Zacharias of Vienne, also sometimes Zachary or Zachariah, was traditionally the second

Bishop of Vienne The Archbishopric of Vienne, named after its episcopal seat in Vienne in the Isère département of southern France, was a metropolitan Roman Catholic archdiocese. It is now part of the Archdiocese of Lyon. History The legend according to wh ...

() in what is now

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

, France, until he was supposedly

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

ed in 106 AD during the reign of the Emperor Trajan. He was one of the first Christian evangelists in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He is venerated locally and is one of the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

s of the city of

Vienne Vienne may refer to: Places *Vienne (department), a department of France named after the river Vienne *Vienne, Isère, a city in the French department of Isère * Vienne-en-Arthies, a village in the French department of Val-d'Oise * Vienne-en-Bessi ...

. His feast day is celebrated on 26 May.

Historicity

There is a scarcity of historical evidence regarding the early bishops of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienne The Archbishopric of Vienne, named after its episcopal seat in Vienne in the Isère département of southern France, was a metropolitan Roman Catholic archdiocese. It is now part of the Archdiocese of Lyon. History The legend according to whi ...

. For example, Saint Verus has been documented as the bishop of Vienne in the year 314, but it remains unclear whether he may have had the same name as an earlier Verus who is listed as the fourth bishop in the line of succession of bishops of Vienne.Zeno.org: Zacharias

Life

The tradition is that Zacharias lived in Vienne at the end of the first century, where the people elected him to be their second bishop. Since Christianity was forbidden in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, he was martyred there in 106 by the Prefect Pompey on the orders of the Emperor Trajan.

Veneration

Having a local

veneration Veneration (; ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Veneration of saints is practiced, ...

, Zacharias is one of the

s of the city of Vienne. His cult was confirmed by the

Roman 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 ...

and his

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is celebrated on 26 May.

Notes and references

Sources

Zeno.org: Zacharias
* Johannes Hofmann: Zacharias von Vienne. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL), Band 14, col. 307. Bautz, Herzberg 1998 106 deaths Gallo-Roman saints 2nd-century Christian martyrs 2nd-century bishops in Gaul Year of birth unknown {{France-RC-bishop-stub