Saint Eleutherius: Difference between revisions

{{Distinguish|Pope Eleutherius|the 2nd-century martyr-bishop of Illyricum also called Saint Eleutherius (feast 6 September)}}

{{Infobox saint

| name = Pope Saint Eleutherius

| image =  

| imagesize =  

| caption =  

| birth_date = unknown (traditionally Nicomedia or Greece)

| birth_place = Nicomedia, Bithynia, Asia Minor (traditional) or possibly Greece

| death_date = c. 189

| death_place = Rome

| feast_day = 26 May

| venerated_in = Catholic Church<br>Eastern Orthodox Church

| major_shrine = St. Peter's Basilica (traditional tomb)<br>Church of San Giovanni della Pigna (some relics traditionally attributed)

| canonized_date = Pre-congregation

| attributes = Papal vestments, tiara, book, palm of martyrdom (later iconography)

| patronage =  

| issues =  

}}

'''Pope Saint Eleutherius''' (also '''Eleutherus'''; died c. 189), also called '''Eleuterus''' or '''Eleftherios''', was bishop of Rome from c. 174 to 189 (sources vary between 171–175 and 185–189/193). He is counted as the thirteenth pope in most traditional lists.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05364b.htm |title=Pope St. Eleutherius |publisher=Catholic Encyclopedia |access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref>

==Historical pontificate==

Very little certain information survives. The earliest catalogues (Irenaeus c. 180, Africanus via Eusebius, the ''Liber Pontificalis'') list him as successor of Soter and predecessor of Victor I, with a pontificate of about fifteen years. He governed during the relatively peaceful final years of Marcus Aurelius and the early reign of Commodus. He is associated (though not definitively) with the Roman church’s response to the Montanist controversy in Phrygia.

The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (6th century and later) embellishes his biography: Greek origin, born in Nicomedia, deacon under Anicetus, received the famous (now rejected) letter from King Lucius of Britain, sent missionaries, and was martyred. Modern scholarship regards all these details as legendary.<ref>Louis Duchesne, ''Le Liber Pontificalis'', vol. 1 (Paris 1886), pp.  xvi–xviii, 129.</ref>

Contemporary sources mention neither martyrdom nor violent death. Most historians consider he died peacefully c. 189.<ref>J.N.D. Kelly & M.J. Walsh, ''Oxford Dictionary of Popes'' (3rd ed., 2015), p. 13.</ref>

As an early bishop of Rome he was venerated from antiquity without formal canonization. His name appears in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I) and in the Roman Martyrology (26 May). The traditional tomb was under the high altar of Old St. Peter’s; some relics are said to rest in the church of San Giovanni della Pigna in Rome and in Santa Maria in Via Lata.

==Confusion with the martyr of Illyricum==

{{Infobox saint

| name = Saint Eleutherius of Illyricum<br><small>(martyr-bishop, not the pope)</small>

| feast_day = 6 September (local)<br>18 April or 4 October in some Eastern calendars

| birth_place = Nicopolis, Epirus (or Illyricum)

| death_date = c. 120–190 (dates vary widely in sources)

| venerated_in = Catholic Church (local)<br>Eastern Orthodox Church

| major_shrine = Church of San Giovanni della Pigna, Rome (traditional relics)<br>Trogir Cathedral, Croatia (local cult)

This Eleutherius is credited in legend with preaching in Illyricum, healing a blind man, and suffering martyrdom (sometimes said to be in Rome under Commodus). His cult is particularly strong in Dalmatia (Croatia) and in the Roman church of San Giovanni della Pigna, where relics attributed to “Saint Eleutherius, martyr” are preserved. Some older sources mistakenly merged him with the pope, giving Pope Eleutherius a martyr’s palm and miracles that actually belong to the Illyrican bishop.

==Current liturgical distinction==

- '''26 May''' – Pope Saint Eleutherius (Roman Martyrology 2004 edition and later)

- The separate martyr Eleutherius of Illyricum/Messene/Trogir is no longer in the general Roman Calendar but retains local feasts (especially 6 September or 18 April).