Pope Liberius

Pope Liberius
Papacy began	17 May 3521
Papacy ended	24 September 366
Predecessor	Julius I
Successor	Damasus I
Personal details
Birth name	Liberius
Died	24 September 366(366-09-24)
Sainthood
Feast day	27 August
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church

Papal styles of Pope Liberius
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	none

Pope Liberius (died 24 September 366) was Pope from 17 May 352 to his death in 366.^[1] According to the Catalogus Liberianus, he was consecrated on 22 May as the successor of Pope Julius I. Liberius is mentioned in the The Greek Menology, the Eastern equivalent to the martyrologies of the Western Church. a measure of sainthood prior to the institution of the formal Western processes of canonization.

Life

He is recognized as a saint within the Eastern Orthodox Church.^[2] His first recorded act was, after a synod had been held at Rome, to write to Emperor Constantius II, then in quarters at Arles (353–354), asking that a council might be called at Aquileia with reference to the affairs of Athanasius of Alexandria, but his messenger Vincentius of Capua was compelled by the emperor at a conciliabulum held in Arles to subscribe against his will to a condemnation of the orthodox patriarch of Alexandria.^[1]

At the end of an exile of more than two years in Thrace, after which it seems he may have temporarily relented to the Arian cause, or been set up to appear to have relented – partially evidenced by three letters, quite possibly forgeries, ascribed to Liberius,^[3] the emperor recalled him under extreme pressure from the Roman population who refused to recognize the puppet "pope" Felix. As the Roman See was "officially" occupied by Antipope Felix II, a year passed before Liberius was sent to Rome. It was the emperor's intention that Liberius should govern the Church jointly with Felix, but on the arrival of Liberius, Felix was expelled by the Roman people. Neither Liberius nor Felix took part in the Council of Rimini (359).^[1]

After the death of the Emperor Constantius in 361, Liberius annulled the decrees of that assembly but, with the concurrence of bishops Athanasius and Hilary of Poitiers, retained the bishops who had signed and then withdrew their adherence. In 366, Liberius gave a favourable reception to a deputation of the Eastern episcopate, and admitted into his communion the more moderate of the old Arian party. He died on 24 September 366.^[1]

Some historians have postulated that Liberius resigned the papacy in 365, in order to make sense of the reign of Antipope Felix II.^[4] That view is overwhelmingly outnumbered by the writings of historians and scholars which document Liberius' staunch orthodoxy through the end of his pontificate ended by his death.

Legacy

Pope Pius IX noted in Quartus Supra that Liberius was falsely accused by the Arians and he had refused to condemn Athanasius of Alexandria.^[5] In his encyclical Principi Apostolorum Petro, Pope Benedict XV noted that Pope Liberius went fearlessly into exile in defence of the orthodox faith.^[6]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, he is a saint whose feast is celebrated on August 27.^[7]

The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome is sometimes referred to as the Liberian Basilica.

Notes

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Liberius". Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liberius.

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Pope Liberius.

• Translation of Jaffe-Kaltenbrunner's Register of the Roman Pontiff.
• Theodoret of Cyrus' record of his confrontation with the Emperor over Athanasius from his Ecclesiastical History.

Popes of the Catholic Church
List of popes canonised Tombs extant non-extant Antipope Pope emeritus Papal resignation Pope-elect
1st–4th centuries During the Roman Empire (until 493) including under Constantine (312–337)	Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I
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21st century	Benedict XVI Francis
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