Pope Anterus

Summary

Pope Anterus (Latin: Anterus,[3] Classical Greek: Ανθηρός (Antheros),[4]) was the bishop of Rome from 21 November 235 until his death on 3 January 236.[5]


Anterus
Bishop of Rome
15th century mural depicting St. Anterus by Pietro Perugino from the Sistine Chapel
ChurchEarly Church
Papacy began21 November 235
Papacy ended3 January 236
PredecessorPontian
SuccessorFabian
Personal details
Born
Died(236-01-03)3 January 236
Rome, Italy, Roman Empire
Sainthood
Feast day3 January[1] (Roman Catholic)
18 August[2] (Russian Orthodox)

Life edit

Anterus was the son of Romulus, born in Petilia Policastro,[1] Calabria, Italy. He is thought to have been of Greek origin,[6] and his name may indicate that he was a freed slave.[7] He succeeded Pope Pontian, who had been deported from Rome to Sardinia, along with the antipope Hippolytus. He created one bishop, for the city of Fondi.[6]

Some scholars believe Anterus was martyred,[6][8] because he ordered greater strictness in searching into the acts of the martyrs, exactly collected by the notaries appointed by Pope Clement I.[6][9] Other scholars doubt this and believe it is more likely that he died in undramatic circumstances during the persecutions of Emperor Maximinus the Thracian.[7]

He was buried in the papal crypt of the Catacomb of Callixtus, on the Appian Way[6] in Rome. The site of his sepulchre was discovered by Giovanni Battista de Rossi in 1854, with some broken remnants of the Greek epitaph engraved on the narrow oblong slab that closed his tomb;[9] only the Greek term for bishop was legible.[8] His ashes had been removed to the Church of Saint Sylvester in the Campus Martius[6] and were discovered on 17 November 1595, when Pope Clement VIII rebuilt that church.[6]

Pope Anterus is remembered in the Catholic Church on 3 January[10] and in the Russian Orthodox Church on 18 August.[11]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Pope Saint Antherus » Saints.SQPN.com
  2. ^ "Священномученик Анфи́р Римский, папа Римский". azbyka.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  3. ^ "0235-0236- Anterus, Sanctus\ - Operum Omnium Conspectus seu 'Index of available Writings'". www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  4. ^ T, Giorgis (10 October 2017). "Ποιοι ήταν οι Έλληνες Πάπες της Ρώμης;". ΧΩΡΑ ΤΟΥ ΑΧΩΡΗΤΟΥ (in Greek). Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  5. ^ Shahan, Thomas (1907). "Pope St. Anterus" in The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g de Montor, Artaud (1911). The Lives and Times of the Popes: Including the Complete Gallery of Portraits of the Pontiffs Reproduced from Effigies Pontificum Romanorum Dominici Basae : Being a Series of Volumes Giving the History of the World During the Christian Era. New York: The Catholic Publication Society of America. pp. 49–50. OCLC 7533337.
  7. ^ a b Levillain, Philippe; O'Malley, John W. (2002). The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. London: Routledge. pp. 63, 557. ISBN 978-0-415-92230-2.
  8. ^ a b Marucchi, Orazio (2003). Manual of Christian Archeology 1935. Vecchierello, Hubert (translator). Kessinger Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-7661-4247-3.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ a b Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope St. Anterus" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  10. ^ "Anteros". DEON.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  11. ^ "Священномученик Анфи́р Римский, папа Римский". azbyka.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-06-22.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Pope Anterus at Wikimedia Commons
Titles of the Great Christian Church
Preceded by Bishop of Rome
235–236
Succeeded by