St Pontian, Pope – Feast Day – August 13 2023

Pope St Pontian was born in the mid 2nd century and died in October 235 AD.

He was the pope of the Catholic Church from July 21 230 until September 28 235 when he resigned from the papacy to make it possible for a new pope to be elected.

He was the pope in a period when Emperor Maximinus Thrax persecuted Christians. Immediately after his resignation, he was arrested and exiled to the island of Sardinia where he was murdered.

His feast day is celebrated on August 13 in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Saint Pontian, Pope Biography
Date of Birth	2nd-century
Profession	Pope and Bishop of Rome
Place of Work	Rome, Italy
Date of Death	October 235
Place of Death	Island of Sardinia, Italy
Feast Day	August 13
Canonization	Pre-Congregation

Pope Saint Pontian Biography

Pope Pontian was born in Rome and his father’s name was Calpurnius He was the first pope to resign to give room for another pope to be elected.

There was a division in the Church that had spanned for over 18 years and to end that, Pope Saint Pontian resigned on September 28 235 AD to allow an orderly transition in the Church of Rome.

In the initial years of his papacy, during the reign of Emperor Severus Alexander, there was relative calm in terms of Christian persecution.

But after Emperor Maximinus took the reigns of power, Christian persecutions resumed. The emperor arrested Pope Pontian and his rival Pope Hippolytus of Rome and exiled them to the island of Sardinia where they were clobbered with sticks to death.

Pope Pontian’s Relics

The body of Pope Pontian was brought back to Rome from Sardinia under the supervision of Pope Fabian in 237 AD and was buried in the papal crypt of the Catacomb of St Callixtus on the Appian Way.

Pope Pontian’s Feast Day

The feast day of Pope Saint Pontian is celebrated together with that of St Hippolytus on August 13 every year in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

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