LUCIO OF CYRENE. — A Christian mentioned in Acts 13:1–3 among “the prophets and teachers” who laid hands on Barnabas and Saul.
Attempts to identify L. with the evangelist Luke (q.v.) do not seem confirmed by etymology or by the fact that Luke is presented as an Antiochene. Nor does he seem identifiable with the L. mentioned in Rom. 16:21. Perhaps he is to be sought among the Christians of Cyrene who preached the Gospel at Antioch (Acts 11:26).
According to the Apostolic Constitutions, St Paul would have appointed L. bishop of Cenchreae (7.46; PG 1, 1053). Pseudo-Hippolytus lists L. among the seventy-two disciples of Jesus and calls him bishop of Laodicea (PG 10, 955), while the Martyrologies of Usuard and Ado call him bishop of Cyrene. The Latin liturgy commemorates him on May 6.