Pope Saint Sixtus II (257-258)

A pope better documented than many of his predecessors

Sixtus II is not merely a name in a pontifical list. His pontificate is framed by several witnesses of value: Eusebius of Caesarea for the Stephen-Sixtus succession and the baptismal controversy; Cyprian for the second edict of Valerian and the news of the martyrdom; the Chronographer of 354 for Roman liturgical memory; the epigrams of Damasus and the archaeology of the catacomb of Callistus for the reception of the cult.^{[10][11][12][13]}

This documentary density sets him apart from Sixtus I, of whom we know chiefly his place in the primitive Roman succession. For Sixtus II, we can say where, when and why he dies: at Rome, on 6 August 258, in the wave of repression that strikes first at the hierarchy of the Church.^[14]

The martyr of a Church targeted in its pastors

The persecution of Valerian is not content with general pressure. Cyprian reports the content of the imperial rescript: bishops, priests and deacons must be executed immediately; Christian senators, knights and notables lose dignity and property, then their heads if they persevere; matrons are stripped of their goods and exiled; Christian officials of the imperial administration are confiscated and sent to Caesar's estates.^[15]

The martyrdom of Sixtus II is thus the sign of a strategy: to strike the visible head of the communities, confiscate property, prevent assemblies, cut the Church off from its pastors. Roman tradition has kept this memory precisely because it manifests the visible reality of the ancient Church: the empire knows who the bishops, priests, deacons and places of assembly are.

"The soldiers of God and of Christ are not slain, they are crowned." — Saint Cyprian, conclusion of the same letter to Successus, which he asks him to pass on to the other bishops^[16]

The most probable Sixtus of the Roman Canon

In the Roman Canon, the First Eucharistic Prayer names, in the part called Communicantes — the prayer that begins with "in communion with the whole Church" and lists the Virgin Mary, the Apostles and the martyrs —: "Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence..." The immediate presence of Cornelius, Cyprian and Lawrence points strongly to Sixtus II, a certain martyr of the 3rd century, rather than to Sixtus I, whose martyrdom is not attested with the same solidity.^[17]

This point gives the article a liturgical scope. Sixtus II is not only a martyr of the catacombs; his name has entered the Roman Canon, the First Eucharistic Prayer, at the heart of the Mass. His martyrdom, that of Lawrence and that of Cyprian form a Roman-African ensemble: same persecution, same fidelity, same Eucharistic memory.

Table of the principal witnesses

The secure core is simple: Sixtus II succeeds Stephen, receives letters from Dionysius of Alexandria, dies on 6 August 258 in the persecution of Valerian, and his tomb becomes one of the great places of memory of the catacomb of Callistus.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Eusebius: peace after the baptismal crisis

Eusebius reports that Dionysius of Alexandria had written to Stephen on the baptism of heretics, then that after Stephen's death he also wrote to Xystus. The subject was grave: Stephen refused communion to the Churches of Cilicia, Cappadocia, Galatia and neighbouring regions which rebaptised converts coming from heresy.^[22]

Even before Stephen's death, Dionysius had written to him that peace was returning: the Churches formerly divided rejoiced in a recovered unanimity, and the provinces of the East glorified God for fraternal charity. Under Sixtus II, Dionysius continues to set out the positions in a second letter on baptism, in which he also recalls the judgement of Stephen and of the other bishops.^[23]

"All the churches throughout the East and beyond, which formerly were divided, have become united." — Dionysius of Alexandria to Stephen, quoted by Eusebius^[24]

This does not mean that Sixtus II abandons Roman doctrine. The Catholic Encyclopedia specifies that he remains faithful to the Roman usage of not rebaptising validly baptised heretics, but that he restores friendlier relations with the African and Asian Churches.^[25]

Dionysius of Alexandria: a concrete case of conscience

Eusebius also preserves a very human fragment of a letter from Dionysius to Sixtus II. A man, long a member of the community, discovers while attending a Catholic baptism that the baptism once received among the heretics was very different, full of impious words. He begs to be truly baptised.^[26]

Dionysius does not dare repeat the baptism: the man has heard the thanksgiving, answered Amen, approached the table and long communed of the Body and Blood of the Lord. He therefore exhorts him to take courage and to approach with faith.^[27]

This case shows why the controversy was not abstract. It touched wounded consciences, doubtful baptisms, heretics very different from one another, and pastors who had to judge without betraying the oneness of baptism.

Cyprian: the decisive letter

Cyprian's letter to Successus is short, but decisive. It is written while Cyprian himself is about to die a martyr, on 14 September 258, a few weeks after Sixtus II. The bishop of Carthage passes on the news from Rome so that the other bishops may prepare their faithful for the spiritual combat.^[28]

The phrase "in the cemetery" is sober. Treccani notes that, in this Roman context, the cemetery without further precision designates the cemetery of Callistus, the great ecclesial cemetery of the Appian Way; the Depositio martyrum confirms the memory of Xystus "in Callisti".^[29][30]

From initial benevolence to persecution

Eusebius stresses a striking contrast: at the beginning of his reign, Valerian shows himself favourable to the Christians; his very household is filled with pious persons and resembles a Church of God.^[31] Then, under the influence of Macrian according to the tradition transmitted by Dionysius, the emperor switches to a hostile policy.^[32]

This reversal is typical of Christian fragility before Constantine. A community may benefit from a de facto tolerance, then suddenly become the target of a policy of confiscation, exile and death.

The first edict: assemblies and cemeteries forbidden

Before the bloody rescript of 258, Valerian has already forbidden Christians to assemble and to enter the cemeteries. The Catholic Encyclopedia sums up this first edict: Christians must take part in the national worship of the pagan gods; meetings in the cemeteries are prohibited, under threat of exile or death.^[33]

The scope is concrete. At Rome, the cemeteries are not only places of burial; they are also places of memory, of prayer, sometimes of liturgical assembly around the martyrs. To forbid the cemeteries is to touch the Eucharistic and funerary piety of the Church.

The second edict: beheading the hierarchy

The second edict, known through Cyprian, directly targets ordained ministers. Bishops, priests and deacons must be executed without delay.^[34] Sixtus II becomes one of the first victims of this new stage.

The martyrdom of Sixtus II must therefore be read as an ecclesial event, not only a personal one: the empire seeks to reach Christ by striking those who serve the altar.

Where is Sixtus II arrested?

The oldest tradition says: "in the cemetery". The Depositio martyrum of the Chronographer of 354 specifies: "VIII idus Aug. Xysti in Callisti", that is, the commemoration of Xystus at Callistus on 6 August.^[35]

The Catholic Encyclopedia reports a tradition according to which Sixtus II would have gathered his flock at the cemetery of Praetextatus, less well known, near the Appian Way, then would have been transferred to or buried at Callistus.^[36] Treccani, on the other hand, insists on the cemetery of Callistus as the place of Cyprian's testimony and of the attested burial.^[37]

The teaching pope, the soldiers entering

The epigram of Damasus attributed to Sixtus II (no. 17 in Ferrua's edition, known through medieval copies and fragments recovered by De Rossi) describes the bishop placed there as rector, teaching the heavenly commandments. Tradition reads in it the scene of the pastor surprised by the soldiers in the midst of his ministry, offering his life to avoid a needless massacre.^[38]

"Here placed, as rector, he taught the heavenly commandments." — Epigram of Damasus attributed to Sixtus II, verse preserved in Latin: "hic positus rector caelestia iussa docebat"^[39]

Even if the exact reconstruction of the verses depends on fragments, the memory is consistent with Cyprian: Sixtus II is struck down in a Christian place of assembly, at the heart of his pastoral ministry, not in private flight.

The deacon companions

Cyprian speaks of four deacons put to death with Sixtus II.^[40] The Depositio martyrum mentions on the same day Xystus at Callistus, then Agapitus and Felicissimus at Praetextatus.^[41] The more developed tradition of the Liber Pontificalis will name six deacons associated with Sixtus: Januarius, Magnus, Vincent, Stephen, Felicissimus and Agapitus, to whom is added Saint Lawrence, martyred on 10 August.^[42][43]

Precision is therefore required: the contemporary source attests four deacons killed with the pope; the Roman tradition also associates Felicissimus and Agapitus with the same day and Lawrence with the same wave of persecution. The detailed names come from later traditions and must be presented as such.

Saint Lawrence: strong memory, legendary narrative

The dramatic meeting between Sixtus II and his deacon Lawrence, popularised by the Acts of Saint Lawrence, Saint Ambrose and Prudentius, belongs to the great spiritual memory of Rome. But the Catholic Encyclopedia judges this scene probably legendary in its narrative form.^[44]

Caution does not diminish Lawrence. It only avoids confusing Cyprian's contemporary source with later hagiographical narratives. The solid fact remains: Lawrence is martyred a few days after Sixtus II, on 10 August, and the Roman liturgy keeps together these witnesses of Valerian.^[45]

The crypt of the popes

The cemetery of Callistus is one of the great places of Christian Rome. From the 3rd century onwards, several bishops of Rome are buried there: Pontian, Anterus, Fabian, Lucius, Stephen, Sixtus II, Dionysius, Felix and Eutychian.^[46][47]

Treccani stresses that the burial of Sixtus II in the crypt of the popes is attested with certainty by devotional graffiti near the entrance of the cubiculum — the small funerary chamber — and by the monumentalisation of the tomb.^[48] EWTN recalls that De Rossi identifies in the 19th century the great funerary spaces of Callistus and the memory of the martyr popes.^[49]

The bloodstained chair

The Catholic Encyclopedia reports that behind the tomb of Sixtus II was kept the bloodstained chair on which he is said to have been beheaded.^[50] This detail belongs to the material memory of the martyrdom: Rome remembers not only a date, but a place, a seat, a pastor seated to teach, a body brought back to the papal crypt.

Damasus: the pope who engraves the memory of the martyrs

In the 4th century, Saint Damasus turns the memory of the Roman martyrs into a catechesis of stone. In the crypt of the popes, an inscription in hexameters — solemn Latin verses of six measures — celebrates the saints whose bodies rest there while the Kingdom of heaven welcomes their souls.^[51]

"Here, the companions of Sixtus bear the trophies won from the enemy." — Saint Damasus, epigram of the crypt of the popes (no. 16 in Ferrua's edition), in Latin: "Hic comites Xysti portant qui ex hoste tropaea"^[52]

Damasus does not practise cold archaeology. He gives the Christian people a liturgical memory: to go down into the catacombs, read the names, pray near the bodies, understand that the Church of Rome was built also on the blood of its pastors.

The "Sentences of Xystus"

For a time, Sixtus II was regarded as the author of the Sentences of Xystus or "Ring of Sixtus". The Catholic Encyclopedia explains that this attribution is false: the work comes from a Pythagorean philosopher and then from a Christian revision, and the identification with the martyr pope rests on an ancient confusion.^[53]

This error perhaps also explains why the Liber Pontificalis gives him a Greek origin: he was sometimes confused with a Greek philosopher Xystus. The Holy See keeps the datum "Greece" in its official list, but modern criticism treats it with caution.^[54][55]

The doubtful letters and treatises

A few letters were printed under the name of Sixtus II in ancient collections, and Harnack attributed to him the treatise Ad Novatianum; the Catholic Encyclopedia notes that this opinion has been generally rejected.^[56]

The true Sixtus II needs no pseudo-attributed works. His historical greatness lies in three attested gestures: upholding the Roman sacramental tradition, restoring peace with wounded Churches, dying as bishop in the midst of persecution.

The temptation to romanticise the martyrdom

The article must also avoid another excess: turning every late tradition into certain fact. The meeting with Lawrence, the detailed list of deacons, the bloodstained chair, the exact place of arrest, the number of altars or the complete scene transmitted by Damasus belong to different degrees of certainty.^[57][58]

Catholic piety has nothing to gain by blurring these levels. The central fact is already magnificent: the pope of Rome was executed at the moment when he was serving the Church, and the community kept him as one of its great martyrs.

Peace without abandoning the truth

Sixtus II succeeds a firm pope, Stephen I, whose decision on the baptism of heretics had almost caused a rupture with Africa and the East. The mission of Sixtus is not to undo the truth, but to repair communion around it.^[59][60]

This nuance is spiritually strong. A pastor can uphold a just rule without needlessly prolonging the harshness of a crisis. Sixtus II keeps the one baptism, but he becomes again for Cyprian and the other Churches a peaceable father.

Dying in the midst of the flock

The scene transmitted by Damasus shows Sixtus II teaching when the soldiers arrive. Even if the poetic form amplifies the memory, it expresses a profound truth: the pastor does not die separated from his people. He is seized in the exercise of his charge.^[61]

Episcopal martyrdom is thus not only personal courage. It is an imitation of the Good Shepherd: he who feeds, instructs and protects his flock finally gives his life for it.

"The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." — Gospel according to Saint John, 10, 11^[62]

The blood of the martyrs and the altar of Christ

The crypt of Callistus links three realities: the tombs, the altar and the hope of heaven. Damasus speaks of the popes who guard the altar of Christ and of the companions of Sixtus who triumph over the enemy.^[63]

This link explains why the name of Sixtus II so naturally entered the Eucharistic prayer. The Church does not celebrate the martyrs as isolated heroes; she names them near the altar, because they bore witness to the Body of Christ unto blood.

"His pontificate is too short for an article"

It lasts less than a year, but it concentrates three major dossiers: the end of the baptismal crisis, the second edict of Valerian, the martyrdom of the bishop of Rome with deacons. A short pontificate can be historically decisive if the sources place it at the heart of an imperial persecution.

"Was he really Greek?"

The official list of the Holy See indicates a birth in Greece.^[64] The Catholic Encyclopedia judges, however, that the Liber Pontificalis probably took this datum from a confusion with Xystus the philosopher to whom the Sentences were attributed.^[65] The safest formula is therefore: traditional Greek origin, but disputed.

"How many deacons died with him?"

Cyprian, the nearest source, speaks of four deacons.^[66] The liturgical tradition of 6 August also associates Agapitus and Felicissimus, and the Liber Pontificalis gives a list of six deacons.^[67][68] The number of four must be presented as the contemporary testimony, then the broadening of the Roman tradition noted.

"Is the Saint Lawrence narrative historical?"

The martyrdom of Lawrence on 10 August 258 is solidly rooted in Roman memory. By contrast, the dramatic meeting with Sixtus II on the way to execution, as told by late Acts and Christian poetry, is judged probably legendary in its precise form.^[69] Its spiritual value can therefore be kept without treating it as a record of proceedings.

• Pope Saint Stephen I — predecessor of Sixtus II, defender of the oneness of baptism.
• Pope Saint Dionysius — successor of Sixtus II after the vacancy caused by the persecution.
• Pope Saint Sixtus I — first pope of the name Sixtus, not to be confused with the martyr of 258.
• Pope Saint Cornelius — martyr pope of the previous generation, linked to Cyprian and to the crisis of the lapsi.
• Pope Saint Fabian — martyr predecessor under Decius, another figure of the crypt of the popes.
• Saint Lawrence — Roman deacon martyred on 10 August 258 in the same persecution.
• The Christian catacombs of Rome — archaeological context of the memory of Sixtus II.
• The Roman Canon — liturgical memory of Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian and Lawrence.