St. Callistus I
Patron of Cemetery workers
Imagine that your biography was written by an enemy of yours. And that its information was all anyone would have not only for the rest of your life but for centuries to come. You would never be able to refute it -- and even if you couldno one would believe you because your accuser was a saint.
That is the problem we face with Pope Callistus I who died about 222. The only story of his life we have is from someone who hated him and what he stood for, an author identified as Saint Hippolytus, a rival candidate for the chair of Peter. What had made Hippolytus so angry? Hippolytus was very strict and rigid in his adherence to rules and regulations. The early Church had been very rough on those who committed sins of adultery, murder, and fornication. Hippolytus was enraged by the mercy that Callistus showed to these repentant sinners, allowing them back into communion of the Church after they had performed public penance. Callistus' mercy was also matched by his desire for equality among Church members, manifested by his acceptance of marraiges between free people and slaves. Hippolytus saw all of this as a degradation of the Church, a submission to lust and licentiousness that reflected not mercy and holiness in Callistus but perversion and fraud.
Trying to weed out the venom to find the facts of Callistus' life in Hippolytus' account, we learn that Callistus himself was a slave (something that probably did not endear him to class-conscious Hippolytus). His master, Carporphorus made him manager of a bank in the Publica Piscina sector of Rome where Callistus took in the money of other Christians. The bank failed -- according to Hippolytus because Callistus spent the money on his own pleasure-seeking. It seems unlikely that Carporphorus would trust his good name and his fellow Christians' savings to someone that unreliable.
Whatever the reason, Callistus fled the city by ship in order to escape punishment. When his master caught up with him, Callistus jumped into the sea (according to Hippolytus, in order to commit suicide). After Callistus was rescued he was brought back to Rome, put on trial, and sentenced to a cruel punishment -- forced labor on the treadmill. Carporphorus took pity on his former slave and manager and Callistus won his release by convincing him he could get some of the money back from investors. (This seems to indicate, in spite of Hippolytus' statements, that the money was not squandered but lent or invested unwisely.) Callistus' methods had not improved with desperation and when he disrupted a synagogue by shouting for money, he was arrested and sentenced again.
This time he was sent to the mines. Other Christians who had been sentenced there because of their religion were released by negotiations between the emperor and the Pope (with the help of the emperor's mistress who was friendly toward Christians). Callistus accidentally wound up on the same list with the persecuted brothers and sisters. (Hippolytus reports that this was through extortion and connniving on Callistus' part.) Apparently, everyone, including the Pope, realized Callistus did not deserve his new freedom but unwilling to carry the case further the Pope gave Callistus an income and situation -- away from Rome. (Once again, this is a point for suspecting Hippolytus' account. If Callistus was so despicable and untrustworthy why provide him with an income and a situation? Leaving him free out of pity is one thing, but giving money to a convicted criminal and slave is another. There must have been more to the story.)
About nine or ten years later, the new pope Zephyrinus recalled Callistus to Rome. Zephyrinus was good-hearted and well-meaning but had no understanding of theology. This was disastrous in a time when heretical beliefs were springing up everywhere. One minute Zephyrinus would endorse a belief he thought orthodox and the next he would embrace the opposite statement. Callistus soon made his value known, guiding Zephyrinus through theology to what he saw as orthodoxy. (Needless to say it was not what Hippolytus felt was orthodox enough.) To a certain extent, according to Hippolytus, Callistus was the power behind the Church before he even assumed the bishopric of Rome.
When Zephyrinus died in 219, Callistus was proclaimed pope over the protests of his rival candidate Hippolytus. He seemed to have as strong a hatred of heresy as Hippolytus, however, because he banished one of the heretics named Sabellius.
Callistus came to power during a crucial time of the Church. Was it going to hang on to the rigid rules of previous years and limit itself to those who were already saints or was it going to embrace sinners as Christ commanded? Was its mission only to a few holy ones or to the whole world, to the healthy or to the sick? We can understand Hippolytus' fear -- that hypocritical penitents would use the Church and weaken it in the time when they faced persecution. But Callistus chose to trust God's mercy and love and opened the doors. By choosing Christ's mission, he chose to spread the Gospel to all.
Pope Callistus is listed as a martyr but we have no record of how he was martyred or by whom. There were no official persecutions at the time, but he may well have been killed in riots against Christians.
As sad as it is to realize that the only story we have of his life is by an enemy, it is glorious to see in it the fact that the Church is large enough not only to embrace sinners and saints, but to proclaim two people saints who hold such wildly opposing views and to elect a slave and an alleged ex-convict to guide the whole Church. There's hope for all of us then!
Copyright 1996-2000 by Terry Matz. All Rights Reserved.
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Another reason to check out the facts and always remember gossip hurts, not only you but others around you. “Imagine that your biography was written by an enemy of yours. And that its information was all anyone would have not only for the rest of your life but for centuries to come. You would never be able to refute it -- and even if you could no one would believe you because your accuser was a saint, or pillar of the community”. “Being in power doesn’t make you a saint nor a pillar of the community”.
Pope St. Callistus, Your story offers a ray of hope to poor sinners like myself, who are more prone to sinning, than doing good.
Dear St. Calistus, please pray for me to overcome the troubled situations in my life. Thank you.
No one has the right to judge. The only judge is God for he sees all things including the heart.
@Billy: Everyone is a sinner. But personally I wouldn't say 'sinners interest me' and that somehow churchgoers need a 'reality check'. I lived in a developing country where kidnappers and murderers would do anything to get money, and then I saw nuns who had nothing yet helped the poor. From my observation, the nuns and the churchgoing volunteers were the most loving.
......Those who don't believe me, find your souls and set them free
Those who do, believe in love, as time will be your key...........
bj
I can relate to this saint as i don't live my life as most saints......the sinners interest me....often times in todays society, it's the churchgoers who need to look in the mirror and have a "God check".....i did not create this, i just observe it. i will continue to live my life will all credit going to God and not living to the expectations of the church.....things might change but until the church looks at all things involved with a person and their beliefs besides them being coined a sinner, then i might be a little more cozy with the church. there's hope i believe!
..." There's hope for all of us then!"
There is always hope. Thank you for sharing this incredible story. Pope Callistus seemed to have tremendous depth and empathy....heart and soul! I love people like this....as we all come from somewhere and have a bit of history.
Pope Callistus is interesting!! A nobleman, kind, decent and honest.
Hippo (wallowing in the mud and muck) is another story........as his past was littered with interesting tidbits which he conviently covered up in an effort to re-create family history. Spin control.....untruthful from the beginning-ancient history. The cover up and superflous flourishes run deep.....what people do to protect their children is disgusting. We must pray for our family and friends so that truth can prevail.
How lovely is the story of St.Callistus 1's biography.Really your enemy can lift you to holiness,but only if you pray for them.
St. Callistus, I recommend to you my prayer request. Bless and bring about a true Christian commitment to all caregivers who are responsible for the old, infirm and the bedridden. Through your intercession, help the most vulnerable.. the old, sick and suffering, children, the handicapped and mentally challenged persons. Dear Saint, during your lifetime you were vulnerable and criticized. However, you overcame obstacles of birth and status. With God's Grace you triumphed to become God's merciful Pope. Intercede for us today. May your intercession be heard and answered by Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear St. Callistus, I am truly privileged to read and know about your courageous life in the defense of sinners who repent. You bore the most terrible scar and stigma of having been a slave. God chose you to lead His Church and through your discernment you gave the Church true forgiveness, mercy and compassion. It is not surprising that you faced a formidable foe you the person of Hippolytus, who himself was a pope. God's ways are not our ways. But what is clear is that St. Callistus faced harsh and cruel criticism on account of his mercy.
Holy and loving saint and pope, I am enthused and joyous by the saint we honour today. The question was clear to you. "Was the Church going to hang on the the rigid rules of previous years and limit itself to those who were already saints or was it going to embrace sinners as Christ commanded?" There is hope for us in God's bountiful mercy. Pray for us sinners. Help us to respond to Christ's calling, the "Hound of Heaven", who will not rest until He finds us. Amen.
I have an affinity for this Pope of the 3rd century. He seems to be a lot like the character House on TV. As most of you know, House is a brilliant doctor, but is not big in following conventional rules. Pope Callistus (I believe) was also a brilliant man who did not follow all the traditional rules, but followed his heart.
Recently I was looking for an illustration for a topic in an online course for High School Health entitled "Stress" and the story of Callistus paralleled the struggle through the dark side of health, whether we deal with a handicap physically, stress mentally, emptiness socially, misunderstanding emotionally, or unfairness in the balance of the spiritual life: welllness under stress.
Underneath his exterior lay the motivating force: Christ. No-one can move one step without Christ.
What a hope... to know that saints and popes... could have the same feeling... the desire to kill themselves... always hope... and faith... it is the key for heaven...!!!
Thanks..!!!
this is a lesson for everyone. it showed how one person went through every trial that could be brought before him and in spite of envy, he became God's Pope. All fate was on his side.
even if he made some mistakes (and we can't be sure he did make mistakes), he was nevertheless able to discern heresy from orthodoxy, which isn't always easy. for that we owe him a debt of gratitude.
As a toc of carmel,when i offer prayer thru a saint i must see who they are,it is like giving your possessions away to a holy man,you like to know them first,especially when i fast on their feast.
Thank you for being here...wm w
One of the most caring popes ever: PRAISE BE TO GOD!
Pope St. Callistus would make a great patron of a failed stock market!?