Pope Eusebius
| Saint Eusebius | |
|---|---|
| |
| Birth name | Eusebius |
| Papacy began | April 18, 309 or 310 |
| Papacy ended | August 17, 309 or 310 |
| Predecessor | Marcellus I |
| Successor | Miltiades |
| Born | ??? ??? |
| Died | 310 Sicily, Italy |
| Styles of Pope Eusebius | |
| |
| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
| Posthumous style | Saint |
Pope Saint Eusebius (from Greek Εὐσέβιος "pious," from eu (εὖ) "well" and sebein (σέβειν) "to respect") was pope for four months in either 309 or 310.
His pontificate was characterized by violent disturbances between rival factions within the Roman church over the question of the terms under which Christians who had denied their faith during the persecutions of Diocletian could be readmitted to communion. His predecessor, Marcellus I, as the leader of the Roman Christians who were disrupting the peace of the city, had been banished when he proved unable to control the situation. After Eusebius fared no better in achieving peace, he was banished by the emperor Maxentius, who had been the ruler of Rome since 306, and had at first shown himself friendly to the Christians.
Eusebius died in exile in Sicily and was buried in the cemetery of Calixtus. He is considered as a "confessor" who suffered for the Christian faith, but not a martyr. His feast is on September 26.
Biography
Successor of Marcellus, 309 or 310. His reign was short. The Liberian Catalogue gives its duration as only four months, from 18 April to 17 August, 309 or 310. We learn some details of his career from an epitaph for his tomb which Pope Damasus ordered. This epitaph had come down to us through ancient transcripts. A few fragments of the original, together with a sixth-century marble copy made to replace the original, after its destruction were found by De Rossi in the Papal Chapel, in the catacombs of Callistus. It appears from this epitaph that the grave internal dissentions caused in the Roman Church by the readmittance of the apostates (lapsi) during the persecution of Diocletian, and which had already arisen under Marcellus, continued under Eusebius. The latter maintained the attitude of the Roman Church, adopted after the Decian persecutions (250-51), that the apostates should not be forever debarred from ecclesiastical communion, but on the other hand, should be readmitted only after doing proper penance (Eusebius miseros docuit sua crimina flere).
This view was opposed by a faction of Christians in Rome under the leadership of one Heraclius. Whether the latter and his partisans advocated a more rigorous (Novationist) or a more lenient interpretation of the law has not been ascertained. The latter, however, is by far more probable in the hypothesis that Heraclius was the chief of a party made up of apostates and their followers, who demanded immediate restoration to the body of the Church. Damasus characterizes in very strong terms the conflict which ensued (seditcio, cœdes, bellum, discordia, lites). It is likely that Heraclius and his supporters sought to compel by force their admittance to divine worship, which was resented by the faithful gathered in Rome about Eusebius. In consequence both Eusebius and Heraclius were exiled by Emperor Maxentius. Eusebius, in particular, was deported to Sicily, where he died soon after. Miltiades ascended the papal throne, 2 July, 311. The body of his predecessor was brought back to Rome, probably in 311, and 26 September (according to the "Depositio Episcoporum" in the chronographer of 354) was placed in a separate cubiculum of the Catacomb of Callistus. His firm defense of ecclesiastical discipline and the banishment which he suffered therefor caused him to be venerated as a martyr, and in his epitaph Pope Damasus honours Eusebius with this title. His feast is yet celebrated on 26 September.
Legacy
| Roman Catholic Popes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Marcellus I |
Bishop of Rome Pope 309–310 |
Succeeded by: Miltiades |
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External links
This article includes content derived from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1914, which is in the public domain.
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