Pope Saint Stephen I served as Bishop of Rome from 12 May,
254 to 2 August,
257-Roman Empire:*Valerian I recovers Antioch from Shapur.*The Goths build a fleet on the Black Sea.*The Goths separate into the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths.*Aurelian defeats the Goths along the lower Danube, bringing many prisoners back to Rome.-Religion:...
.
Of
RomanRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
birth but of Greek ancestry, he became bishop of Rome in 254, having served as archdeacon of
Pope Lucius IPope Saint Lucius I was Pope from June 25, 253 to March 5, 254.St. Lucius was born in Rome at an unknown date, nothing is known about his family except his father's name, Porphyrianus. He was elected probably on June 25, 253, and died on March 5, 254...
, who appointed Stephen his successor.
At the time, internal disputes racking the Church were as much a threat as the external persecutions: following the
Decian persecutionGaius Messius Quintus Decius was the Emperor of Rome from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until both of them were killed in the Battle of Abrittus.-Early life and rise to power:...
of 250-251, there was disagreement about how to treat those who had lapsed from the faith, and Stephen was urged by Faustinus, Bishop of Lyon, to take action against Marcian, Bishop of Arles, who denied penance and communion to the lapsed who repented, the position called
NovatianismThe Novatianists following Novatus, or Novatian, held a strict view that refused readmission to communion of Lapsi, those baptized Christians who had denied their faith or performed the formalities of a ritual sacrifice to the pagan gods, under the pressures of the persecution sanctioned by Emperor...
, after Novatian, later declared a
hereticHeresy is the rejection of one or more established beliefs of a religious body, or adherence to "other beliefs." Christian heresy refers to unorthodox practices and beliefs that were deemed to be heretical by one or more of the Christian churches. The term "heresy" most commonly refers to those...
, who held for the strictest approach.
This led to controversy over whether to accept as a valid sacrament baptism by splinter Christian groups. Stephen held that converts from such groups did not need rebaptism, while
CyprianSaint Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important early Christian writer. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent classical education...
and certain bishops of the Roman province of Africa held rebaptism necessary for admission to the
EucharistThe Eucharist, also called Holy Communion, Sacrament of the Table, the Blessed Sacrament, or The Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance, generally considered to be a commemoration of the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his...
. Stephen's view eventually won broad acceptance.
He is also mentioned as having insisted on the restoration of the bishops of León and Astorga, who had been deposed for unfaithfulness during the persecution but afterwards had repented.
The
"Depositio Episcoporum" of 354 speaks of Pope Stephen I as not a martyr. Probably because of a conflation with his successor
Pope Sixtus IIPope Sixtus II or Pope Saint Sixtus II was Pope from August 30, 257 to August 6, 258...
, who was one of the first victims of
ValerianPublius Licinius Valerianus , commonly known in English as Valerian or Valerian I, was the Roman Emperor from 253 to 260.-Origins and rise to power:...
's 258 persecution, it has been said that, as he was sitting on his pontifical throne in the
catacombsCatacombs are ancient, human-made underground passageways or subterranean cemeteries composed thereof. Many are under cities and have served during historic times as a refuge for safety during wars or as a meeting place for cults. The first burial galleries to be referred to as catacombs lie...
, celebrating
MassThe Mass is the Eucharistic celebration in the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church. The term is used also of similar celebrations in Old Catholic Churches, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, in many Lutheran Churches, and in a small amount of High Church Methodist parishes...
for his congregation the emperor's men came and beheaded him on August 2,
257-Roman Empire:*Valerian I recovers Antioch from Shapur.*The Goths build a fleet on the Black Sea.*The Goths separate into the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths.*Aurelian defeats the Goths along the lower Danube, bringing many prisoners back to Rome.-Religion:...
. As late as the 18th century, the chair was preserved, still stained with blood. Although Emperor Valerian's original persecution in 257 did not order summary execution of bishops, it did not exactly forbid them.
St Stephen I's feast day in the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
is celebrated on August 2. When the 1839 the new feast of
St Alphonsus Mary de LiguoriSaint Alphonsus Liguori was a Roman Catholic Bishop, spiritual writer, Theologian, and founder of the Redemptorists, an influential religious order. He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and declared a Doctor of the Church.-Biography:Saint Alphonsus Liguori was born in Marianella, Campania...
was assigned to 2 August, Saint Stephen I was mentioned only as a
commemorationIn the Tridentine Mass period of the Roman Rite, when a higher-ranked liturgical celebration impeded the celebration of a lesser that, either permanently or by coincidence, fell on the same day, the prayer of the lower-ranked celebration was usually added to that of the higher...
within the
MassThe Mass is the Eucharistic celebration in the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church. The term is used also of similar celebrations in Old Catholic Churches, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, in many Lutheran Churches, and in a small amount of High Church Methodist parishes...
of Saint Alphonsus. The revision of the calendar in 1969 removed the mention of Saint Stephen I from the General Roman Calendar, but, according to the
General Instruction of the Roman MissalThe Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-History:...
, the 2 August Mass may now everywhere be that of Saint Stephen I, unless in some locality an obligatory celebration is assigned to that day, and some continue to use pre-1969 calendars that mention a commemoration of Saint Stephen I on that day.
Pope Saint Stephen I is the patron of
HvarHvar is a city and port on the island of Hvar, part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The municipality has a population of 4,138 while the city itself is inhabited by 3,672 people, making it the largest settlement on the island of Hvar...
.
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