, learning, and good character.” All records point to Boniface getting on in years by the time of his …
Give me the scoop on Zosimus. St. Zosimus was born in Calabria (the toe of Italy’s boot), but little else is known about his life prior to him being pope. Known for having somewhat of a quarrelsome temper, Zosimus dealt with his fair share of controversy as a result. This fiery trait caused particular trouble …
Give me the scoop on Innocent I. His date of birth is unknown, as is most of his life prior to being pope other than him having, in some capacity, served the Church in Rome. The energetic and zealous leader was unanimously chosen to succeed Anastasius I in December of 401, and he never looked …
Give me the scoop on Anastasius I. A pope who basically just stuck around long enough to see the 5th Century start, Anastasius was elected pope in November 399, soon after the death of Siricius. During his short reign, Anastasius I condemned the heresy of Origenism, a sect that believed primarily in universal salvation (i.e. …
Give me the scoop on Siricius. Born in Rome around 334, Siricius spent time prior to becoming pope as a cleric under his two predecessors, Liberius and Damasus I. He was elected in a landslide in December 384, but unfortunately it was his election that caused St. Jerome to say, “we’re no longer friends” and …
Give me the scoop on Damasus I. Born around 304 to Antonius and Laurentia, St. Damasus I was a Spaniard. Prior to being pope, he was, believe it or not, more of a fan of the antipope Felix. However, by the time of his election in 366, he had reconciled himself to Liberius, the true …
Give me the scoop on Liberius. At long last, we have the first pope to not be recognized as a saint. It was a bummer, too, because Liberius is the only one in the first 49 popes to not bear that title in the Catholic Church. Liberius is, however, recognized as a saint by the …
Give me the scoop on Julius I. Born in Rome, Pope St. Julius I was elected pope on February 6, 337 and reigned for 15 years. He knew the great St. Athanasius, who was the on-again-off-again Bishop of Alexandria at the time, and even spoke up on his behalf when Athanasius’ enemies sought to remove …
Give me the scoop on Mark. Not to be confused with the Gospel author of the same name, Mark was a Roman by birth, according to the Liber Pontificalis. He appears to have been a priest or deacon under Pope Miltiades (two popes ago) when Constantine asked for a group of bishops to deal with …
Give me the scoop on Sylvester I. Despite being the second pope to reign under Constantine and preside over a now-legal Church, surprisingly little is factually known about St. Sylvester’s time as pope. There’s no shortage of legends, though. Around the sixth century, people started cooking up all sorts of tall (and untrue) tales about …