Pope Hyginus

Saint Hyginus
birth_name=Hyginus
Papacy began	ca. 138
Papacy ended	ca. 140
Predecessor	Telesphorus
Successor	Pius I
Born	??? Athens, Greece
Died	ca. 140 Rome, Italy

Pope Saint Hyginus was pope from about 138 to about 140. He was born in Athens, Greece at an unknown date. During his papacy, he determined the different prerogatives of the clergy, and defined the grades of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Hyginus instituted godparents at baptism to assist the newly born during their Christian life. He also decreed that all churches be consecrated. He is said to have died a martyr under the persecution of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, though no records verify this. The chronology of these bishops of Rome cannot be determined with any degree of exactitude by the help of the authorities at our disposal today.

His feast day is commemorated on January 11.

Hyginus succeeded Telesphorus, who, according to Eusebius (Church History IV.15), died during the first year of the reign of the Emperor Antonius Pius, which would be in 138 or 139. However the chronology of these bishops of Rome cannot be determined with any degree of exactitude. According to the Liber Pontificalis, Hyginus was a Greek by birth. This source further states that before assuming office, he had been a philosopher is probably. However, this statement may be due to the similarity of his name with that of two Latin philosophical writers. Irenaeus of Lyons, writing in the late second century, says that the Gnostic teacher Valentinus came to Rome in Hyginus's time, remaining there until Anicetus became pontiff (Against Heresies III.3). Cerdo, another Gnostic and the predecessor of Marcion, also lived at Rome in the reign of Hyginus. Although Cerdo gained readmission into into the Roman church by recanting his errors, he was later expelled again ((Against Heresies III.3). It is not certain, however, what Hyginus' role in these affairs might have been.

The Liber Pontificalis claims that Hyginus organized the church hierarchy and established This general observation recurs also in the biography of Pope Hormisdas; it has no historical value, and according to Duchesne, the writer probably referred to the lower orders of the clergy. Eusebius (Church History IV.16) claims that Hyginus's pontificate lasted four years. The most ancient sources contain no information as to his having died a martyr. However, as with all the early popes, the Liber Ponificalis and other later traditions honor him as such. At his death he is said to have been buried on the Vatican Hill near the tomb of Saint Peter. His feast is celebrated on 11 January.

Roman Catholic Popes
Preceded by: Telesphorus	Bishop of Rome Pope 136–140	Succeeded by: Pius I

External links

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

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