Sixtus II, Pope, Saint

SIXTUS II, Pope, Saint. - He reigned as pontiff from 257 to 258. He is commemorated in the Depositio martyrum on August 6 as buried in the cemetery of Callixtus; on the same date and in the same place he is remembered by the Syriac Breviary, the Calendar of Carthage, the Latin Martyrologies, the Sacramentaries and the Itineraries. His cult was very widespread in antiquity and his name was inserted into the Roman Canon.

He succeeded Stephen in the pontificate, with whom, according to his fabulous Passio, he was imprisoned. During his brief pontificate the baptismal question with St. Cyprian seems to have been settled, since the Church of Carthage inscribed him in its liturgical Calendar and Cyprian's biographer, Pontius, could call him good and peaceable. The settlement of the question was certainly also influenced by the mediation of St. Dionysius of Alexandria, who wrote three letters to S., in one of which he also denounced to him the incipient heresy of Sabellius (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., VII, 5-9).

S. fell victim to the second persecuting Edict of Valerian. His martyrdom is explicitly attested by St. Cyprian (Ep., 80), who states that he was beheaded together with 4 deacons, having been surprised while celebrating the liturgy in the cemetery of Callixtus. On the site of the martyrdom a "cella memoriae" was built, and Pope Damasus adorned his tomb with a poem. On the number and names of the deacons killed with S. the sources disagree but are not contradictory. To the four of St. Cyprian the Liber Pontificalis adds two more, bringing the number to six; in the Depositio Martyrum on August 6 are also commemorated Felicissimus and Agapitus, of whom Damasus expressly says that they were deacons of S. Moreover the last deacon of the college, Lawrence, also suffered martyrdom a few days later, so that all seven deacons were massacred. The fact is attested by the Liber Pontificalis, which states that after the death of S. the Roman Church was governed by the college of presbyters and that one of them, Dionysius, and not a deacon as was customary, was called to succeed him.