Pope St. Pius I

Pope St. Pius I
Pope St. Pius I
    Pope St. Pius I
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Pope St. Pius I
    Date of birth unknown; pope from about 140 to about 154. According to the earliest list of the popes, given by Irenaeus ("Adv. haer.", II, xxxi; cf. Eusebius, "Hist. eccl.", V, vi), Pius was the ninth successor of St. Peter. The dates given in the Liberian Catalogue for his pontificate (146-61) rest on a false calculation of earlier chroniclers, and cannot be accepted. The only chronological datum we possess is supplied by the year of St. Polycarp of Smyrna's death, which may be referred with great certainty to 155-6. On his visit to Rome in the year before his death Polycarp found Anicetus, the successor of Pius, bishop there; consequently, the death of Pius must have occurred about 154. The "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 132) says the father of Pius was Rufinus, and makes him a native of Aquileia; this is, however, probably a conjecture of the author, who had heard of Rufinus of Aquileia (end of fourth century). From a notice in the "Liberian Catalogue" (in Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis", I, 5), which is confirmed by the Muratorian Fragment (ed. Preuschen, "Analecta", I, Tubingen, 1910), we learn that a brother of this pope, Hermas by name, published "The Shepherd" (see HERMAS). If the information which the author gives concerning his personal conditions and station (first a slave, then a freedman) were historical, we should know more about the origin of the pope, his brother. It is very possible that the story which Hermas relates of himself is a fiction.
    During the pontificate of Pius the Roman Church was visited by various heretics, who sought to propagate their false doctrine among the faithful of the capital. The Gnostic Valentinus, who had made his appearance under Pope Hyginus, continued to sow his heresy, apparently not without success. The Gnostic Cerdon was also active in Rome at this period, during which Marcion arrived in the capital (see MARCIONITES). Excluded from communion by Pius, the latter founded his heretical body (Irenaeus, "Adv. haer.", III, iii). But Catholic teachers also visited the Roman Church, the most important being St. Justin, who expounded the Christian teachings during the pontificate of Pius and that of his successor. A great activity thus marks the Christian community in Rome, which stands clearly conspicuous as the centre of the Church. The "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. cit.) speaks of a decision of this pope to the effect that Jewish converts to Christianity should be admitted and baptized. What this means we do not know; doubtless the author of the "Liber Pontificalis", here as frequently, refers to the pope a decree valid in the Church of his own time. A later legend refers the foundation of the two churches, the titulus Pudentis (ecclesia Pudentiana) and the titulus Praxedis, to the time of this pope, who is also supposed to have built a baptistry near the former and to have exercised episcopal functions there (Acta SS., IV May, 299 sqq.; cf. de Rossi, "Musaici delle chiese di Roma: S. Pudenziana, S. Prassede"). The story, however, can lay no claim to historical credibility. These two churches came into existence in the fourth century, although it is not impossible that they replaced Christian houses, in which the faithful of Rome assembled for Divine service before the time of Constantine; the legend, however, should not be alleged as proof of this fact. In many later writings (e.g. the "Liber Pontificalis") the "Pastor" or "Shepherd" in the work of Hermas is erroneously accepted as the name of the author, and, since a Roman priest Pastor is assigned an important role in the foundation of these churches, it is quite possible that the writer of the legend was similarly misled, and consequently interwove Pope Pius into his legendary narrative (see PRAXEDES AND PUDENTIANA). Two letters written to Bishop Justus of Vienne (P.L., V, 1125 sq.; Jaffé, "Regesta", I, 2nd ed., pp. 7 sq.), ascribed to Pius, are not authentic. The feast of St. Pius I is celebrated on 11 July.
    Liber Pontif., I, ed. DUCHESNE, 132 sq.; LANGEN, Gesch. der rom. Kirche, I (Bonn, 1881), 111 sq.; DUCHESNE, Hist. ancienne de l'eglise, I (Paris, 1906), 236 sqq. On chronological questions cf. LIGHTFOOT, The Apostolic Fathers, I, i (2nd ed., London, 1890), 201 sqq.; HARNACK, Gesch. der altchristl. Lit., II (Leipzig, 1897), i, 133 sqq.; MEYRICK, Lives of the Early Popes (London, 1880).
    J.P. KIRSCH
    Transcribed by Herman F. Holbrook Credo et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


Catholic encyclopedia.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pope St. Pius V —     Pope St. Pius V     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope St. Pius V     (MICHELE GHISLERI).     Born at Bosco, near Alexandria, Lombardy, 17 Jan., 1504 elected 7 Jan., 1566; died 1 May, 1572. Being of a poor though noble family his lot would have… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Pope Pius XII — Pius XII Papacy began 2 March 1939 Papacy ended 9 October 1958 ( 1000000000000001900000019 years, 10000000000000221000000221 days) Predecessor …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Pius V — Pius V Papacy began 7 January 1566 Papacy ended 1 May 1572 (6 years, 3 months, 24 days) Predecessor Pius IV …   Wikipedia

  • Pius V —     Pope St. Pius V     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope St. Pius V     (MICHELE GHISLERI).     Born at Bosco, near Alexandria, Lombardy, 17 Jan., 1504 elected 7 Jan., 1566; died 1 May, 1572. Being of a poor though noble family his lot would have… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Pope Pius X — Infobox pope English name= Saint Pius X birth name=Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto term start=August 4, 1903 term end=August 20, 1914 predecessor=Leo XIII successor=Benedict XV birth date=birth date|1835|6|2|mf=y birthplace=Riese, Italy dead=dead|death …   Wikipedia

  • Pope John Paul II — John Paul II John Paul II in 1993 Papacy began 16 October 1978 Papacy ended 2 April 2005 ( 1000000000000002600000026 years, 1000000 …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Benedict XVI — Benedict XVI Benedict XVI during a general audience in 2010 …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Benedict XV — Infobox Pope English name=Benedict XV birth name=Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa term start=September 3 1914 term end=January 22 1922 predecessor=Pius X successor=Pius XI birth date=November 22 1854 birthplace=Genoa, Italy dead=dead… …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Pius XII Liturgy Reforms — The Liturgical Reforms of Pope Pius XII continue a process initiated by Pope Saint Pius X, who began the process of encouraging the faithful to a meaningful participation in the liturgy. Pope Pius XII redefined liturgy in light of his previous… …   Wikipedia

  • Pius II — (Enea Silvio de Piccolomini) 1405 64, Italian ecclesiastic: pope 1458 64. Literary name, Aeneas Silvius. * * * orig. Enea Silvio Piccolomini born Oct. 18, 1405, Corsignano, Republic of Siena died Aug. 14/15. 1464, Ancona, Papal States Pope… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”