Pope Dionysius

"Saint Dionysius" redirects here.

Dionysius
Birth name	Dionysius
Papacy began	July 22, 259
Papacy ended	December 26, 268
Predecessor	Sixtus II
Successor	Felix I
Born	??? Greece ?
Died	December 26 268 Rome, Italy ?

Pope Saint Dionysius was bishop of Rome from July 22, 259 to December 26, 268. He followed Sixtus II, who had been martyred along with several Roman deacons, and was succeeded by Felix I.

Probably born in Southern Italy, Dionysius was elected pope in 259, after the Roman bishop's chair had been vacant for nearly a year after the martyrdom of Sixtus II in 258. Emperor Valerian I, who had led the persecution, was captured and killed by the King of Persia in 260. The new emperor, Gallienus, issued an edict of toleration, bringing the persecution of Christians to an end and giving the church legal status. Dionysius took on the task of reorganizing the Roman church, which had fallen into great disorder during the persecution. He had to contend with the ongoing Novatianist schism over the question of whether those who renounced their Christian faith under persecution could be absolved of their sin and readmitted to communion. He also had to deal with a suspected heresy by the bishop of Alexandria, also called Dionysius, concerning the emerging doctrine of the Logos.

Pope Dionysius sent large sums of money to the churches of Cappadocia, which had been devastated by the marauding Goths, to rebuild and to ransom those held captive. He brought order to the Roman church and the peace he helped establish with Roman Empire would last until 303, during which time the Christian church became a very formidable institution. He died of natural causes on December 26, 268.

Biography

Background

Dionysius' date of birth and family origin are unknown. He is said to have come from Southern Italy or Sicily, and the Liber Ponificalils reports that he had previously been a monk. During the pontificate of Pope Stephen I (254-57) Dionysius was a presbyter of the Roman church. During this time, two letters were addressed to him from his namesake, the bishop of Alexandria, in which the bishop describes him as an excellent and learned man (Eusebius, Hist eccl. VII, vii). The letter deals with the subject of "heretical" baptism, over which Rome and the African churches disagreed, with Rome, under Stephen, affirming that baptisms performed by Novatianist schismatics were valid, and many in the African and Eastern churches insist that they were not. The friction between Rome and the African churches was ameliorated during the papacy of Sixtus II, but what role Dionysius had in this we cannot say.

Meanwhile, the persecution of the Christians began again under Valerian I. Dionysius escaped the execution of Sixtus and his deacons, perhaps very narrowly, as he seems to have been already of some importance in the church's administration. After the martyrdom of Sixtus on August 6, 258, the office of bishop of Rome remained vacant for nearly a year, as the violence of the persecution made it impossible to elect a new head.

The church suffered greatly during this period. Valerian's edict permitted the summary execution of bishops, priests, and deacons. The emperor also aimed to purge the higher ranks of society, in which the church had made significant inroads. Christians of senatorial and equestrian rank were punished with degradation and the confiscation of their property, followed by death if they refused to offer sacrifice to the gods of the state. Noble women were sentenced with property confiscation and exile. Christians in the imperial household were sent in chains to perform forced labor in distant domains. In addition to the martyrdom of the pope, Cyprian of Carthage suffered was killed on September 14, 258. Another celebrated martyr was the Roman deacon Saint Lawrence. In Spain, Bishop Fructuosus of Tarragona and his two deacons were put to death on January 21, 259. There were also executions in the eastern provinces (Eusebius, VII, xii).

The difficulties of external persecution were matched during this time by continued strength of the schism founded by the antipope Novatian, who himself became a victim of the persecutions in 258. The Novatianists, who held that those who committed apostasy under persecution could not be readmitted to full communion, had strong congregations throughout the Roman Empire. It is likely that, given their commitment to resist persecution at the risk of their lives, they even gained in prestige and possibly in membership during this time. A further complication was the division within the Catholic faction over the question of the validity of baptisms performed by Novatianist clergy.

Papacy

It was not until the persecution had begun to subside as a result of Valerian's being distracted with a military campaign in the East against the Persians, that Dionysius was raised to the office of bishop of Rome on July 22, 259. After Valerian was defeated in the Battle of Edessa and taken prisoner by the Persians, his son and co-emperor Gallienus issued an edict of toleration, thus bringing to an end the persecution to an end. The new policy also gave a Christian church a legal existence. The edict, which is preserved by Eusebius (Church History VII.13), makes it clear that Gallienus wished no blame to fall on him for the earlier persecution:

"I have ordered the bounty of my gift to be declared through all the world, that they may depart from the places of religious worship. And for this purpose you may use this copy of my rescript, that no one may molest you. And this which you are now enabled lawfully to do, has already for a long time been conceded by me. Therefore Aurelius Cyrenius, who is the chief administrator of affairs, will observe this ordinance which I have given."

Thus, the Roman Church came again into possession of its buildings for worship, its cemeteries with their precious tombs of the martyrs, and other properties. During his episcopacy, Dionysius labored to bring the administration of the church once more into order. The Liber Pontificalis speaks of him assigning presbyters to care for various church parishes and cemeteries, and of his reorganizing the episcopal boundaries of the metropolitan area of Rome.

Early on in his papacy, however, a new controversy arose regarding the definition of the Trinity. Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria, in writing against Sabellianism in which he expressed the opinion that the Son is "something made" and distinct in "substance" (ousia) from the Father, even as is a shipbuilder from a ship. As a result, an accusation of heresy was made against him and laid before Pope Dionysius, who called a synod at Rome for the settlement of the matter. The pope issued, in his own name and that of the council, an important doctrinal letter in which the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity began to take its mature form. The statement first condemned the modalistic doctrine of Sabellianism and also further rejected who those who represent the Son of God as a created being. The pope stopped short of criticizing the venerable Alexandrian bishop by name, however, sending him a separate letter calling on him to explain his views. Dionysius of Alexandria's Apologia is preserved by Athanasius (De sententia Dionysii, V, xiii, De decretis Nicaenae synodi, xxvi). Here, the Alexandrian protests that he has been misunderstood and declares that Christ is co-eternal with the Father. Rather than insisting on his previous statement, he anticipates the Council of Nicea in using the word "consubstantial," (homooúsios) to emphasize the unity of the Father and the Son. This cooperation between Rome and Alexandria in developing and affirming the "orthodox" doctrine of the Trinity would play an important role in the later Arian controversy.

Following the ancient practice of the Roman church, Dionysius also extended his care to the faithful of distant lands. When the Christians of Cappadocia (in modern Turkey) were in great distress from the marauding incursions of the Goths, the pope sent a letter to the Church of Caesarea together with a large sum of money for the redemption of enslaved Christians.

Although the Liber Pontificalis calls him a martyr, as it does nearly all the early popes, it is nearly universally agreed that he ended his life in having maintained a profitable peace with the Roman state. After his death the body of Dionysius was buried in the papal crypt in the catacomb of Callixtus.

Legacy

Roman Catholic Popes
Preceded by: Sixtus II	Bishop of Rome Pope 259–268	Succeeded by: Felix I

External links

• "Pope St. Dionysius" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Opera Omnia

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