SERAPIONE, saint. – Eighth bishop of Antioch, from 190 (191 according to Giulio Africano) to 30 October 211.
Eusebius (Hist. eccl., V, 19, 22; VI, 11) recalls the figure of S. and lists his writings (VI, 12): a letter concerning the apocryphal Gospel of St. Peter, intended to warn a Christian community in the vicinity of Antioch; a short treatise addressed to Caricus and Ponticus (Ponzio) against the Montanists; and a letter to Donninus, who, during the persecution of Septimius Severus, had returned to Judaism.
He was introduced into the Martyrology by Ado.
BIBL.: PG 5, 1371-76; Acta SS. Octobris, XIII, Parigi 1883, pp. 248-52; Martyr. Romanum, p. 285. Martiniano Roncaglia