Editing Pope Felix I

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 269 to 274}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[Pope Saint]]
| name = Felix I
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| image = PopeFelixI.jpg
| term_start = 5 January 269
| term_end = 30 December 274
| predecessor = [[Pope Dionysius|Dionysius]]
| successor = [[Pope Eutychian|Eutychian]]
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]], [[Roman Empire]]
| death_date = 30 December 274
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]], [[Roman Empire]]
| feast_day = 30 December<br/>30 May ([[General Roman Calendar of 1960|1960 Calendar]])<br/>6 [[Hathor (month)|Hathor]] ([[Coptic Christianity]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/3_6.html#1|title = Hator 6 : Lives of Saints : Synaxarium – CopticChurch.net}}</ref>
| other = Felix|
| caption = Felix I as depicted on a fresco in the [[Sistine Chapel]]
}}
'''Pope Felix I''' (died 30 December 274) was the [[Pope|bishop of Rome]] from 5 January 269 to his death on 30 December 274. Born in [[Rome]], he succeeded [[Pope Dionysius]] and is noted for his theological contributions, particularly a significant [[Dogma|dogmatic]] letter addressing the [[Hypostatic union|unity of Christ’s person]]. During his papacy, Felix I confronted the [[heresy]] of [[Paul of Samosata]], who denied the [[Christology|divinity of Christ]]. The intervention of [[Aurelian|Emperor Aurelian]], prompted by Felix, led to Paul’s deposition from the [[Patriarch of Antioch|bishopric of Antioch]], reinforcing orthodox Christological doctrine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-26 |title=Saint Felix I {{!}} Italian, Roman, Bishop {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Felix-I |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Felix I, Pope, -274 {{!}} Burns Library Archival Collections |url=https://findingaids.bc.edu/agents/people/3174 |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=findingaids.bc.edu}}</ref>

Felix is traditionally credited with instituting the practice of celebrating Mass over the tombs of martyrs, though this attribution remains a subject of historical debate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Record {{!}} The Cult of Saints |url=http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00363 |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=csla.history.ox.ac.uk}}</ref> Upon his death, Felix was interred in the [[Catacomb of Callixtus]] on the [[Appian Way]]. While later accounts mistakenly honored him as a martyr, contemporary scholarship suggests he died of natural causes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Early Roman Christian Cemeteries |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03510a.htm |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>

==Life and works==
A [[Rome|Roman]] by birth,<ref name=Annuario>Annuario Pontificio 2012 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2008 {{ISBN|978-88-209-8722-0}}), p. 8*</ref> Felix was chosen to be [[pope]] on 5 January 269,<ref name=Annuario/> in succession to [[Pope Dionysius|Dionysius]], who had died on 26 December 268.<ref name=Annuario/>

Felix was the author of an important dogmatic letter on the unity of Christ's Person. He received Emperor [[Aurelian]]'s aid in settling a theological dispute between the anti-[[Trinity|Trinitarian]] [[Paul of Samosata]], who had been deprived of the bishopric of [[Antioch]] by a council of bishops for heresy, and the orthodox new bishop Domnus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/203963/Saint-Felix-I#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Saint%20Felix%20I%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia |title=St. Felix I |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=20 April 2010}}</ref> Paul refused to give way, and in 272 Aurelian was asked to decide between the rivals. He ordered the church building to be given to the bishop who was "recognized by the bishops of Italy and of the city of Rome" (Felix). See Eusebius, Hist. Ecc. vii. 30.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Felix (Popes)}}</ref>

The text of that letter was later interpolated by a follower of Apollinaris in the interests of his sect.<ref name=EncCath>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Pope St. Felix I}}</ref>

The notice about Felix in the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'' ascribes to him a decree that [[Mass (liturgy)|Masses]] should be celebrated on the tombs of martyrs ("Hic constituit supra memorias martyrum missas celebrare"). The author of this entry was evidently alluding to the custom of celebrating Mass privately at the altars near or over the tombs of the martyrs in the crypts of the catacombs (missa ad corpus), while the solemn celebration always took place in the basilicas built over the catacombs. This practice, still in force at the end of the fourth century, dates apparently from the period when the great cemeterial basilicas were built in Rome, and owes its origin to the solemn commemoration services of martyrs, held at their tombs on the anniversary of their burial, as early as the third century. Felix probably issued no such decree, but the compiler of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' attributed it to him because he made no departure from the custom in force in his time.<ref name=EncCath/>

==Death and veneration==
The acts of the [[First Council of Ephesus|Council of Ephesus]] give Pope Felix as a martyr; but this detail, which occurs again in the biography of the pope in the ''Liber Pontificalis'', is unsupported by any authentic earlier evidence and is manifestly due to a confusion of names. It is obviously a confusion with a Roman martyr of the same name buried on the [[Via Aurelia]], and over whose grave a church was built. The ''Liber Pontificalis'' states that Felix erected a basilica on the Via Aurelia, and also that he was buried there.<ref>"Hic fecit basilicam in Via Aurelia, ubi et sepultus est"</ref> The latter detail is evidently an error, for the fourth-century Roman calendar of feasts says that Pope Felix was interred in the [[Catacomb of Callixtus]] on the [[Via Appia]].<ref>"III Kal. Januarii, Felicis in Callisti", it reads in the ''Depositio episcoporum''.</ref> In the Roman "Feriale" or calendar of feasts, the name of Felix occurs in the list of Roman bishops (''[[Depositio episcoporum]]''), and not in that of the martyrs.<ref name=EncCath/>

As above, Felix was interred in the catacomb of Callixtus on 30 December,<ref name=EncCath/> "III Kal. Jan." (third day to the calends of January) in the Roman dating system. Saint Felix I is mentioned as Pope and Martyr, with a simple feast, on 30 May. This date, given in the ''Liber Pontificalis'' as that of his death (III Kal. Jun.), is probably an error which could easily occur through a transcriber writing "Jun." for "Jan."<ref name=EncCath/> This error persisted in the [[General Roman Calendar]] until 1969 (see [[General Roman Calendar of 1960]]), by which time the mention of Saint Felix I was reduced to a [[commemoration (liturgy)|commemoration]] in the weekday Mass by decision of [[Pope Pius XII]] (see [[General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII]]). Thereafter, the feast of Saint Felix I, no longer mentioned in the General Roman Calendar, is celebrated on his true day of death, 30 December, and without the qualification of "martyr".<ref>Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 {{ISBN|88-209-7210-7}})</ref>

According to more recent studies, the oldest liturgical books indicate that the saint honoured on 30 May was a little-known martyr buried on the [[Via Aurelia]], who was mistakenly identified with Pope Felix I,<ref>Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 125</ref> an error similar to the identification in the liturgical books of the martyr saint celebrated on 30 July with the [[antipope Felix II]], corrected in the mid-1950s.

==See also==
*[[List of Catholic saints]]
*[[List of popes]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_0269-0274-_Felix_I,_Sanctus,_Martyr.html Writings attributed to Pope Felix I] {{inlang|la}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-rel|grt}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Dionysius|Dionysius]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Rome]]|years=269–274}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Eutychian|Eutychian]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholic saints}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Felix 01}}
[[Category:274 deaths]]
[[Category:3rd-century archbishops]]
[[Category:3rd-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:3rd-century Romans]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:Clergy from Rome]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:3rd-century popes]]