POTINO, saint, martyr. — He is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 2 June together with the group of martyrs of Lyon of 177.
A disciple of St. Polycarp, like his presbyter Irenaeus, his successor, P. was bishop of Lyon and was more than 90 years old. Captured by soldiers, he was dragged before the tribunal of the city’s governor, followed by a throng of people who mocked him. During the interrogation, the governor asked him who the God of the Christians was, and P. wisely replied: «You will know, if you are worthy of it». At this reply, the enraged people dragged him away, striking him mercilessly with kicks and blows; taken to prison, he died there two days later as a result of the maltreatment he had suffered.
BIBL.: Eusebio, Hist. Evcl., V, 1; Tillemont, III, p. 10 ff.; Martyr, Romanum, p. 220. Agostino Amore