Lucius I

Lucius I was Bishop of Rome in the mid-third century, holding office from late June 253 until his death in March 254. The Liber Pontificalis, a later compilation of papal biographies, describes him as a Roman by birth and the son of Porphyrius, but no contemporary source records the year or circumstances of his birth, and almost nothing is known of his life before he became pope. He was elected to succeed Cornelius, who had died in exile at Centumcellae during a period of imperial pressure on the Christian community of Rome. The Church at that time was still emerging from the Decian persecution and was torn by dispute over the status of the lapsi, Christians who had compromised their faith under threat of death or confiscation.

Like Cornelius, Lucius supported a pastoral policy of readmitting the lapsed after a period of penance, against the schismatic rigorism of Novatian, who held that the Church could not reconcile those guilty of apostasy. Shortly after his consecration Lucius was himself sent into exile, most likely under the emperor Trebonianus Gallus. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, wrote to him with congratulations on his election and later with joy at his return, treating the banishment as a confession of faith. The exile was brief. After Gallus died in 253, Valerian’s early policy toward Christians was comparatively mild, and Lucius was able to return to Rome and resume the government of the church there.

Contemporary evidence for legislative or disciplinary acts of his pontificate is scarce. The Liber Pontificalis credits him with a rule that the pope should always be attended by two priests and three deacons, perhaps to guarantee witnesses or to afford some protection in an unstable city. Later legendary accounts add conversions of Jews and pagans and other decrees, but these cannot be confirmed. Lucius died in March 254. Medieval tradition and the Roman Martyrology present him as a martyr, yet the first edict of Valerian against the clergy dates to 257, and Eusebius does not describe Lucius’s death as a martyrdom. Most modern historians therefore consider a natural death more probable, while acknowledging that local hostility cannot be ruled out.

He was buried in the papal crypt of the Catacomb of Callixtus on the Appian Way. In subsequent centuries relics attributed to him were translated to Roman churches including San Silvestro in Capite and Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. In the early twelfth century a skull identified as his was given to King Eric I of Denmark and deposited at Roskilde Cathedral; from that cult he came to be regarded as a patron of Copenhagen. His liturgical feast is kept on 4 March. He was succeeded by Stephen I.