Pope Eusebius was the

bishop of Rome A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop i ...

from 18 April 310 until his death on 17 August 310. Difficulty arose, as in the case of his predecessor,

Marcellus I Pope Marcellus I (6 January 255 – 16 January 309) was the bishop of Rome from May or June 308 to his death. He succeeded Marcellinus after a considerable interval. Under Maxentius, he was banished from Rome in 309, on account of the tumult ca ...

, out of Eusebius's attitude toward the lapsi. Eusebius maintained the attitude of the Roman Church, adopted after the

Decian persecution The Decian persecution of Christians occurred in 250 AD under the Roman Emperor Decius. He had issued an edict ordering everyone in the Empire to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods and the well-being of the emperor. The sacrifices had ...

s (250–51), that the apostates should not be forever debarred from ecclesiastical communion, but readmitted after doing proper penance. This view was opposed by a faction of Christians in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

under the leadership of

Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revolt ...

. Johann Peter Kirsch believes it likely that Heraclius was the chief of a party made up of apostates and their followers, who demanded immediate restoration to the Roman Church. Emperor

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...

intervened and exiled them both. Eusebius died in exile in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

very soon after being banished and was buried in the catacomb of Callixtus.

Pope Damasus I Pope Damasus I (; c. 305 – 11 December 384) was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death. He presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list of sacred scripture. He spoke out against major heresies (i ...

placed an

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

of eight

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...

s over his tomb because of his firm defense of ecclesiastical discipline and the banishment which he suffered thereby. His feast is celebrated on 17 August. The feast had previously been observed on 26 September.

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External links

Opera Omnia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eusebius 310 deaths 4th-century Christian saints 4th-century Romans Greek popes Papal saints Popes People from Sardinia Year of birth unknown 4th-century popes Ancient Roman exiles