The Roman Pontiff who succeeded Pius towards the year 157, and reigned till
about 168. According to Duchesne (Origins) the confusion of dates about this
period is such that more exact verification is impossible. While Anicetus was
Pope, St. Polycarp, then in extreme old age, came to confer with him (160-162)
about the Paschal controversy; Polycarp and others in the East celebrating the
feast on the fourteenth of the month of Nisan, no matter on what day of the week
it fell; whereas in Rome it was always observed on Sunday, and the day of the
Lord's death on Friday. The matter was discussed but nothing was decided.
According to Eusebius: "Polycarp could not persuade the Pope, nor the Pope,
Polycarp. The controversy was not ended but the bonds of charity were not
broken"; the Pope permitting the aged saint to celebrate on the day he had been
accustomed to in the Church of Smyrna.
Hegesippus, the first Christian
historian whose writings are of great value, because he lived so near the time
of the Apostles, also came to Rome at this time. His visit is recorded by most
ecclesiastical authors as noteworthy, inasmuch as it calls attention to the fact
that many illustrious men repaired to Rome at that period, thus emphasizing very
early the supreme dignity and authority of the Roman Pontiffs. Marcion,
Marcellinus, Valentine, and Cordo were also at Rome, disturbing the Church by
their Manichæism. Anicetus suffered martyrdom in 161, but the dates vary between
16, 17, and 20 April.
Acta SS., 11 April; BUTLER, Lives of the Saints, 17 April; MICHAUD, Biog. Univ.; JUNGMANN, Dissert. Hist. Eccl.; MOBERLY in Dict. Christ. Biogr.
T.J. CAMPBELL
Transcribed by WGKofron
With thanks to St. Mary's
Church, Akron, Ohio