Pope Victor I

Pope Victor was most likely born in the early to mid second century.  He was born in Africa, and thus carries the distinction of being the first African Pope.  His father’s name was believed to have been Felix.

Victor was elected Pope in the year 189.  His reign as Pope coincided with the reign of two Roman Emperors, those of Commodus and Septimius Severus.  At this time, the relationship between the Church and Roman Empire was quite peaceful.  The story of how this peace was made possible is quite ironic, as the person most often credited with creating this air of peace was a woman by the name of Marcia.  And I say ironic because of the Church’s position of exercising much stronger management over women’s participation in the Church after the inappropriate practices that had emerged prior to Victor’s papacy.

The stories of Marcia indicate that she was a very strong woman who had an intense desire to help the Christians whom she openly affiliated herself with.  Marcia came to the attention of the Pope when she petitioned her husband, Commodus, to pardon a group of Christians who had been jailed and/ or condemned to work in the salt mines in a place called Sardinia.  Sardinia is a large island off the western coast of Italy, in the Mediterranean Sea.  This group of condemned Christians included our future Pope mentioned in the previous episode, Calixtus.

Pope Victor I also found an ally in the wife of Commodus’ successor, Emperor Septimius Severus. Her name was Julia Domna, and she was the daughter of a great pagan priest named Bassianus.  Her family came from Syria, and Julia Domna grew up serving in the local temple with her family.  She therefore, developed an appreciation and sympathy for the Christians and their dedication to their own God. 

Since Pope Victor had the good fortune of being Pope during an unusually peaceful time of Church/ state relations, he was able to devote more of his time and energies to matters of the Church.  Specifically, Pope Victor I focused on matters of theology and liturgy.  And, maybe most importantly, Pope Victor also used this time to firmly establish the supreme authority of the Pope in Church matters like never seen before.

In fact, Christians not only were generally accepted throughout the Roman Empire, but they also held positions within the Emperors Courts in Rome. Emperor Commodus employed a Christian man named Prosenes.  Emperor Septimius Severus also employed a man named Proculus who once cured Severus of an illness.  Severus also employed a Christian wet nurse for his son Caracalla. 

Pope Victor inherited the lingering controversy between the Churches of Rome and those of Asia Minor concerning when to celebrate Easter.  Those in Rome celebrated this amazing event on the Sunday following the 14^th day of Nisan.  The churchgoers in Asia Minor, which is considered to be modern-day Turkey, chose to celebrate Easter on the 14^th day of Nisan itself.  This particular belief was known as Quartodecimanism.  Pope Victor wrote letters to all of the other Christian Churches, asking for feedback on when they thought the Paschal rite should be celebrated.  Eventually, enough support came for the celebration of Easter on the Sunday following the 14^th of Nisan that Pope Victor that he in turn declared it to be the official day to celebrate Easter.

Well… a man by the name of Policrates of Ephesus wrote Pope Victor and told him that they had no intention of changing their celebration from the 14^th day of Nisan to the following Sunday.  Victor swiftly and convincingly declared that all members of the Church who celebrated Easter outside of the Sunday after 14 Nisan were no longer a part of the Church of Rome.  Victor was immovable in his decision.  Not even the pleas of Bishop Ireneaus of Lyon were able to persuade the Holy Father to change his mind.  Eventually, the Churches of Asia came around to accepting Pope Victor’s decree. 

As a result of this single incident, strength and influence of the Pope as we now know it was born with the papacy of Victor I.  Though he was very diplomatic in how he gathered information prior to making decisions, once he made his decision it was final. 

Victor’s forceful personality carried over to his dealings with the heretics of his day.  He excommunicated anyone claiming false prophesies and philosophies.  Some of his most notable opponents included Theodotus and Natale.  Victor was a man of compassion, however, and was known to welcome excommunicated members of the church once they repented for their mistakes.  Although the heresies persisted after his reign, Pope Victor I gave his successors a clear and convincing method of dealing with them.

In addition to his decree over the celebration of Easter, Pope Victor also declared that if a person had participated in an emergency baptism for some reason or other, such as in a river, spring, sea or other body of water outside of the traditional Church setting, then that person was still entitled to being treated as a full member of the Church.  Apparently some folks were struggling with welcoming new people to the Church who were in need of an emergency baptism.

Pope Victor is also believed to have authored a variety of treatises.  A treatise is a long and systematic way of addressing a certain topic.  Although we are not sure exactly what Pope Victor wrote about in general, we do know that he wrote one particular treatise on dice throwers.  He most likely used the treatise to discuss the behavior and why throwing dice was a sinful act.  I have to say this is where my love for the Church really grows and grows.  I love the detail to which our Church fathers have gone to really take a look at sinful behavior and how it impacts our spiritual lives.  While it does not make staying away from the sin any easier sometimes, as I myself can attest to that, it sure does help to explain what is going on with us and within us, while we are experiencing the struggle of addressing a particular sin.  We are especially blessed now to be able to read treatises on just about every topic known to man due to the work of our Church brothers and sisters over the millennia.

Pope Victor also introduced the Catholic world to the Latin language.  Latin was the native language in his beloved Africa.  Pope Victor thus mandated that all masses were to be said in Latin from his time on, straying away from the original Greek language for the first time.  This tradition of celebrating the mass in Latin would last for over 1800 years.  So yeah, I think it’s safe to say Pope Victor I had a lasting impression on the Church.

Pope Victor I died around the year 199.  The resources used in this podcast conflict with regard to whether or not he was a martyr.  However, while the sources vary on their opinions as to how Victor died, the Liber Pontificalis also lists him as a martyr.  He is buried near St. Peter.