Pope Linus
| St. Linus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Birth name | Linus |
| Papacy began | circa 67 |
| Papacy ended | circa 79 |
| Predecessor | Peter |
| Successor | Anacletus |
| Born | Unknown Unknown |
| Died | circa 79 Rome, Italy |
Saint Linus (d. ca. 79) was the second bishop of Rome, following the first "pope," Saint Peter after Peter's martyrdom. according to Catholic tradition. Modern scholarship, however, holds that Rome did not yet have a tradition of a single ruling bishop at this time, seeing Linus as one of several elders who probably governing the young church.
Most lists of the early bishops of Rome, provided by several Church Fathers, agree in placing the name of Linus directly after that Saint Peter. These records are traced back to a list of the Roman bishops which existed in the time of Pope Eleutherus (about 174-189) and were included by Irenaeus of Lyons in his book "Adversus haereses" (Against Heresies). Tertullian, however, asserts (De praescriptione, xxii) that Clement of Rome was bishop immediately after Peter, as do several later Latin scholars, including Saint Jerome. The list provided by Irenaeus, however, is generally accepted as more authoritative. Irenaeus also relates that "Pope" Linus is the same Linus mentioned by Saint Paul in his 2 Timothy 4:21 as joining Paul in his greetings to Timothy:
After the Holy Apostles had founded and set the Church in order (in Rome) they gave over the exercise of the episcopal office to Linus. The same Linus is mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy. His successor was Anacletus.
Critical scholars point out, however, that Irenaeus is anything but objective in his account, the primary purpose of which is to uplift the idea of a single bishop ruling over each church as the repository of apostolic authority.
Linus's term of office, according to the papal lists that follow Irenaeus' lead, lasted 12 years. The Liberian Catalogue specifies 12 years, four months, and 12 days, giving the dates as 56-67 C.E. Perhaps it was on account of these dates that the writers of the fourth century gave their opinion that Linus had held the position of head of the Roman community during the life of the Apostle; e.g., Rufinus in the preface to his translation of the pseudo-Clementine "Recognitiones". But this hypothesis has no historical foundation. It cannot be doubted that according to the accounts of Irenaeus concerning the Roman Church in the second century, Linus was chosen to be head of the community of Christians in Rome, after the death of the Apostle. For this reason his pontificate dates from the year of the death of the Apostles Peter and Paul, which, however, is not known for certain.
The "Liber Pontificalis" asserts that Linus's home was in Tuscany, and that his father's name was Herculanus; but we cannot discover the origin of this assertion. According to the same work on the popes, Linus is supposed to have issued a decree "in conformity with the ordinance of St. Peter", that women should have their heads covered in church. Without doubt this decree is apocryphal, and copied by the author of the "Liber Pontificalis" from the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (11:5) and arbitrarily attributed to the first successor of the Apostle in Rome. The statement made in the same source, that Linus suffered martyrdom, cannot be proved and is improbable. For between Nero and Domitian there is no mention of any persecution of the Roman Church; and Irenaeus (1. c., III, iv, 3) from among the early Roman bishops designates only Telesphorus as a glorious martyr.
Finally this book asserts that Linus after his death, was buried in the Vatican beside St. Peter. We do not know whether the author had any decisive reason for this assertion. As St. Peter was certainly buried at the foot of the Vatican Hill, it is quite possible that the earliest bishops of the Roman Church also were interred there. There was nothing in the liturgical tradition of the fourth-century Roman Church to prove this, because it was only at the end of the second century that any special feast of martyrs was instituted and consequently Linus does not appear in the fourth-century lists of the feasts of the Roman saints. According to Torrigio ("Le sacre grotte Vaticane", Viterbo, 1618, 53) when the present confession was constructed in St. Peter's (1615), sarcophagi were found, and among them was one which bore the word Linus. The explanation given by Severano of this discovery ("Memorie delle sette chiese di Roma", Rome, 1630, 120) is that probably these sarcophagi contained the remains of the firstRoman bishops, and that the one bearing that inscription was Linus's burial place. This assertion was repeated later on by different writers. But from a manuscript of Torrigio's we see that on the sarcophagus in question there were other letters beside the word Linus, so that they rather belonged to some other name (such as Aquilinus, Anullinus). The place of the discovery of the tomb is a proof that it could not be the tomb of Linus (De Rossi, "Inscriptiones christianae urbis Romae", II, 23-7).
The feast of St. Linus is now celebrated on 23 September. This is also the date given in the "Liber Pontificalis". An epistle on the martyrdom of the Apostles St. Peter and Paul was at a later period attributed to St. Linus, and supposedly was sent by him to the Eastern Churches. It is apocryphal and of later date than the history of the martyrdom of the two Apostles, by some attributed to Marcellus, which is also apocryphal ("Acta Apostolorum apocrypha", ed. Lipsius and Bonnet, I, ed; Leipzig, 1891, XIV sqq., 1 sqq.).
according to Irenaeus[1], Jerome,[2] Eusebius,[3] John Chrysostom,[4] the Liberian Catalogue[5] and the Liber Pontificalis;[6] he was succeeded by Anacletus. The Roman Catholic Church considers Saint Linus to be the second Pope, succeeding St. Peter as Bishop of Rome after his martyrdom.[7]
Irenaeus identifies him with the Linus mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21, an identification that is not certain, saying,
- The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric.[8]
The Liberian Catalogue and the Liber Pontificalis both date his Episcopate to 56–67 during the reign of Nero, but Jerome dates it to 67–78, and Eusebius dates the end of his Episcopate to the second year of the reign of Titus (80). However, according to Roman Catholic tradition, Saint Peter was the first Pope.
Other sources disagree on Linus's place in the succession of Popes. Tertullian[9] says that Peter appointed Clement I. The Apostolic Constitutions[10] says that Linus was the first Bishop of Rome, ordained by Paul, and was succeeded by Clement, who was ordained by Peter.
According to the Liber Pontificalis, Linus was an Italian from Tuscany (though his name is Greek), and his father's name was Herculanus. The Apostolic Constitutions names his mother as Claudia. The Liber Pontificalis also says that he issued a decree that women should cover their heads in church, and that he died a martyr and was buried on the Vatican Hill next to Peter. It gives the date of his death as 23 September, the date on which his feast is still celebrated.[11] His name is included in the Roman Canon of the Mass.
On the statement about a decree requiring women to cover their heads, J.P. Kirsch comments in the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Pope Linus: "Without doubt this decree is apocryphal, and copied by the author of the 'Liber Pontificalis' from the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (11:5) and arbitrarily attributed to the first successor of the Apostle in Rome. The statement made in the same source, that Linus suffered martyrdom, cannot be proved and is improbable. For between Nero and Domitian there is no mention of any persecution of the Roman Church; and Irenaeus (1. c., III, iv, 3) from among the early Roman bishops designates only Telesphorus as a glorious martyr."
In the Roman Martyrology, Linus is in fact not called a martyr. The entry about him is as follows: "At Rome, commemoration of Saint Linus, Pope, who, according to Irenaeus, was the person to whom the blessed Apostles entrusted the episcopal care of the Church founded in the City and whom blessed Paul the Apostle mentions as associated with him."[12]
A tomb found in St. Peter's Basilica in 1615 by Torrigio was inscribed with the letters LINUS, and was once taken to be Linus's tomb. However a note by Torrigio shows that these were merely the last five letters of a longer name (e.g. Aquilinus or Anullinus). A letter on the martyrdom of Peter and Paul was once attributed to him, but in fact dates to the 6th century.[13]
In what appears to be a relatively recent British Israelite legend, Claudia, identified as the historical Claudia Rufina, is given as Linus's sister, and both are said to have been children of the Iron Age Brythonic chieftain, Caratacus.[14]
| Papal succession Born: Unknown ; | ||
|---|---|---|
| Roman Catholic Popes | ||
| Preceded by: St. Peter |
Bishop of Rome 67–79 |
Succeeded by: Saint Anacletus |
Notes
- ↑ Against Heresies3:3.3
- ↑ Chronicon, 14g (p. 267)
- ↑ Church History 3.2, 3.13, 5.6
- ↑ Homily X
- ↑ The Chronography of 354 C.E. Part 13: Bishops of Rome
- ↑ Liber Pontificalis 2
- ↑
"Pope St. Linus" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Irenaeus, The Church History, Book III, CCEL.
- ↑ On the "Prescription" of Heretics, Chapter XXXII
- ↑ Apostolic Constitutions 7.4
- ↑ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)
- ↑ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7), 23 September
- ↑ "Pope St. Linus" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
- ↑ George Jowett, The Drama of the Lost Disciples, 1961
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Loomis, Louise Ropes. The Book of Popes (Liber Pontificalis), Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. ISBN 1-889758-86-8 (Reprint of the 1916 edition. Stops with Pope Pelagius, 579-590. English translation with scholarly footnotes, and illustrations).
External links
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