Evaristo

Evaristo was, according to the testimony of Irenaeus of Lyon and Eusebius of Caesarea, the fifth pope of the Catholic Church and successor to Clement I. He was the one who coined the term "Saint » to the Catholic Church.

Biography

The years of his pontificate vary according to sources. In the Ecclesiastical History it is spoken of from 99 to 108. The Liberian Catalogue although it calls it Aristus places his pontificate between the years 96 to 108. This The last chronology is the one adopted by the Liber pontificalis. Thus, he turns out to be the pope who closes the first century of the Christian era.

Apart from his name appearing in the list of Irenaeus of Lyons, nothing is known of this bishop of the Church of Rome. The Liber pontificalis mentions more information about Pope Evaristo that has not been verified: for example, that he was Greek, the son of a Jew born in Bethlehem, that he was a martyr and that he would be the pope who he assigned the tituli to the presbyters of the Church of Rome. It is also said that he would have presided over three ordination ceremonies: 17 priests, 2 deacons and 15 bishops. He also instituted a group of three deacons who were to watch over the pope himself and his preaching.

Always according to Liber pontificalis, upon his death he was buried on the Vatican hill near the tomb of Saint Peter and the see remained vacant for 19 days.

Unlike his predecessors, his name does not appear in the ancient Roman Canon, indicating that the lack of information about him goes back to the first centuries of Church history.

His status as a martyr is poorly attested. He is mentioned in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum in the list of popes dated December 23rd. But, in the Roman calendar drawn up in 1969, he was removed from the list of martyrs, since the exact date of his death and his martyrdom are unknown for certain.

Tradition indicates that he condemned the heresy of the Docetas.^{[citation needed]} Among the pseudo-Isidorian Decretals are four letters supposedly written by Pope Evaristo.