Cloud of Witnesses
Hieromartyr3rd century

Martyr Pontian Pope of Rome

Reposed 235, Sardinia

Also known as Pontianus Papa

Bishop of Rome exiled to Sardinia under Maximinus Thrax, who resigned the episcopate before his death.

August 13New Calendar
Feast Day
August 26Old Calendar
Suggest a correctionContribute
Hymn / ApolytikionTroparia & apolytikia to read and chantIcon galleryBrowse icons and imagery elsewhere
Commemorated as

The Holy Hieromartyr Pontian, Pope of Rome

Life

Pontian was Bishop of Rome from 21 July 230 to 28 September 235, the eighteenth to hold the see, succeeding Urban I. A native of Rome, he was the son of a man named Calpurnius, and his episcopate began peacefully during the reign of the emperor Severus Alexander.

In 235 the emperor Maximinus Thrax opened a persecution directed against the leaders of the Church. Pontian was arrested and exiled to the mines of Sardinia, a condition regarded as a de facto death sentence because of the brutality of the labor, and he died there of mistreatment and privation later that year.

He is remembered as the first Bishop of Rome to resign his office, stepping down on 28 September 235 so that an orderly succession could proceed while he faced certain death in exile. In the Eastern Orthodox Church his feast is kept on 13 August, the day of his burial in Rome.

Timeline6 momentsReadHide
  1. 21 July 230Elected Bishop of RomePontian, a Roman and son of Calpurnius, succeeded Urban I as the eighteenth Bishop of Rome. His pontificate began during the peaceful reign of the emperor Severus Alexander.
  2. c. 230–231Roman synod on OrigenPontian presided over a synod at Rome that concurred with the condemnation of the teachings of Origen already issued by Demetrius I of Alexandria.
  3. 235Exile to Sardinia under Maximinus ThraxWhen Maximinus Thrax began a persecution targeting Church leaders, Pontian and the rival claimant Hippolytus were both arrested and banished to the Sardinian mines.
  4. 28 September 235Resignation of the episcopatePontian resigned his office — recorded in the Liberian Catalogue as 'discinctus est' — the first Bishop of Rome to do so, allowing an orderly succession. Anterus followed him.
  5. October 235Death in the minesPontian died in Sardinia from the mistreatment and hardship of the mines.
  6. 236 (13 August)Return and burial in RomeUnder Pope Fabian, Pontian's body was retrieved from Sardinia and buried in the papal crypt of the Catacomb of Callistus on the Appian Way; the date of his deposition, 13 August, became his feast.

Contributions & Legacy

4 contributionsReadHide

Historical Context

Pontian led the Roman Church during a period bracketed by relative calm and sudden violence. Under Severus Alexander the community was left largely undisturbed, but the accession of Maximinus Thrax in 235 brought a persecution aimed specifically at the clergy and leaders of the Church rather than the faithful at large. It was in this campaign that Pontian was seized and deported.

During his tenure the doctrinal controversy over Origen of Alexandria reached Rome. Pontian convened a synod, dated variously to about 230–232, which endorsed the condemnation of Origen's teaching that had been pronounced by Demetrius I of Alexandria — an early instance of Rome acting in concert with the Alexandrian church on a question of doctrine.

The Schism of Hippolytus and its Reconciliation

For nearly two decades the Roman Church had been divided by the party of Hippolytus, who had headed a rival faction. Pontian and Hippolytus were exiled together to Sardinia in 235, and the shared condition of their banishment appears to have brought the long schism to an end: Hippolytus reconciled with Rome before his death.

The two men died in the Sardinian mines, and their common suffering in exile is remembered as the occasion that healed the division. In the West both are honored together on 13 August.

Relics & Shrines

Pope Fabian had his remains and those of Hippolytus brought back from Sardinia to Rome, probably in 236. Pontian was interred in the papal crypt of the Catacomb of Callistus on the Appian Way.

His original tomb slab was discovered in 1909, bearing a Greek inscription reading 'PONTIANOS EPISK MARTUR' — 'Pontian, Bishop, Martyr.' He is listed under 13 August in the 'Depositiones martyrum' of the Chronography of 354. Churches dedicated in his honor include San Ponziano in Rome, with others at Spoleto, Lucca, and Carbonia in Sardinia.

Commemoration

The Eastern Orthodox Church observes Pontian's feast on 13 August, the day of his deposition in Rome. In the West his feast was long kept on 19 November before being moved; the Roman Martyrology and the Catholic Church now commemorate him together with Hippolytus on 13 August.

Companions1 figureShowHide
His predecessor as bishop of Rome.
Hieromartyr UrbanPope of Rome
Related Saints4 saintsShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

Exiled with him to Sardinia and reconciled with the Roman Church before his death, by the tradition identifying him with the theologian.
Hieromartyr Hippolytusof Rome and Companions
Whom he instructed and baptized, with his father Marcus and the whole household.
Martyr Pontiusof Rome
Who recovered his body from the Sardinian mines and gave it Christian burial in the catacombs.
Hieromartyr FabianPope of Rome, and Martyr Pontius
Elected in his place after his deportation to Sardinia.
Hieromartyr AntherusPope of Rome

Browse similar saints by calling and place.

More Confessors177More Western Europe317More Early Martyrs547More Hierarchs580More Bishops702
Sources: OrthodoxWiki; OCA Synaxarion (oca.org)