ELEUTHERIUS, Pope, Saint. - In the Lib. Pont. he is described as a Greek, born at Nicopolis to a certain Abundius. Hegesippus reports that he was a deacon of the Roman Church under Anicetus. He succeeded Soter and reigned as pontiff during the reign of Commodus, in which the Church enjoyed a certain period of tranquility (175-89). His action with regard to the Montanists is not clear; he did, however, follow their movement with vigilant prudence, condemning it only after he had come to know its doctrines well.

This conduct of E. has led to the suspicion that he initially favored the Montanists. Eusebius, however (Hist. eccl., V, 3-4), reports that the Churches of Lyons and Vienne sent him through St. Irenaeus wise and orthodox letters in which they advocated the preservation of ecclesiastical unity. The Lib. Pont. attributes to E. a decree against the Gnostics and the Marcionites concerning the freedom of Christians to eat every kind of food. The report that the British king Lucius had written to E. expressing his desire to convert to Christianity is rejected by all modern historians. He was buried at the Vatican near the body of St. Peter. Feast day on 26 May.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: Lib. Pont., I, p. 136; introduction, p. cit.; J. P. Kirsch, s. v. in Cath. Enc., V, p. 436 ff.; Bardenhewer, I, p. 436 ff.; Martyr. Romanum, p. 200 ff.

Agostino Amore

@incollection{ec5_eleuterio_papa_santo, author = {Amore, Agostino}, title = {Eleuterio, papa, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {226}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/eleuterio-papa-santo} }

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Eleutherius, Pope, Saint

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