Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/October 14 2007
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|Pope Saint Callixtus I or Callistus I, was pope from about 217 to about 222, during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus. He was martyred for his Christian faith and is a canonized saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
His contemporary and enemy, the author of Philosophumena (probably Hippolytus of Rome) relates that when Callixtus, as a young slave was put in charge of a bank by his master, Carpophorus, he lost the money deposited by other Christians. Callixtus then fled from Rome, but was caught near Portus. According to the tale, Callixtus jumped overboard to avoid capture, but was rescued and taken back to his master. He was released at the request of the creditors, who hoped he might be able to recover some of the money, but was rearrested for fighting in a synagogue when he tried to borrow or collect debts from some Jews. Denounced as a Christian, Callixtus was sentenced to work in the mines of Sardinia. Finally, he was released with other Christians at the request of Marcia, a mistress of Emperor Commodus.
Callixtus was the deacon to whom Pope Zephyrinus (199-217) entrusted the burial chambers along the Appian Way, now called the Capella dei Papi.
When Callixtus followed Zephyrinus as Bishop of Rome, he established the practice of the absolution of all repented sins, for which Tertullian took him to task (De Pudicitia xxi). The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops introduction to saints notes that St. Callistus is "most renowned for the reconciliation of sinners, who following a period of penance, were re-admitted to communion with the Church." Hippolytus and Tertullian were especially upset by the pope's admitting to communion those who had repented for murder, adultery, and fornication.
It is possible that Callixtus was martyred around 222, perhaps during a popular uprising, but the legend that he was thrown down a well has no historical foundation, though the church does contain an ancient well (Nyborg).
Callixtus was honored as a martyr in Todi, Italy, on August 14. He was buried in the cemetery of Calepodius on the Aurelian Way and his anniversary is given by the 4th-century Depositio Martirum (Callisti in viâ Aureliâ miliario III) and by the subsequent martyrologies on 14 October. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, his relics were translated in the 9th century to the predecessor of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
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