Editing Pope Damasus I (section)

==Succession crisis==
In the early [[Catholic Church|Church]], bishops were customarily elected by the [[clergy]] and the people of the diocese. While this simple method worked well in a small community of Christians unified by persecution, as the congregation grew in size, the acclamation of a new bishop was fraught with division, and rival claimants and a certain class hostility between [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] and [[plebeian]] candidates unsettled some episcopal elections. At the same time, 4th-century emperors expected each new pope-elect to be presented to them for approval, which sometimes led to state domination of the Church's internal affairs.

Following the death of [[Pope Liberius]] on 24 September 366, Damasus succeeded to the Papacy amidst factional violence.  The deacons and laity supported Liberius' [[deacon]] [[Antipope Ursicinus|Ursinus]]. The upper-class former partisans of [[Antipope Felix II|Felix]], who had ruled during Liberius' exile, supported the election of Damasus.

The two were elected simultaneously (Damasus' election was held in [[San Lorenzo in Lucina]]). [[J. N. D. Kelly]] states that Damasus hired a gang of thugs that stormed the [[Basilica Julia|Julian Basilica]], carrying out a three-day massacre of the Ursinians.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=J. N. D.|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Popes|year=1989|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=USA|isbn=978-0192139641|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00kell/page/32 32], 34|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00kell}}</ref> [[Thomas Shahan]] says details of this scandalous conflict are related in the highly prejudiced "Libellus precum  ad Imperatores" (P.L., XIII, 83–107), a petition to the civil authority on the part of [[Faustinus of Brescia|Faustinus]] and {{ill|Marcellinus (presbyter)|lt=Marcellinus|ru|Марцеллин (пресвитер)}}, two anti-Damasan presbyters.<ref name="ce"/> Such was the violence and bloodshed that the two [[prefect]]s of the city were called in to restore order, and after a first setback, when they were driven to the suburbs and a massacre of 137 was perpetrated in the basilica of Sicininus (the modern [[Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore]]), the prefects banished Ursinus to [[Gaul]].<ref>[[Ammianus Marcellinus]], 27.3.12; 27.9.9. Translated by J.C. Rolfe, ''Ammianus Marcellinus'' (Cambridge: Loeb Classical Library, 1939), pp. 19, 61ff</ref> There was further violence when he returned, which continued after Ursinus was exiled again.

Another ancient narrative of events, the "Gesta" (dated to 368&nbsp;AD), provides more detail. It describes Ursinus as being the valid successor to Liberius, and Damasus as following a heretical interloper, Felix. This account also records that an armed force instigated by Damasus broke into the Basilica of Julius and a three-day slaughtering of those assembled there took place. After gaining control of the Lateran basilica Damasus was then ordained as bishop in the cathedral of Rome. However, Damasus was accused of bribing the urban officials of Rome to have Ursinus and chief supporters exiled, including some presbyters.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PWdzlUBhFLwC&pg=PA111|title=The Emergence of Christianity: Classical Traditions in Contemporary Perspective|last=White|first=Cynthia|date=2010-10-01|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=9780800697471|language=en}}</ref> As a result of this attempt, some of the (apparently quite numerous) supporters of Ursinus interrupted this process and rescued the presbyters, taking them to the Basilica of Liberius (identified as the "basilica of Sicinnius"), the apparent headquarters of the Ursinian sect. Damasus then responded by ordering an attack against the Liberian basilica, resulting in another massacre: "They broke down the doors and set fire underneath it, then rushed in...and killed a hundred and sixty of the people inside, both men and women."   Damasus next sent a final assault against some Ursinian supporters who had fled to the cemetery of Saint Agnes, slaying many.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McIntyre |first1=Thomas J. |title=The First Pontiff: Pope Damasus I and the Expansion of the Roman Primacy |date=2015 |publisher=Electronic Theses & Dissertations. 1277 |pages=15, 33, 34 |url=https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2355&context=etd |access-date=13 November 2018}}</ref>

Church historians such as [[Jerome]] and [[Tyrannius Rufinus|Rufinus]] championed Damasus. At a synod in 378, Ursinus was condemned and Damasus exonerated and declared the true pope. The former antipope continued to intrigue against Damasus for the next few years and unsuccessfully attempted to revive his claim on Damasus's death. Ursinus was among the [[Arianism|Arian]] party in [[Milan]], according to [[Ambrose]].<ref>Ambrose, ''Epistles'' iv</ref>