PINITUS, bishop of Cnossus, saint. — He is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 10 Oct., but there is no evidence that he was venerated in antiquity.
According to Eusebius, he was bishop under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus; it seems that he wished to impose a very strict way of life on his faithful, especially regarding continence, for which reason Dionysius of Corinth wrote to him, urging moderation in view of human weakness. In his reply, as Eusebius relates, he displayed his faith, his concern for the good of his people, and his knowledge of divine things, but he exhorted Dionysius to nourish the people with stricter doctrine, lest they fall into laxity.
BIBL.: Eusebius, Hist. eccl., IV, 21; S. Jerome, De viris illustribus, 28; Acta SS. Octobris, V, Paris 1868, p. 9; Martyrologium Romanum, p. 445.