Editing Pope Dionysius

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 259 to 268}}
{{Redirect|Saint Dionysius|other uses|Saint Dionysius (disambiguation)|the Alexandrian pope|Pope Dionysius of Alexandria}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]] [[List of canonised popes|Saint]]
| name = Dionysius
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| image = Pope Dionysius.jpg
| term_start = 22 July 259 AD
| term_end = 26 December 268
| predecessor = [[Sixtus II]]
| successor = [[Felix I]]
| birth_place = [[Terranova da Sibari]], early 3rd century
| death_date = 	26 December 268
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Roman Empire]]
| feast_day = 26 December
| venerated = [[Catholic Church]]
| attributes = {{unbulleted list|Papal vestments|Book|[[Crozier]]}}
| caption = Portrait of Dionysius, by the 15th c. artist [[Sandro Botticelli]], in the [[Sistine Chapel]]. Dionysius is depicted in anachronistic papal vestments, along with a book, common attributes in art of this pope.
| image_upright = 0.6
}}

'''Pope Dionysius''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Διονύσιος) was the [[bishop of Rome]] from 22 July 259 AD to his death on 26 December 268. His task was to reorganise the [[Catholic Church]], after the persecutions of [[Roman emperor|Emperor]] [[Valerian I]], and the edict of toleration by his successor [[Gallienus]]. He also helped rebuild the churches of [[Cappadocia]], devastated by the marauding [[Goths]].

==Pontificate==
Dionysius was born in [[Terranova da Sibari]]<ref>https://www.calabriaportal.com/terranova-da-sibari/1177-terranova-da-sibari.html</ref><ref>http://www.sibari.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4745&Itemid=49</ref><ref>https://www.rdeditore.it/it/comuni-comunitaliani-ambasciatori-deccellenza/terranova-da-sibari</ref> in the early 3rd century. He was [[papal selection before 1059|elected pope]] in 259, after the martyrdom of [[Sixtus II]] in 258. The [[Holy See]] had been vacant for nearly a year because it was difficult to elect a new pope during the violent persecution which [[Christians]] faced.<ref name="ce"/> When the oppression had begun to subside, Dionysius was raised to the office of Bishop of Rome. [[Emperor Valerian I]], who had led the tyranny, was captured and killed by the [[Shapur I of Persia|King of Persia]] in 260.<ref name="ce">Kirsch, Johann Peter (1909). "Pope St. Dionysius" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company.</ref> The new emperor, [[Gallienus]], issued an edict of [[religious tolerance|toleration]], restoring the churches, cemeteries and other properties it had held, ushering in the nearly 40-year "[[Little Peace of the Church]]".<ref>Eusebius, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'', 7.13; translated by G.A. Williamson, ''Eusebius: The History of the Church'' (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1965), p. 299</ref> To the new pope fell the task of reshaping the Catholic Church, which had fallen into great disorder. 

Teaching regarding the relation of God to the [[Logos]] had arisen from [[Pope Dionysius of Alexandria|Bishop Dionysius]] in [[Alexandria, Egypt|Alexandria]]. The pope in Rome called for explanations; a satisfactory response duly arrived back, notwithstanding expostulation about the propriety of all this from some of the Alexandrian Christians.<ref name="ce"/>

To rebuild, and to ransom those held captive, Pope Dionysius sent large sums of money to the churches of [[Cappadocia]], devastated by marauding [[Goths]]. Following Emperor Gallienus' edict of toleration, he brought order to the church and helped secure a peace that lasted until 303, some 35 years after his death on 26 December 268.<ref name="ce"/>

According to [[Athanasius of Alexandria|St. Athanasius]], Pope St. Dionysius retroactively condemned Arianism far before the [[First Council of Nicaea|First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea]] on behalf of the entire Church saying, "For Dionysius, Bishop of Rome, having written also against those who said that the Son of God was a creature and a created thing, it is manifest that not now for the first time but from of old the heresy of the Arian adversaries of Christ has been ''anathematised by all''."<ref>{{Cite web |title=De Sententia Dionysii |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2810.htm |website=New Advent |at=13}}</ref>

In art, Dionysius is portrayed in [[papal vestment]]s, along with a book.<ref name="ce" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Saints|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*[[List of popes]]
*[[List of Catholic saints]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Pope St. Dionysius}}

=== Literature ===
* {{BBKL|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926212919/http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/d/dionysius_p.shtml |band=1|spalte=1318|autor=Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz|artikel=Dionysius}}
* {{CE|http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05009b.htm}}

==External links==
{{wikisource author}}
{{commons category|Dionysius (pope)}}
*[http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_0260-0268-_Dionysius,_Sanctus.html Opera Omnia]
* {{Hl-Lex|b|Dionysius.htm|Dionysius}}
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_0260-0268-_Dionysius,_Sanctus.html Collected works by Migne Patrologia Latina]

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|grt}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Sixtus II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Rome]]|years=259–268}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Felix I]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholic saints}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dionysius 01}}
[[Category:268 deaths]]
[[Category:3rd-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:3rd-century Romans]]
[[Category:Greek popes]]
[[Category:Greek Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:3rd-century popes]]