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Portrait of Pope Saint Pontian in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome

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. (Full article...)
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See also: Hippolytus of Rome; Maximus the Confessor; Gertrude of Aldenberg; John Berchmans, Belgium; Benildus Romançon, France; Irmã Dulce, Brazil

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