POPE ZEPHYRINUS

'Pope Saint Zephyrinus' was pope from 199 to 217.
He was a Roman who had ruled as head bishop for close to 20 years, and was elected to the Papacy upon the death of the previous pope, Victor. Zephyrinus was succeeded, upon his death on December 20, 217, by his principal advisor, Callixtus.

Contents

Papacy

Decrees

Conflicts

References

See also

Papacy

Decrees

Zephyrinus decreed that sinners who had been excommunicated could be received back into the Church after completing a penance prescribed by Church officials.
He also decreed that the Holy Communion only be received by those 14 and older, a rule which remained unchanged until Pope Pius X lowered it to seven years of age, which he had called "the age of reason".

Conflicts

Under the papal rule of Zephyrinus, the persecution of Christians by the Roman government worsened markedly. Some of this is tied to the fact that three years into his rule, in the year 203, the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus held a celebration to mark his tenth anniversary as emperor. Christians did not attend the event. Later in the year, Septimus Severus issued an edict which forbade conversion to Christianity under the severest penalties. This was part of an effort by Septimus to create a single Roman religion.
A second major incident during the rule of Zephyrinus led to the first major division of the Church. The Monarchianism movement, a movement which had been declared heretical by the Church, was growing rapidly. In response to this, Zephyrinus did little. He denounced the Monarchaists on the advice of Callixtus, but took no other action. The renowned theologian Hippolytus heavily criticised him, accusing him of favouring the Christological heresies of the Monarchians, and, of subverting the discipline of the Church by receiving sinners back into the Church who had been found guilty of grave sins. He also claimed that Zephyrinus was too heavily influenced by his advisor. Hippolytus wanted the pope to issue a decree which condemned the heretical beliefs of the Monarchians and Patripassians, and created distinct dogma which represented the Person of Christ as actually different from that of the Father. ^[1] Upon the death of the pope, and the election of Callixtus, Hippolytus and a number of his scholars left the Church, and the Church entered into its first division. For over ten years Hippolytus, stood at the head of a separate congregation, possibly as bishop, and is sometimes considered the first Antipope.
Antipope Natalius[1], who was the bishop of a rival sect of Christianity in Rome, supposedly tearfully submitted to Pope Zephyrinus, covered in ash, dressed in sackcloth, after being "scourged all night by the holy angels".
The feast of Pope Zephyrinus is held on August 26.

References

★ ''Catholic Encyclopedia'': "Pope St. Zephyrinus" (1913)

★ Rendina, Claudio, ''The Popes Histories and Secrets'' (2002)

See also