Pope Zephyrinus

Pope Saint Zephyrinus

Papacy began	199
Papacy ended	20 December 217
Predecessor	Victor I
Successor	Callixtus I
Personal details
Birth name	Zepheniah
Born	Rome, Roman Empire
Died	20 December 217 Rome, Roman Empire
Sainthood
Feast day	20 December

Pope Zephyrinus (died 20 December 217) was Bishop of Rome or Pope from 199 to his death in 217.^[1] He was born in Rome. His predecessor was Pope Victor I. Upon his death on 20 December 217, he was succeeded by his principal advisor, Pope Callixtus I.

Papacy

During the 17-year pontificate of Zephyrinus, the young Church endured severe persecution under the Emperor Severus until his death in the year 211. To quote Alban Butler, "this holy pastor was the support and comfort of the distressed flock".^[2] According to St. Optatus, Zephyrinus also combated new heresies and apostasies, chief of which were Marcion, Praxeas, Valentine and the Montanists.^[3] Eusebius insists that Zephyrinus fought vigorously against the blasphemies of the two Theodotuses, who in response treated him with contempt, but later called him the greatest defender of the divinity of Christ. Although he was not physically martyred for the faith, his suffering – both mental and spiritual – during his pontificate have earned him the title of martyr.^[4]

Conflicts

During the reign of the Emperor Severus (193–211), relations with the young Christian Church deteriorated, and in 202 or 203 the edict of persecution appeared which forbade conversion to Christianity under the severest penalties.^[1]

Zephyrinus's predecessor Pope Victor I had excommunicated Theodotus the Tanner for reviving a heresy that Christ only became God after his resurrection. Theodotus' followers formed a separate heretical community at Rome ruled by another Theodotus, the Money Changer, and Asclepiodotus. Natalius, who was tortured for his faith during the persecution, was persuaded by Asclepiodotus to become a bishop in their sect in exchange for a monthly stipend of 150 denarii. Natalius then reportedly experienced several visions warning him to abandon these heretics. According to an anonymous work entitled The Little Labyrinth and quoted by Eusebius, Natalius was whipped a whole night by an angel; the next day he donned sackcloth and ashes, and weeping bitterly threw himself at the feet of Zephyrinus.^[5]

Feast day

A feast of St Zephyrinus, Pope and Martyr, held on 26 August, was inserted in the General Roman Calendar in the 13th century, but was removed in the 1969 revision, since he was not a martyr and 26 August is not the anniversary of his death,^[6] which is 20 December, the day under which he is now mentioned in the Roman Martyrology.^[7]

Notes

1 2 Kirsch, Johann Peter (1912). "Pope St. Zephyrinus" in The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
↑ A. Butler, Lives of the Saints Vol VIII, 1866
↑ Optatus, De Schismate 1,1
↑ Berti, Sæc 3. Diss. 1.t. 2 p 158
↑ Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 5.28.9-12; translated by G.A. Williamson, Eusebius: The History of the Church (Harmonsworth: Penguin, 1965), pp. 236f
↑ "Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 136
↑ "Martyrologium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)

References

Rendina, Claudio, The Popes' Histories and Secrets (2002)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope St. Zephyrinus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pope Zephyrinus.

Titles of the Great Christian Church
Preceded by Victor I	Bishop of Rome Pope 199–217	Succeeded by Callixtus I

Popes of the Catholic Church
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1st–4th centuries During the Roman Empire (until 493) including under Constantine (312–337)	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 Ostrogothic Papacy (493–537) Byzantine Papacy (537–752) Frankish Papacy (756–857)	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
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21st century	Benedict XVI Francis
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