Pope Pontian

Pope Saint

Pontian
Pope Saint; Pontian
Bishop of Rome
	Portrait by Spinello Aretino, c. 1383 (Hermitage Museum)
Church	Early Church
Papacy began	21 July 230
Papacy ended	28 September 235
Predecessor	Urban I
Successor	Anterus
Personal details
Died	October 235; Sardinia, Roman Empire
Sainthood
Feast day	13 August (Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church 1969 calendar); 19 November (Catholic Church 1960 calendar and prior);
Venerated in	Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church

Pope Pontian (Latin: Pontianus; died October 235) was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 230 to 28 September 235. In 235, during the persecution of Christians in the reign of the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, Pontian was arrested and sent to the island of Sardinia.

He abdicated to make the election of a new pope possible. Resigning on 28 September 235, he was the first pope to do so. It allowed an orderly transition in the Church of Rome and so ended a schism that had existed in the Church for eighteen years. Some accounts say he was beaten to death only weeks after his arrival on Sardinia.

Pontian is venerated as a saint in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

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