Pope Sixtus II (), also written as Pope Xystus II, was

bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

from 31 August 257 until his death on 6 August 258. He was killed along with seven

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

s, including

Lawrence of Rome Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman emperor Valerian ordered in 258. ...

, during the

persecution of Christians The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point ...

by the

Emperor Valerian Valerian ( ; ; – 260 or 264) was Roman emperor from 253 to spring 260 AD. Valerian is known as the first Roman emperor to have been taken captive in battle, captured by the Persian emperor Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, causing shock ...

Life

According to the ''

Liber Pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biography, biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adr ...

'', he was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, born in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and was formerly a

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. However, this is uncertain, and is disputed by modern Western historians arguing that the authors of ''Liber Pontificalis'' confused him with the contemporary author Xystus, who was a Greek student of

Pythagoreanism Pythagoreanism originated in the 6th century BC, based on and around the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras established the first Pythagorean community in the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek co ...

. Sixtus II restored the relations with the African and Eastern churches, which had been broken off by his predecessor over the question of

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

raised by the heresy

Novatianism Novatianism or Novationism was an early Christian sect devoted to the theologian Novatian () that held a strict view that refused readmission to communion of '' lapsi'' (those baptized Christians who had denied their faith or performed the formal ...

. In the persecutions under the

in 258, numerous bishops, priests, and deacons were put to death. Pope Sixtus II was one of the first victims of this persecution, being

beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

on 6 August. He was martyred along with six deacons: Januarius, Vincentius, Magnus, Stephanus,

Felicissimus and Agapitus Felicissimus and Agapitus were two of the six deacons of Pope Sixtus II who were martyred with him on or about 6 August 258, Felicissimus and Agapitus on the same day as the Pope. The seventh deacon, Lawrence of Rome, was martyred on 10 August of ...

. Lawrence of Rome, his best-known deacon, suffered martyrdom on 10 August, four days after his bishop. Sixtus is thought by some to be the author of the

pseudo-Cyprian Pseudo-Cyprian is the conventional designation for the anonymous authors of Latin works falsely attributed to Cyprian of Carthage (died 258). These works do not have a common transmission history. Most are not forgeries, but were texts mistakenly a ...

ic writing ''Ad Novatianum'', though this view has not found general acceptance. Another composition written at Rome, between 253 and 258, is generally agreed to be his.

Legacy

Sixtus II is referred to by name in the

Roman Canon The Canon of the Mass (), also known as the Canon of the Roman Mass and in the Mass of Paul VI as the Roman Canon or Eucharistic Prayer I, is the oldest anaphora used in the Roman Rite of Mass. The name ''Canon Missæ'' was used in the Tridenti ...

of the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. The

Tridentine calendar The Tridentine calendar is the calendar of saints to be honoured in the course of the liturgical year in the official liturgy of the Roman Rite as reformed by Pope Pius V and first issued in 1568, implementing a decision of the Council of Trent, ...

commemorated Sixtus, Felicissimus, and Agapitus on the feast of the

Transfiguration of the Lord The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event described in the New Testament where Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is Transfiguration (religion), transfigured and becomes radiant in Glory (religion), glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) r ...

, 6 August. They remained in that position in the

General Roman Calendar The General Roman Calendar (GRC) is the liturgy, liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and Sacred mysteries, mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgic ...

until 1969, when, with the abolition of commemorations, the

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

of Sixtus "and his companions" was moved to 7 August, the day immediately after that of their death.''Calendarium Romanum'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 133 The following inscription honoring Sixtus was placed on his tomb in the

catacomb of Callixtus The Catacomb(s) of Callixtus (also known as the Cemetery of Callixtus) is one of the Catacombs of Rome on the Appian Way, notable for containing the Crypt of the Popes (Italian: ''Cappella dei Papi''), which once contained the tombs of several p ...

Pope Damasus I Pope Damasus I (; c. 305 – 11 December 384), also known as Damasus of Rome, was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death in 384. It is claimed that he presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list ...

References

Literature

* *

External links

"St. Xystus, or Sixtus II., Pope and Martyr"
''Butler's Lives of the Saints'' *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sixtus 02 258 deaths 3rd-century archbishops 3rd-century Christian martyrs 3rd-century executions 3rd-century Romans Greek popes Papal saints Christian martyrs executed by decapitation People executed by the Roman Empire Year of birth unknown 3rd-century popes Popes

Life

Legacy

See also

References

Literature

External links