Pope Pius I

Pope Saint Pius I
Papacy began	c. 140
Papacy ended	c. 155
Predecessor	Hyginus
Successor	Anicetus
Personal details
Birth name	Pius
Born	c. late 1st century Aquileia, Italy
Died	c. 155 Rome, Roman Empire
Sainthood
Feast day	11 July
Other popes named Pius

Pope Saint Pius I (died c. 155) was the Bishop of Rome from c. 140 to his death c. 154,^[1] according to the Annuario Pontificio. His dates are listed as 142 or 146 to 157 or 161, respectively.^[2]

Early life

Pius is believed to have been born at Aquileia, in Northern Italy, during the late 1st century.^[3] His father was called "Rufinus", who was also said to be of Aquileia according to the Liber Pontificalis.^[4] Pius was of Illyrian origin.^[5]

It is stated in the 2nd century Muratorian Canon^[6] as well as in the Liberian Catalogue,^[7] that he was the brother of Hermas, author of the text known as The Shepherd of Hermas.

The writer of the later text identifies himself as a former slave. This has led to speculation that both Hermas and Pius were freedmen.

Pontificate

St Pius I governed the Church in the middle of the 2nd century during the reigns of the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.^[8] He was the ninth successor of Saint Peter.^[1] He decreed that Easter should only be kept on a Sunday. Although being credited with ordering the publication of the Liber Pontificalis,^[9] compilation of that document was not started before the beginning of the 6th century.^[10] He is said to have built one of the oldest churches in Rome, Santa Pudenziana.

St Pius I endured many hardships during his reign. The fact that Saint Justin taught Christian doctrine in Rome during the pontificate of St Pius I and that the heretics Valentinus, Cerdon, and Marcion visited Rome at the same time, is an argument for the primacy of the Roman See during the 2nd century.^[9] Pope Pius I opposed the Valentinians and Gnostics under Marcion, whom he excommunicated.^[11]

There is some conjecture that he was a martyr in Rome, a conjecture that entered earlier editions of the Breviary. The study that had produced the 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar stated that there were no grounds for his consideration as a martyr,^[12] and he is not presented as such in the Roman Martyrology.^[13]

Feast day

Pius I's feast day is 11 July. In the Tridentine Calendar it was given the rank of "Simple" and celebrated as the feast of a martyr. The rank of the feast was reduced to a Commemoration in the 1955 General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII and the General Roman Calendar of 1960. Though no longer mentioned in the General Roman Calendar, Saint Pius I may now, according to the rules in the present-day Roman Missal, be celebrated everywhere on his feast day as a Memorial, unless in some locality an obligatory celebration is assigned to that day.^[14]

Notes

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope St. Pius I". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 
• "Lives of the Saints, For Every Day of the Year," edited by Rev. Hugo Hoever, S.O.Cist., Ph.D., New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1955, pp 511

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pius I.

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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