Editing Pope Sixtus I

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from c. 115 to c. 124}}
{{infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[Pope Saint]]
| name = Sixtus I
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| image = Bista-relikvijar pape sv. Siksta I. iz 1596. - en face.JPG
| caption = Head reliquary of Pope Sixtus I, [[Zadar]]
| term_start = {{circa}} 115/119
| term_end = {{circa}} 125/128
| predecessor = [[Pope Alexander I|Alexander I]]
| successor = [[Pope Telesphorus|Telesphorus]]
| birth_date = 42
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]], [[Roman Empire]]
| death_date = 125  (aged c. 82{{snd}}83)
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]], [[Roman Empire]]
| feast_day = 6 April
| saint_title = Martyr
| other = Sixtus
}}
'''Pope Sixtus I''' ([[Greek Language|Greek]]: Σίξτος), also spelled '''Xystus''', a [[Rome|Roman]] of [[Greeks|Greek]] descent,<ref>{{Cite book |last=George L. Williams |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mq7ctwMNdoC |title=Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes |year=2004 |page=9| publisher=McFarland |isbn = 9780786420711}}</ref> was the [[bishop of Rome]] from {{Circa}} 117 or 119 to his death {{Circa}} 126 or 128.<ref name="ce">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1912 |title=Pope St. Sixtus I |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |location=New York |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14031b.htm |volume=14}}</ref> He succeeded [[Pope Alexander I|Alexander I]] and was in turn succeeded by [[Pope Telesphorus|Telesphorus]]. His feast is celebrated on 6 April.<ref name="ce" />

== Name ==
Older sources use the spelling '''Xystus''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ξυστός, ''xystos'', "[[shaved]]") in reference to the first three popes of that name. Pope Sixtus I was also the sixth Pope after [[Saint Peter|Peter]], leading to questions as to whether the name "Sixtus" is derived from ''sextus'', [[Latin]] for "sixth".

The "Xystus" mentioned in the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Canon of the Mass]] is [[Pope Sixtus II|Xystus II]], not Xystus I.

== Biography ==
Some authorities agree that he reigned about ten years. According to the ''[[Liberian Catalogue]]'' of popes, he served the [[Early church|Church]] during the reign of [[Hadrian]] "from the consulate of Niger and Apronianus until that of Verus III and Ambibulus", that is, from 117 to 126.<ref name="ce" /> [[Eusebius]] states in his ''[[Chronicon (Eusebius)|Historia Ecclesiastica]]'' that Sixtus I reigned from 119 to 128,<ref>[[Eusebius]], ''[[Ecclesiastical History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]''. [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.ix.iv.html IV, 4]. "In the third year of the same reign [<nowiki/>[[Hadrian]]], Alexander, bishop of Rome, died after holding office ten years. His successor was Xystus". [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.ix.v.html IV, 5]. "In the twelfth year of the reign of Adrian, Xystus, having completed the tenth year of his episcopate, was succeeded by Telesphorus, the seventh in succession from the apostles." The [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarean]] calendar bean in 3 October, see {{Cite book |last=Burgess |first=Richard W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9R_CGC9wL9MC&pg=PA29 |title=Studies in Eusebian and Post-Eusebian Chronography |date=1999 |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |isbn=978-3-515-07530-5 |pages=29}}</ref> which is repeated in the [[Chronicon (Jerome)|Latin translation]] of his ''[[Chronicon (Eusebius)|Chronicon]]''.<ref>[[Jerome]], [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_03_part2.htm Chronicon], 3rd year of [[Hadrian]], AD 119. "Xystus holds the 6th episcopate of the Roman church for 10 years." AD 128, 12th year of Hadrian: "Telesphorus received the seventh episcopate of the Roman church for 11 years."</ref> However, the Armenian translation dates Telesphorus’ accession to 124. Eusebius himself begins to show internal inconsistencies for the chronology of this period; [[Richard Adelbert Lipsius]] compares the available sources and asserts that Sixtus died between around 125, after a tenure of 10 years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lipsius |first=Richard Adelbert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnVKgrFFMN8C&pg=PA183 |title=Chronologie der römischen Bischöfe bis zur Mitte des vierten Jahrhunderts |date=1869 |publisher=Schwers |pages=183–192 |language=de}}</ref>
Like most of his predecessors, Sixtus I was believed to have been buried near [[Saint Peter|Peter]]'s grave on [[Vatican Hill]], although there are differing traditions concerning where his body lies today. In [[Alife, Campania|Alife]], there is a [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] crypt, which houses the relics of Pope Sixtus I, brought there by [[Ranulf II of Alife|Rainulf III]]. [[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 Saint Michael in [[Lorraine]].

=== Liturgical codification ===
Sixtus I instituted several Catholic liturgical and administrative traditions. 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 (liturgy)|Preface]] in the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]], the priest shall recite the ''[[Sanctus]]'' with the people.<ref name="ce" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*[[List of Catholic saints]]
*[[List of popes]]
*[[Portal:Catholic Church/Patron Archive/April 6|Pope Saint Sixtus I, patron saint archive]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* Benedict XVI. ''The Roman Martyrology''. Gardners Books, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-548-13374-3}}.
* Chapman, John. ''Studies on the Early Papacy''. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1971. {{ISBN|978-0-8046-1139-8}}.
* Fortescue, Adrian, and Scott M. P. Reid. ''The Early Papacy: To the Synod of Chalcedon in 451''. Southampton: Saint Austin Press, 1997. {{ISBN|978-1-901157-60-4}}.
* Jowett, George F. ''The Drama of the Lost Disciples''. London: Covenant Pub. Co, 1968. {{OCLC|7181392}}
* Loomis, Louise Ropes. ''The Book of Popes'' (''Liber Pontificalis''). Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. {{ISBN|1-889758-86-8}}.
* {{Catholic|wstitle=Pope St. Sixtus I|no-icon=1}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Sixtus I|Pope Sixtus I}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100620020359/http://picasaweb.google.com/JuliannaLees/ChalivoyMilon Image of Pope Saint Sixtus] as seen on a fresco at Chalivoy-Milon in the Berry.
* {{Hl-Lex|b|Sixtus_I_Xystus.htm|Sixtus I. (Xystus)}}
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_0115-0125-_Sixtus_I,_Sanctus.html Collected works in Migne Patrologia Latina]

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Alexander I|Alexander I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Rome]]|years=115–125}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Telesphorus|Telesphorus]]}}
{{s-end}}

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sixtus 01}}
[[Category:42 births]]
[[Category:120s deaths]]
[[Category:2nd-century archbishops]]
[[Category:2nd-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:2nd-century Romans]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Italian saints]]
[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:Clergy from Rome]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:2nd-century popes]]