Saint Stephen I
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Pope Saint Stephen I |
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| Papacy began | 12 May 254 |
| Papacy ended | 2 August 257 |
| Predecessor | Lucius I |
| Successor | Sixtus II |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Stephanus |
| Born | Rome, Roman Empire |
| Died | 2 August 257 Rome, Roman Empire |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 2 August, 3 August |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Patronage | |
Pope Stephen I (Latin: Stephanus I; died 2 August 257) was the Bishop of Rome from 12 May 254 to his death in 257. Of Roman birth but of Greek ancestry, he became bishop after serving as archdeacon of Pope Lucius I, who appointed Stephen his successor.
Following the Decian persecution of 250–251, there was disagreement about how to treat those who had lapsed from the faith, and Stephen was urged by Faustinus, Bishop of Lyon, to take action against Marcian, Bishop of Arles, who denied penance and communion to the lapsed who repented, the position called Novatianism, after Novatian, later declared a heretic, who held for the strictest approach.
The controversy arose in the context of a broad pastoral problem. During the Decian persecution some Christians had purchased certificates attesting that they had made the requisite sacrifices to the Roman gods. Others had denied they were Christians while yet others had in fact taken part in pagan sacrifices. These people were two called "lapsi". The question arose that if they later repented, could they be readmitted to communion with the church, and if so, under what conditions.
Stephen held that converts who had been baptized by splinter groups did not need re-baptism, while Cyprian and certain bishops of the Roman province of Africa held rebaptism necessary for admission to the Eucharist. Stephen's view eventually won broad acceptance in the Latin Church. However, in the Eastern Churches this issue is still debated.
He is also mentioned as having insisted on the restoration of the bishops of León and Astorga, who had been deposed for unfaithfulness during the persecution but afterwards had repented.
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