Pope Hyginus

Pope Saint Hyginus
Papacy began	c. 138
Papacy ended	c. 142
Predecessor	Telesphorus
Successor	Pius I
Personal details
Birth name	Hyginus
Born	??? Athens, Greece
Died	140/142 Rome, Roman Empire
Sainthood
Feast day	11 January

Pope Hyginus (died c. 142) was the Bishop of Rome from c. 138 to c. 142.^[1] Tradition holds that during his papacy he determined the various prerogatives of the clergy and defined the grades of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. However, modern scholars tend to doubt this claim and view the governance of the church of Rome during this period as still more or less collective.

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Hyginus was a Greek born in Athens. The source further states that he previously was a philosopher, probably founded on the similarity of his name with that of two Latin authors.

Irenaeus says that the Gnostic Valentinus came to Rome in Hyginus's time, remaining there until Anicetus became pontiff (Against Heresies, III, iii). Cerdo, another Gnostic and predecessor of Marcion, also lived at Rome in the reign of Hyginus; by confessing his errors and recanting, he succeeded in obtaining readmission into the bosom of the Church, but eventually he fell back into the heresies and was expelled from the Church. How many of these events took place during the time of Hyginus is not known.

The Liber Pontificalis also relates that this pope organized the hierarchy and established the order of ecclesiastical precedence (Hic clerum composuit et distribuit gradus). This general observation recurs also in the biography of Pope Hormisdas; it has no historical value, and according to Duchesne, the writer probably referred to the lower orders of the clergy.

The ancient sources contain no information as to his having died a martyr. At his death he was buried on the Vatican Hill, near the tomb of St. Peter. His feast is celebrated on 11 January.

Three letters attributed to him have survived.

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pope Hyginus.

• Catholic Encyclopedia, "Pope St. Hyginus" (1913).
• Opera Omnia
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hyginus (pope)". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press 
• Fontes Latinae de papis usque ad annum 530 (Papa Felix IV)
• [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/liberpontificalis1.html#XLIII. Liber pontificalis]

v t e Popes of the Catholic Church List of popes canonised Tombs extant non-extant Antipope Pope emeritus Papal resignation Pope-elect 1st–4th centuries Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I 5th–8th centuries Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III 9th–12th centuries Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Benedict V Leo VIII John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III 13th–16th centuries Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII 17th–20th centuries Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II 21st century Benedict XVI Francis Book Category Pope Portal Catholicism Portal

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