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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > P > Pope St. Pius I


POPE ST. PIUS I

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Date of birth unknown; pope from about 140 to about 154. According to the
earliest list of the popes, given by Irenaeus (Against Heresies II.31; cf.
Eusebius, Church History V.6), Pius was the ninth successor of St. Peter. The
dates given in the Liberian Catalogue for his pontificate (146-61) rest on a
false calculation of earlier chroniclers, and cannot be accepted. The only
chronological datum we possess is supplied by the year of St. Polycarp of
Smyrna's death, which may be referred with great certainty to 155-6. On his
visit to Rome in the year before his death Polycarp found Anicetus, the
successor of Pius, bishop there; consequently, the death of Pius must have
occurred about 154. The "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 132) says the
father of Pius was Rufinus, and makes him a native of Aquileia; this is,
however, probably a conjecture of the author, who had heard of Rufinus of
Aquileia (end of fourth century). From a notice in the "Liberian Catalogue" (in
Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis", I, 5), which is confirmed by the Muratorian
Fragment (ed. Preuschen, "Analecta", I, Tübingen, 1910), we learn that a brother
of this pope, Hermas by name, published "The Shepherd" (see HERMAS). If the
information which the author gives concerning his personal conditions and
station (first a slave, then a freedman) were historical, we should know more
about the origin of the pope, his brother. It is very possible that the story
which Hermas relates of himself is a fiction.



During the pontificate of Pius the Roman Church was visited by various heretics,
who sought to propagate their false doctrine among the faithful of the capital.
The Gnostic Valentinus, who had made his appearance under Pope Hyginus,
continued to sow his heresy, apparently not without success. The Gnostic Cerdon
was also active in Rome at this period, during which Marcion arrived in the
capital (see MARCIONITES). Excluded from communion by Pius, the latter founded
his heretical body (Irenaeus, Against Heresies III.3). But Catholic teachers
also visited the Roman Church, the most important being St. Justin, who
expounded the Christian teachings during the pontificate of Pius and that of his
successor. A great activity thus marks the Christian community in Rome, which
stands clearly conspicuous as the centre of the Church. The "Liber Pontificalis"
(ed. cit.) speaks of a decision of this pope to the effect that Jewish converts
to Christianity should be admitted and baptized. What this means we do not know;
doubtless the author of the "Liber Pontificalis", here as frequently, refers to
the pope a decree valid in the Church of his own time. A later legend refers the
foundation of the two churches, the titulus Pudentis (ecclesia Pudentiana) and
the titulus Praxedis, to the time of this pope, who is also supposed to have
built a baptistry near the former and to have exercised episcopal functions
there (Acta SS., IV May, 299 sqq.; cf. de Rossi, "Musaici delle chiese di Roma:
S. Pudenziana, S. Prassede"). The story, however, can lay no claim to historical
credibility. These two churches came into existence in the fourth century,
although it is not impossible that they replaced Christian houses, in which the
faithful of Rome assembled for Divine service before the time of Constantine;
the legend, however, should not be alleged as proof of this fact. In many later
writings (e.g. the "Liber Pontificalis") the "Pastor" or "Shepherd" in the work
of Hermas is erroneously accepted as the name of the author, and, since a Roman
priest Pastor is assigned an important role in the foundation of these churches,
it is quite possible that the writer of the legend was similarly misled, and
consequently interwove Pope Pius into his legendary narrative (see PRAXEDES AND
PUDENTIANA). Two letters written to Bishop Justus of Vienne (P.L., V, 1125 sq.;
Jaffé, "Regesta", I, 2nd ed., pp. 7 sq.), ascribed to Pius, are not authentic.
The feast of St. Pius I is celebrated on 11 July.




SOURCES

Liber Pontif., I, ed. DUCHESNE, 132 sq.; LANGEN, Gesch. der rom. Kirche, I
(Bonn, 1881), 111 sq.; DUCHESNE, Hist. ancienne de l'église, I (Paris, 1906),
236 sqq. On chronological questions cf. LIGHTFOOT, The Apostolic Fathers, I, i
(2nd ed., London, 1890), 201 sqq.; HARNACK, Gesch. der altchristl. Lit., II
(Leipzig, 1897), i, 133 sqq.; MEYRICK, Lives of the Early Popes (London, 1880).


ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Kirsch, J.P. (1911). Pope St. Pius I. In The Catholic
Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12126b.htm

MLA citation. Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Pope St. Pius I." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12126b.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Herman F.
Holbrook. Credo et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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