St. Pontian

Bishop of Rome in the Third Century

Saint Pontian (died 235) was bishop of Rome from 230 to 235, a pope of the early third century whose brief reign ended in exile, suffering, and a historic act of humility. According to the Liber Pontificalis he was a Roman by birth; little else is recorded of his life before his election. During his pontificate a synod at Rome is reported to have confirmed the condemnation of certain teachings of the great Alexandrian scholar Origen, following the judgment of the church of Alexandria.

Exile to the Mines of Sardinia

Pontian's years as pope coincided with the end of a period of relative peace for the Church. When Maximinus Thrax became emperor in 235, he unleashed a persecution aimed especially at Christian leaders. Pontian was arrested and deported to the mines of Sardinia, an island then so deadly for prisoners that it was known as the island of death. Exiled with him was Hippolytus, the learned Roman priest who had stood for years in schismatic opposition to the popes; tradition holds that the two were reconciled in exile, and the Church honors them together as martyrs.

The First Papal Resignation

Knowing that he would not return, Pontian resigned the papacy on September 28, 235, so that the church of Rome could elect a new bishop, Anterus, in his place. The date, preserved in the fourth-century Liberian Catalogue, makes his abdication the first papal resignation on record and gives him the distinction of being the earliest pope whose reign can be dated to the day. He died in Sardinia soon afterward, worn down by the brutal conditions, and is venerated as a martyr.

Burial in the Catacomb of Callixtus

About a year later, Pope Fabian had the bodies of Pontian and Hippolytus brought back to Rome. Pontian was buried in the papal crypt of the catacomb of Callixtus on the Appian Way, where a fragment of his original Greek epitaph, naming him bishop and martyr, was discovered by archaeologists in 1909. Venerated since antiquity and thus counted among the pre-congregation saints, he shares a memorial with Saint Hippolytus on August 13 in the General Roman Calendar.

Significance

Facing an exile from which he knew he would not return, Pontian set aside the papacy so that the Church of Rome would not be left without a shepherd. That act of humility, joined to his suffering in the mines of Sardinia, shows a leader who placed the good of the Church above his own position. His shared memorial with Hippolytus, with whom tradition says he was reconciled, also speaks to the healing of division.