Give me the scoop on Miltiades. This pope was African by birth. Though not elected until after Emperor Galerius issued a reluctant edict of toleration (aka a note that said “we’ll stop killing the Christians”), Miltiades was elected pope on July 2, 311. The formal act of toleration toward Christians by the Roman Empire two …
Give me the scoop on Eusebius. Not to be confused with Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote about all things Church history around the same time, Pope St. Eusebius had to deal with more fallout from the recent persecutions. What’s worse, they’d become so contentious that Eusebius himself was exiled to Sicily by the Roman emperor, …
Give me the scoop on Marcellus I. A surprising four years passed between the death of St. Marcellinus and the election of St. Marcellus I, due to the incredible intensity of the Diocletian Persecution. The persecution itself had subsided by 306, yet it still took nearly two years for a new Bishop of Rome to …
Give me the scoop on Marcellinus. St. Marcellinus was Roman by birth, though we’re unsure the year in which he was born. His reign coincided with the beginning of the most brutal persecution the Church has ever seen. The emperor Diocletian was initially sympathetic to Christianity, given that his wife was a Christian. But a …
Give me the scoop on Caius. Pope St. Caius reigned as pope for 12 years, four months, and seven days, having been elected on December 17, 283 and dying April 22, 296. Unverifiable tradition holds that St. Caius was born near modern-day Croatia, belonged to a noble family, and was a relative of the Roman …
Give me the scoop on Eutychian. St. Eutychian was elected pope just a few days after the death of St. Felix I, his predecessor, ascending to the Chair of St. Peter on January 4, 275. Other than that, we know next to nothing about his pontificate, since there was (surprisingly) such an immense period of …
Give me the scoop on Felix I. Little is known about St. Felix I prior to his papacy. Elected on January 5, 269 to replace St. Dionysius, Felix’s New Year’s Resolution that year was probably, “Be a good pope.” The Liber Pontificalis credits Felix I with a decree that Mass should be regularly said over the tombs …
Give me the scoop on Dionysius. Bearing a rather common name for the time period, Pope St. Dionysius can be easily confused with contemporaries St. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, or the martyr St. Dionysius of Paris, among others past and future. Pope St. Dionysius first appears on the scene as a Roman priest under Pope …
Give me the scoop on Sixtus II. Given the testy situation in the Roman Empire at the time, St. Sixtus II was elected in secret on August 30, 257. He was known for being a “good and peaceful priest,” according to Pontius, his biographer. Having also been faced, like his predecessor St. Stephen I, with …
Give me the scoop on Stephen I. Stephen I was a Roman by birth and served as archdeacon (the pope’s Number Two) to his predecessor Lucius I. Stephen also collaborated with St. Cyprian of Carthage like the two popes before him, but their relationship was a bit rockier than that of Lucius I and Cornelius. …