Pope Proterius of Alexandria (died 457) was

Patriarch of Alexandria The Patriarch of Alexandria is the archbishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Historically, this office has included the designation "pope" (etymologically "Father", like "Abbot"). The Alexandrian episcopate was revered as one of the three major epi ...

from 451 to 457. He had been appointed by the Council of Chalcedon to replace the deposed Dioscorus. He regarded as

hieromartyr In the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox tradition, a hieromartyr is a martyr (one who dies for his beliefs) who was a bishop or priest. Hieromartyrs do not constitute a special rank of saint and are commemorated at the Divine Liturgy toge ...

by the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

History

Proterius was elected by the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; ) was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...

in 451 to replace

Dioscorus of Alexandria Dioscorus I (), also known as Dioscorus the Great, was the pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of St. Mark who was deposed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. He was recognized as patriarch by the Coptic Church until his death. He die ...

, who had been deposed as Patriarch by the same council. Upon his arrival in Alexandria, he was met by a riot. His accession marks the beginning of the

Schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

of 451 between the

Coptic Orthodox The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the Apostolic see, See of Alexandria i ...

and the

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

patriarchs of Alexandria, which has never been completely resolved. Because the church of Alexandria was largely

anti-Chalcedonian Non-Chalcedonian Christianity comprises the branches of Christianity that do not accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the council following Ephesus, held in 451. Non-Chalcedonian denominations reject the Christ ...

, the deposition of Dioscorus, an anti-Chalcedonian, from the Patriarchate, and the elevation of Proterius, a

Chalcedonian Chalcedonian Christianity is the branches of Christianity that accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, held in AD 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christological Definitio ...

, to it, was violently opposed. Finally in 457 the anti-Chalcedonian party in Alexandria elected

Timothy Aelurus Pope Timothy II of Alexandria (died 477), also known as Timothy Ailuros or Timotheus Ælurus (from Greek Αἴλουρος, "cat", because of his small build or in this case probably "weasel"), succeeded twice in supplanting the Chalcedonian pat ...

as Patriarch of Alexandria, in opposition to Proterius, who was either subsequently martyred by a Coptic mob (

Evagrius Scholasticus Evagrius Scholasticus () was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, ''Ecclesiastical History'' (), comprises a six-volume collection concerning the Chu ...

, 2,

or murdered by the Byzantine garrison in Alexandria ( Zachariah of mytilene, Zachariah of Mitylene, 4,1-3). The murder was commented in several letters by groups of bishops from various

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

s (e.g. Galatia Prima) or larger regions to

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Leo I the Thracian Leo I (; 401 – 18 January 474), also known as "the Thracian" (; ), was Eastern Roman emperor from 457 to 474. He was a native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace. He is sometimes surnamed with the epithet "the Great" (; ), probably to ...

(457–474).

Veneration

He is regarded as a

Saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

by the

and the

. He is not recognized as a Pope by the

, who instead recognize Dioscorus and Timothy as having been the legitimate Popes during this time. (Coptic Orthodox Church Network, Popes Chronolog

.

References

Sources

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External links

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St Proterius of Alexandria
Orthodox Synaxarion. {{DEFAULTSORT:Proterius Of Alexandria 457 deaths 5th-century popes and patriarchs of Alexandria 5th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown Participants in the Council of Chalcedon