View source for Pope Saint Damasus I

{{Saints
|SaintName=Pope Saint Damasus I
|SaintStage=Saint
|FeastDay=December 11
|SaintBirthPlace=Rome, Roman Empire (now Italy)
|SaintBirthCoordinates=41.9028, 12.4964
|SaintDeathDate=384-12-11
|DeathPlace=Rome, Western Roman Empire (now Italy)
|SaintDeathCoordinates=41.9028, 12.4964
|SaintCauseOfDeath=Natural causes
|NotableAddress1=Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso, Rome, Italy
|NotableLabel1=Primary shrine and family church
|NotableCoordinates1=41.8964, 12.4722
|NotableAddress2=San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Piazzale del Verano 1, 00185 Rome, Italy
|NotableLabel2=Initial burial site
|NotableCoordinates2=41.9017, 12.5167
|NotableAddress3=Catacomb of Callixtus, Via Appia Antica 110, 00179 Rome, Italy
|NotableLabel3=Restored catacomb and inscriptions
|NotableCoordinates3=41.8589, 12.5167
|NotableAddress4=Basilica of St. John Lateran, Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano 4, 00184 Rome, Italy
|NotableLabel4=Papal residence and synodal site
|NotableCoordinates4=41.8859, 12.5057
|NotableAddress5=Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire
|NotableLabel5=Diplomatic engagement
|AssociatedCountries=Italy; Portugal; Spain
|AssociatedDioceses=[[Diocese of Rome]]
|Beatifier=Unknown
|BeatificationLocation=Unknown
|Canonized=Yes
|Canonizer=Unknown
|CanonizationLocation=Unknown
|SaintMiracle1=Traditional graces at his tomb
|SaintMiracle2=Inspirations for Jerome's Vulgate (traditional)
|SaintMiracle3=Protection during Ursinus riots (devotional)
|Profession=Priest, deacon, bishop, pope
|ReligiousAffiliation=Roman Catholic
|Patronage=Archaeologists
|Attributes=Papal tiara, pallium, episcopal vestments, book, inscription tablet
|PrimaryShrine=Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso, Rome, Italy
|AdditionalVeneration=Eastern Orthodox Church
|ReviewLevel=0
}}
'''Pope Saint Damasus I''' (c. 305 – December 11, 384), also known as Damasus of Rome, was a [[Saints|saint]] and the 37th Bishop of Rome, serving as pope from October 1, 366, to 384. Born around 305 in Rome, though some traditions place his birth in [[Egitânia]], Lusitania (modern Idanha-a-Velha, Portugal), to a Spanish priest named Antonius and Laurentia, he was raised in Rome where his family relocated during his childhood.<ref name="web2">{{cite web |title=Pope Damasus I |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Damasus_I |website=Wikipedia |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation |access-date=2025-05-14}}</ref><ref name="newadvent">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04613a.htm|title=Pope St. Damasus I|publisher=New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia|access-date=2025-10-19}}</ref> Ordained a deacon, he served under Pope Liberius during the Arian controversies and was elected pope in 366 amid violent disputes with rival Ursinus, resulting in clashes that claimed 137 lives in Roman basilicas. Supported by Emperor Valentinian I, Damasus consolidated his authority, combated heresies like Arianism, Apollinarianism, and Macedonianism, and promoted Rome’s primacy as the Apostolic See.<ref name="web5">{{cite web |title=St. Damasus I |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04613a.htm |website=Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher=New Advent |access-date=2025-05-14}}</ref><ref name="britannica">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/St-Damasus-I|title=St. Damasus I|publisher=Britannica|access-date=2025-10-19}}</ref>

Damasus focused on unifying the Church, commissioning [[Saint Jerome]] around 382 to revise Latin biblical texts, laying the groundwork for the ''Vulgate'', and standardizing the Roman liturgy and Latin hymnody.<ref name="web2" /><ref name="wiki">{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Damasus_I|title=Pope Damasus I|publisher=Wikipedia|access-date=2025-10-19}}</ref> A patron of martyrs’ cults, he restored catacombs like that of Callixtus, inscribed over 60 verse epitaphs in elegant hexameter, and built churches including San Lorenzo in Damaso and contributions to Sant'Agnese fuori le mura. He convened key synods, notably in 368 and 382, affirming the biblical canon (including deuterocanonical books) and Roman authority, as referenced in later Gelasian decrees.<ref name="web7">{{cite web |title=Saint Damasus I |url=https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-damasus-i |website=Franciscan Media |publisher=Franciscan Media |access-date=2025-05-14 |date=2024-12-11}}</ref><ref name="franciscan">{{Cite web|url=https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-damasus-i|title=Saint Damasus I|publisher=Franciscan Media|access-date=2025-10-19}}</ref> Despite accusations of luxury (earning the nickname “ladies’ ear-tickler”) and involvement in the election violence known as the “Massacre of the 137,” his legacy as a defender of Nicene orthodoxy, promoter of biblical scholarship, and elevater of Latin as the Church's language endures.<ref name="web10">{{cite web |title=Saint Damasus I |url=https://catholicsaints.info/saint-damasus-i/ |website=CatholicSaints.Info |publisher=CatholicSaints.Info |access-date=2025-05-14}}</ref><ref name="catholic_online">{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=104|title=St. Damasus I|publisher=Catholic Online|access-date=2025-10-19}}</ref> He died of natural causes in Rome at around 79 and was canonized pre-Congregation through early acclamation; his feast day is [[December 11]].<ref name="web15">{{cite web |title=St. Damasus I |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/11/st--damasus-i.html |website=Vatican News |publisher=Vatican News |access-date=2025-05-14 |date=2024-12-11}}</ref>

His relics, initially buried in a family tomb on the Via Ardeatina and later in San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, were definitively placed in the eighth century in the [[Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso]], which he had built, where a reliquary holds them today except for his head in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.<ref name="web8">{{cite web |title=St. Damasus I |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-damasus-i-94 |website=Catholic News Agency |publisher=Catholic News Agency |access-date=2025-05-14 |date=2024-12-11}}</ref><ref name="web12">{{cite web |title=Pope Saint Damasus I |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/damasus-i-1215 |website=EWTN |publisher=Eternal Word Television Network |access-date=2025-05-14}}</ref> Damasus’s epitaphs and restorations of martyr shrines, like those of Saints Peter, Paul, and Agnes, strengthened Rome’s Christian identity and drew pilgrims, influencing the Roman Canon and Western Christianity.<ref name="web16">{{cite web |title=San Lorenzo in Damaso |url=https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/basilica-san-lorenzo-damaso |website=Turismo Roma |publisher=Turismo Roma |access-date=2025-05-14}}</ref>