Pope Sixtus I

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Pope Sixtus I : biography

1st century – ~120 AD

Pope Sixtus I ( ; 42 – c. 124) was the head of the Catholic Church from c. 115 to his death c. 124.Ott, Michael. "Pope St. Sixtus I" in The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. He succeeded Pope Alexander I and was succeeded by Pope Telesphorus. In the oldest documents, Xystus is the spelling used for the first three popes of that name. Pope Sixtus I is also the sixth Pope after Peter, leading to questions whether the name "Sixtus" is fictitious.PBS video, "Saints and Sinners."

The Holy See’s Annuario Pontificio (2012) identifies him as a Roman who reigned from 117 or 119 to 126 or 128. According to the Liberian Catalogue of popes, he ruled the Church during the reign of Hadrian "a consulatu Negro et Aproniani usque Vero III et Ambibulo", that is, from 117 to 126. Eusebius states in his Chronicon that Sixtus I was pope from 114 to 124, while his Historia Ecclesiastica, using a different catalogue of popes, claims his rule from 114 to 128. All authorities agree that he reigned about ten years.

Sixtus I is credited as having instituted several Roman Catholic liturgical and administrative traditions, but historians believe that these were attributed to him by later writers who were interested in bolstering the papacy’s claims to ancient supremacy. Like most of his predecessors, Sixtus I was believed to be buried near Saint Peter’s grave on Vatican Hill, although there are differing traditions concerning where his body lies today.

He was a Roman by birth, and his father’s name was Pastor. According to the Liber Pontificalis (ed. Duchesne, I.128), he passed the following three ordinances:

  • that none but sacred ministers are allowed to touch the sacred vessels;
  • that bishops who have been summoned to the Holy See shall, upon their return, not be received by their diocese except on presenting Apostolic letters;
  • that after the Preface in the Mass the priest shall recite the Sanctus with the people.

Alban Butler (Lives of the Saints, 6 April) states that Clement X gave some of his relics to Cardinal de Retz, who placed them in the Abbey of St. Michael in Lorraine. The Xystus who is commemorated in the Catholic Canon of the Mass is Xystus II, not Xystus I.

His feast is celebrated on 6 April.

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