Hinweise zur Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope St. Sixtus II
(XYSTUS).
Elected 31 Aug., 257, martyred at Rome, 6 Aug., 258. His origin is unknown.
The Liber Pontificalis
says that he was a Greek by birth, but this is probably
a mistake, originating from the false assumption that he was identical with a
Greek philosopher of the same name, who was the author of the so-called
Sentences
of Xystus. During the pontificate of his predecessor, St. Stephen, a
sharp dispute had arisen between Rome and the African and Asiatic Churches,
concerning the rebaptism of heretics, which had threatened to end in a complete
rupture between Rome and the Churches of Africa and Asia Minor (see SAINT
CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE). Sixtus II, whom Pontius (Vita Cyprian, cap. xiv)
styles a good and peaceful priest (bonus et pacificus sacerdos), was more
conciliatory than St. Stephen and restored friendly relations with these
Churches, though, like his predecessor, he upheld the Roman usage of not
rebaptizing heretics.
Shortly before the pontificate of Sixtus II the Emperor Valerian issued his
first edict of persecution, which made it binding upon the Christians to
participate in the national cult of the pagan gods and forbade them to assemble
in the cemeteries, threatening with exile or death whomsoever was found to
disobey the order. In some way or other, Sixtus II managed to perform his
functions as chief pastor of the Christians without being molested by those who
were charged with the execution of the imperial edict. But during the first days
of August, 258, the emperor issued a new and far more cruel edict against the
Christians, the import of which has been preserved in a letter of St. Cyprian to
Successus, the Bishop of Abbir Germaniciana (Ep. lxxx). It ordered bishops,
priests, and deacons to be summarily put to death (episcopi et presbyteri et
diacones incontinenti animadvertantur
). Sixtus II was one of the first to fall
a victim to this imperial enactment (Xistum in cimiterio animadversum sciatis
VIII. id. Augusti et cum eo diacones quattuor
- Cyprian, Ep. lxxx). In order to
escape the vigilance of the imperial officers he assembled his flock on 6 August
at one of the less-known cemeteries, that of Prætextatus, on the left side of
the Appian Way, nearly opposite the cemetery of St. Callistus. While seated on
his chair in the act of addressing his flock he was suddenly apprehended by a
band of soldiers. There is some doubt whether he was beheaded forthwith, or was
first brought before a tribunal to receive his sentence and then led back to the
cemetery for execution. The latter opinion seems to be the more probable.
The inscription which Pope Damasus (366-84) placed on his tomb in the
cemetery of St. Callistus may be interpreted in either sense. The entire
inscription is to be found in the works of St. Damasus (P.L., XIII, 383-4, where
it is wrongly supposed to be an epitaph for Pope Stephen I), and a few fragments
of it were discovered at the tomb itself by de Rossi (Inscr. Christ., II, 108).
The Liber Pontificalis
mentions that he was led away to offer sacrifice to the
gods (ductus ut sacrificaret demoniis
- I, 155). St. Cyprian states in the
above-named letter, which was written at the latest one month after the
martyrdom of Sixtus, that the prefects of the City were daily urging the
persecution in order that, if any were brought before them, they might be
punished and their property confiscated
. The pathetic meeting between St.
Sixtus II and St. Lawrence, as the former was being led to execution, of which
mention is made in the unauthentic Acts of St. Lawrence
as well as by St.
Ambrose (Officiorum, lib. I, c. xli, and lib. II, c. xxviii) and the poet
Prudentius (Peristephanon, II), is probably a mere legend. Entirely contrary to
truth is the statement of Prudentius (ibid., lines 23-26) that Sixtus II
suffered martyrdom on the cross, unless by an unnatural trope the poet uses the
specific word cross (Jam Xystus adfixus cruci
) for martyrdom in general, as
Duchesne and Allard (see below) suggest. Four deacons, Januarius, Vincentius,
Magnus, and Stephanus, were apprehended with Sixtus and beheaded with him at the
same cemetery. Two other deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus, suffered martyrdom
on the same day. The feast of St. Sixtus II and these six deacons is celebrated
on 6 August, the day of their martyrdom. The remains of Sixtus were transferred
by the Christians to the papal crypt in the neighbouring cemetery of St.
Callistus. Behind his tomb was enshrined the bloodstained chair on which he had
been beheaded. An oratory (Oratorium Xysti) was erected above the cemetery of St.
Prætextatus, at the spot where he was martyred, and was still visited by
pilgrims of the seventh and the eighth century.
For some time Sixtus II was believed to be the author of the so-called
Sentences
, or Ring of Sixtus
, originally written by a Pythagorean
philosopher and in the second century revised by a Christian. This error arose
because in his introduction to a Latin translation of these Sentences
. Rufinus
ascribes them to Sixtus of Rome, bishop and martyr. It is certain that Pope
Sixtus II is not their author (see Conybeare, The Ring of Pope Xystus now first
rendered into English, with an historical and critical commentary
, London, 1910).
Harnack (Texte und Untersuchungen zur altchrist. Literatur, XIII, XX) ascribes
to him the treatise Ad Novatianum
, but his opinion has been generally rejected
(see Rombold in Theol. Quartalschrift
, LXXII, Tübingen, 1900). Some of his
letters are printed in P.L., V, 79-100. A newly discovered letter was published
by Conybeare in English Hist. Review
, London, 1910.
Acta SS., Aug., II, 124-42; DUCHESNE, Liber Pontificalis, I, 155-6; BARMBY in Dict. Christ. Biog., s. v. Xystus; ROHAULT DE FLEURY, Les Saints de la messe, III (Paris, 1893): HEALY, The Valerian Persecution (Boston and New York, 1905); 176-9; ALLARD, Les dernières persecutions du troisième siècle (Paris, 1907), 80-92, 343-349; DE ROSSI, Roma Sotteranea, II (Rome; 1864-77), 87-97; WILPERT, Die Päpstgraber und die Cäciliengruft in der Katakombe des hl. Callistus, supplement to De Rossi's Roma Sotteranea (Freiburg im Br., 1909).
Heiligenlexikon als USB-Stick oder als DVD
Unterstützung für das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon
Artikel kommentieren / Fehler melden
Suchen bei amazon: Bücher über Catholic Encyclopedia - Pope St. Sixtus II
Wikipedia: Artikel über Catholic Encyclopedia - Pope St. Sixtus II
Fragen? - unsere FAQs antworten!
Impressum - Datenschutzerklärung
korrekt zitieren: Artikel
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über https://d-nb.info/1175439177 und https://d-nb.info/969828497 abrufbar.