FELICE I, POPE. - In the Liber Pontificalis he is said to have been a Roman, the son of a certain Costanzo. He was pope from 26 to 274. He intervened in the matter of the deposition of Paolo di Samosata at the Council of Antioch, after whose condemnation he wrote a letter to the clergy of Alexandria affirming the unity of person in Jesus Christ, son of God and of the Virgin Mary.
This letter of F. was later also read at the Council of Ephesus in 431. A decree is attributed to him by which permission was given to celebrate Mass at the memorials of the martyrs, but the text of the Liber Pontificalis is neither clear nor certain. He died on 30 Dec. 274 and was buried in the cemetery of Callisto, as indicated in the Depositio episcoporum. The report of his martyrdom and consequent burial on the Via Aurelia arose from the confusion of Pope F. with another martyr, Felice, buried there.