ANICETO, POPE, saint. — According to the list of popes preserved by Irenaeus (Adv. haer., III, 3; PG 7, 851; cf. also Eusebius, Hist. eccl., V, 24, 14), A. succeeded Pius I and was the tenth successor of St. Peter. Instead, the Liberian Catalogue, a later document, lists A. as the predecessor of Pius I. The error may be explained by the fact that in a 3rd-century list one of the two names was omitted, and when the omission was noticed, it was added in the margin; then, in copying the list, it was placed in the wrong position within the body of the catalogue. The testimony of Irenaeus is confirmed by Hegesippus (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., IV, 22, 3), who names Soter, not Pius I, as the successor of A.
During his pontificate, which can be placed between 155 and 166, numerous Eastern Christians came to Rome, or were already there: the philosopher Justin was teaching and refuting heretics; Hegesippus arrived from Palestine to learn about the faith of the Roman Church; Polycarp, the illustrious bishop of Smyrna, martyred in 155, came in 154 to discuss with the Pope certain matters of ecclesiastical life, especially the question of the celebration of Easter. Although they did not reach agreement on the paschal controversy, nonetheless « they remained in communion with one another, and in the church Anicetus allowed Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist, evidently out of deference » (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., V, 24, 17). Heretics were also numerous in Rome at that time, propagating their views, the most notable being Valentinus of Alexandria, Cerdon, and Marcion. Gnosticism was gaining ground, but we have no knowledge of A.’s activity against heresy.
ANICETO — ANIMA
D. Mondrone. Bellezza verità e poesia delle cose in A. A., in Scrittori al traguardo, II, Roma 1943, pp. 245-90.