Editing Pope Pontian (section)

==Life==
A little more is known of Pontian than his predecessors, apparently from a lost papal chronicle that was available to the compiler of the ''[[Liberian Catalogue]]'' of the bishops of Rome, written in the fourth century. The ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'' states that he was a [[Roman citizen]] and that his father's name was Calpurnius. Early Church historian [[Eusebius]] wrote that his pontificate lasted six years.<ref name="kelly_popes">{{cite book |last1=Kelly |first1=J.N.D. |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Popes |url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000kell |url-access=registration |date=1986 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000kell/page/16 16]|isbn=978-0-19-213964-1 }}</ref>

Pontian's [[pontificate]] was initially relatively peaceful under the reign of the tolerant Emperor [[Severus Alexander]]. He presided over the Roman synod which approved [[Origen]]'s expulsion and deposition by [[Pope Demetrius I of Alexandria]] in 230 or 231.<ref name="ce"/><ref name="kelly_popes" /> According to Eusebius, the next emperor, Maximinus, overturned his predecessor's policy of tolerance towards [[Christianity]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Papandrea|first=James L.|title=Reading the Early Church Fathers: From the Didache to Nicaea|date=2012|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0809147519}}</ref> Both Pope Pontian and the [[Antipope]] [[Hippolytus of Rome]] were arrested and exiled to labor in the mines of [[Sardinia]],<ref name=SHMI>{{cite book|author=Fr. Paolo O. Pirlo, SHMI|title=My First Book of Saints|year=1997|publisher=Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate – Quality Catholic Publications|isbn=978-971-91595-4-4|pages=179–180|chapter=Sts. Pontian & Hippolytus}}</ref> generally regarded as a death sentence.<ref>G. W. Clarke, "Some Victims of the Persecution of Maximinus Thrax," ''Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'', Bd. 15, H. 4 (November 1966): pp. 445–453.</ref>

In light of his sentence, Pontian resigned, the first pope to do so, so as to allow an orderly transition in the Church of Rome, on 28 September 235. This date was recorded in the Liberian Catalogue and is notable for being the first full date of a papal reign given by contemporaries. This action ended a schism that had existed in the Church for eighteen years. Pontian was beaten to death with sticks.<ref name="kelly_popes" /><ref name=SHMI /> He died in October 235. Like Pontian, Hippolytus did not survive his exile. The two may have reconciled with one another in Rome or in Sardinia before their deaths.<ref>Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of the Popes'' (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2000), 45.</ref>