Pope Stephen I

Pope Saint Stephen I
Papacy began	12 May 254
Papacy ended	2 August 257
Predecessor	Lucius I
Successor	Sixtus II
Personal details
Birth name	Stephanus
Born	Rome, Roman Empire
Died	2 August 257(257-08-02) Rome, Roman Empire
Sainthood
Feast day	2 August, 3 August
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Patronage	Hvar Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest Modigliana Cathedral
Other popes named Stephen

Pope Stephen I (Latin: Stephanus I; died 2 August 257) was the bishop of Rome from 12 May 254 to his death in 257.^[1] Of Roman birth but of Greek ancestry, he became bishop after serving as archdeacon of Pope Lucius I, who appointed Stephen his successor.

Biography

Following the Decian persecution of 250–251, there was disagreement about how to treat those who had lapsed from the faith, and Stephen was urged by Faustinus, Bishop of Lyon, to take action against Marcian, Bishop of Arles, who denied penance and communion to the lapsed who repented, the position called Novatianism, after Novatian, later declared a heretic, who held for the strictest approach.

The controversy arose in the context of a broad pastoral problem. During the Decian persecution some Christians had purchased certificates attesting that they had made the requisite sacrifices to the Roman gods. Others had denied they were Christians while yet others had in fact taken part in pagan sacrifices. These people were two called "lapsi". The question arose that if they later repented, could they be readmitted to communion with the church, and if so, under what conditions.^[2]

Stephen held that converts who had been baptized by splinter groups did not need re-baptism, while Cyprian and certain bishops of the Roman province of Africa held rebaptism necessary for admission to the Eucharist. Stephen's view eventually won broad acceptance in the Latin Church.^[1] However, in the Eastern Churches this issue is still debated.

He is also mentioned as having insisted on the restoration of the bishops of León and Astorga, who had been deposed for unfaithfulness during the persecution but afterwards had repented.^[1]

The Depositio episcoporum of 354 does not speak of Pope Stephen I as a martyr and he is not celebrated as such by the Catholic Church,^[3] in spite of the account in the Golden Legend that in 257 Emperor Valerian resumed the persecution of Christians, and Stephen was sitting on his pontifical throne celebrating Mass for his congregation when the emperor's men came and beheaded him on 2 August 257.^[4] As late as the 18th century, what was said to be the chair was preserved, still stained with blood.

St Stephen I's feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is celebrated on 2 August.^[5] In 1839, when the new feast of St Alphonsus Mary de Liguori was assigned to 2 August, Saint Stephen I was mentioned only as a commemoration within the Mass of Saint Alphonsus. The revision of the calendar in 1969 removed the mention of Saint Stephen I from the General Roman Calendar, but, according to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the 2 August Mass may now everywhere be that of Saint Stephen I, unless in some locality an obligatory celebration is assigned to that day,^[6] and some continue to use pre-1969 calendars that mention a commemoration of Saint Stephen I on that day.

Pope Saint Stephen I is the patron of Hvar and of Modigliana Cathedral.

See also

• List of Catholic saints
• List of popes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stephen I.

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Stephen I

•  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope St. Stephen I". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 
• "St. Stephen, Pope and Martyr", Butler's Lives of the Saints
• His writings

Popes of the Catholic Church
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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
5th–8th centuries Ostrogothic Papacy (493–537) Byzantine Papacy (537–752) Frankish Papacy (756–857)	Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III
9th–12th centuries Papal selection before 1059 Saeculum obscurum (904–964) Crescentii era (974–1012) Tusculan Papacy (1012–1044/1048) Imperial Papacy (1048–1257)	Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Benedict V Leo VIII John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III
13th–16th centuries Viterbo (1257–1281) Orvieto (1262–1297) Perugia (1228–1304) Avignon Papacy (1309–1378) Western Schism (1378–1417) Renaissance Papacy (1417–1534) Reformation Papacy (1534–1585) Baroque Papacy (1585–1689)	Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII
17th–20th centuries Revolutionary Papacy (1775–1848) Roman Question (1870–1929) Vatican City (1929–present) World War II (1939–1945) Cold War (1945-1991)	Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II
21st century	Benedict XVI Francis
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