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 |
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
The Liber Pontificalis states that Eusebius was a Greek who had previously been a physician. Two versions of the source give his reign as lasting either two or six years. However the Liberian Catalogue of the popes gives its duration as only four months, from 18 April to 17 August, 309 or 310. This source is generally considered more authoritative.
We learn some details of his career from an large epitaph place on his tomb, which was order under the pontificate of Damasus I less than half a century later. Even before the tomb's rediscovery, the epitaph had been known through ancient transcripts. A few fragments of the original, as well as with a sixth-century marble copy made to replace the original after its destruction, were found by archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi in the papal chapel in the catacombs of Callixtus. The epitaph make it clear that the grave internal dissent caused in the Roman church by the readmittance of the apostates (lapsi) who had renounced the faith the persecution of Diocletian continued under Eusebius.
The issue of how to treat Christians who had committed mortal sins had plagued the Roman church ever since the time of the first antipope and later saint, Hippolytus. It had reached empire-wide proportions, however, during the time of Pope Cornelius' whose papacy was opposed by the respected Roman presbyter, Novatian, who became the second antipope and later a martyr to his faith.
The Novatianists held that apostates could not receive absolution from mere bishops, and that only God could forgive "sins unto death" like apostasy, murder, and adultery. The Catholic Church took is name (catholic meaning "universal") from its position that the church must accommodate sinners as well as saints, and that the bishops, as Christ's representatives, were authorized to absolve even the most grievous sins.
Marcellus had become pope during a period of great turmoil which left the Roman church badly shaken, with rumors that his own predecessor had committed apostasy during the persecution. After Maxententius ended the persecutions, apostate Christians began to return the the church in large numbers. No doubt the Novatianists were able to attract some Catholics who were disgusted by the prospect of these turncoats returning too easily to the fold. Marcellus thus required strict and public penance from the apostates, whom the Catholics referred to as merely lapsi (lapsed). The prescribed penance provoked a severe reaction from many of the lapsi. Conflicts soon arose among the Catholics, some of which ended in bloodshed. Riots broke out throughout the city, and Marcellus' inability to control the situation resulted in his banishment.
If Maxentius expected the new Roman bishop to pursue a less strict policy toward the lapsi, he was mistaken. Eusebius of course, maintained the attitude of the Roman church, adopted after the Decian persecutions (250-51), that the apostates should eventually be absolved of their sins and readmitted to full ecclesiastical communion. However, he insisted that they should be readmitted only after doing proper penance.
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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