Pope Saint Callixtus I

On our second day in Rome, we visited the Catacombs of St. Callixtus. Callixtus was a Roman of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. He was believed to have been a slave. 

In 199, he was ordained a deacon by Pope Zephyrinus and was appointed superintendent of the Christian cemetery on the Appian Way. This underground cemetery became the burial ground for many popes and was the first land property owned by the Church. This cemetery is the same Catacombs that we visited. 

When Callixtus became Pope in 217, he started to admit into the Church converts from sects and schisms, he fought heretics and he established the practice of absolution of all sins, including adultery and murder. Hippolytus thought that Callixtus was too lax in his practice of forgiving schismatics and sexual sinners. Because of this and other doctrinal differences, Hippolytus was elected as a rival bishop of Rome - the first anti-pope.

There is little reliable information on Callixtus' death, but he was probably martyred. He was buried in the Catacombs that now bear his name. His relics were transferred to the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere in the 9th century.

He is the patron saint of cemetery workers. His feast day is October 14. St. Callixtus, pray for us.