Pope Marcellinus

Saint Marcellinus
Birth name	Marcellinus
Papacy began	June 30, 296
Papacy ended	April 1, 304 ?
Predecessor	Caius
Successor	Marcellus I
Born	{{{birth_date}}} ???
Died	April 1 304 ? Rome, Italy

Pope Saint Marcellinus was the bishop of Rome beginning c. 296 until his death in c. 304 C.E. His reign is particularly controversial, in that he is believed to have committed the sin of apostasy while pope, by sacrificing to pagan idols during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian. The majority of his pontificate, however, was peaceful and prosperous. Some authorities dispute that Marcellinus succumbed to temptation under persecution, while others suggest that he quickly repented and redeemed himself by becoming a martyr.

Biography

Little is known of Macellinus' history before he become pope. According to the "Liber Pontificalis" he was a Roman citizen, the son of a certain Projectus. The Liberian Catalogue of popes gives June 30 as the day of his election, and the years 296-304 as the time of his pontificate.

Marcellinus’ pontificate began at a time when Diocletian was Roman Emperor, but had not yet started to persecute the Christians. He thus left Christianity relatively free and so the church’s membership and influence could grow. Diocletian first moved against Christianity in the year 302. Christian soldiers in the Roman army were force to resign, and later the Church's property was confiscated and Christian books were destroyed. After two fires in Diocletian’s palace were blamed on the Christians, the emperor took harder measures: Christians had either to apostatize, or they were sentenced to death.

The emperor's anti-Christian edicts in Rome were executed by Caesar Maximian, causing the great difficulties in the Roman Church after 303. Marcellinus died in the second year of the persecution. Contemporary sources do not mention him as a martyr. His name does not occur either in the list of martyrs or even in the list of the bishops in the fourth-century Roman Chronograph. Neither is he mentioned in the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum".

In mentioning Marcellinus, the church historian Eusebius uses an obscure but perhaps telling expression: he was " overtaken by the persecution." Hist. Eccl., VII, 32). From this it seems that Eusebius believed he did not suffer martyrdom. The question is, did he succumb to it spiritually?

Did Marcellinus apostacize?

Subsequent reports accused Marcellinus of having given up the sacred books after Diocletian's first edict, and also of having offered incense to the gods to protect himself during the later persecution. The Liber Pontificalis, basing itself on the lost Acts of St Marcellinus, relates that during Diocletian’s persecution, Marcellinus was called upon to sacrifice and indeed offered incense to Roman idols. However, it hastens to add that he repented shortly afterwards, confessing his faith in Christ, and suffering martyrdom with several companions. Other documents also speak of his defection. It may be this lapse that explains the silence of the ancient liturgical calendars regarding his episcopacy at Rome.

In the beginning of the fifth century, Petilianus, the Donatist bishop of Constantine, Algeria, affirmed that Marcellinus and his priests had given up the holy books to the pagans during the persecution and offered incense to false gods. Augustine of Hippo, himself a leading anti-Donatist, denied the affair. Documents dealing with confiscation of the church buildings at Rome, brought forward by Augustine during the Donatist controversy in Africa, mention only two Roman deacons as traitors who collaborated with Rome.

At the beginning of the sixth century, an apocryphal document appeared purported to be the acts of the council of Sinuessa (located between Rome and Capua). Supposedly a synod of 300 bishops, the meeting reportedly took place in 303 in order to inquire into the accusation against Marcellinus, that he had sacrificed at Diocletian's order. On the first two days Marcellinus had denied everything, but on the third day he admitted his lapse and repented. However, the synod passed no sentence on him, declaring itself incompetent to pass judgment on the Roman pontiff. When Diocletian learned of the decision, he had the pope and several bishops of this synod executed. However, historians almost unanimously agree that the "acts" of this council are forged.

Catholic tradition holds that "the pope did not comply with the imperial edict by any overt act, such as the surrender of the sacred writings, or even the offering of incense before the statue of a god."

It is notably that neither Eusebius nor Theodoret mentions Marcellinus' alleged apostasy. On the other hand it is remarkable, that in the Roman Chronograph whose first edition was in 336, the name of this pope alone is missing, while all other popes from Lucius I onwards are forthcoming.

What did happen to Marcellinus? It is possible that he was able to hide himself in a safe place of concealment, as many other bishops did, and simply died of natural causes. But it is also possible that when the edict of outright persecution was issued, he somehow secured his own immunity—for instance through a bribe. In Roman Christian circles this would have been imputed to him as weakness, but not as apostasy; yet his reputation would certainly have suffered from it.

However, it is certain that his tomb was venerated by the Christians of Rome, and that he was later recognized as a martyr. Marcellinus died in 304, but the day of his death is not certain. In the Liber Pontificalis his burial is dated as April 26. This is probably a mistake, but this date is retained in the historical martyrologies of the ninth century and, based on them, in the later martyrologies. If we calculate the date of his death from the duration of his office given in the Liberian Catalogue, he would have died on October 24 or 25, 304. His body was interred in the Catacomb of Priscilla on the Via Salaria, near the crypt where the martyr Crescentius. The Catacomb of Callixtus, the official burial place of the Roman Church, was evidently confiscated in the persecution, while the Catacomb of Priscilla, was still at the disposal of the Christians.

Legacy

During Marcellinus' pontificate, Armenia became the first Christian nation in 301.

Neither Marcellinus' martyrdom nor his apostasy is an established historical fact. However, it seems clear that the Roman church suffered considerably after his death. After a considerable interregnum, he was succeeded by Marcellus, with whom he has sometimes been confused.

The tomb of Marcellinus was venerated at a very early date by the Christians of Rome. In one of the seventh century pilgrimage itineraries of the graves of the Roman martyrs (the Epitome de locis ss. martyrum) Marcellinus' grave is expressly mentioned among the sacred tombs of the Catacomb of Priscilla. In early twentieth century excavations at this catacomb, both the burial chamber of Marcellinus and the crypt of Saint Crescentius, which lay beside it, were satisfactorily identified. However, no monument was discovered which referred to this pope.

The fact that the lost martyrdom of Marcellinus, written towards the end of the fifth century, was utilized by the author of the "Liber Pontificalis", shows that he was honored as a martyr at that time. His name also appears in the "Martyrology" of the Venerable Bede, although he apparently drew his account from the "Liber Pontificalis".

This feast of Pope Saint Marcellinus is on April 26. The official Catholic account of his life, which for centuries followed the story of the "Liber Pontificalis" concerning his lapse and his repentance, were altered in 1883. Another Marcellinus—a priest who died in the persecution at Rome in 304—still appears in current lists of Catholic martyrs.

References

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

External information

• Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913

Roman Catholic Popes
Preceded by: Caius	Bishop of Rome Pope June 30, 296– April 1, 304	Succeeded by: Marcellus I

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