Sts. Pontian & Hippolytus

Pope Pontian and the rigorist priest Hippolytus had been ecclesiastical opponents — Hippolytus was the first antipope. Sent together to the deadly mines of Sardinia under Emperor Maximinus Thrax, they reconciled there and died as fellow martyrs. Their joint feast keeps the memory of a quarrel ended at the foot of the cross.

Hippolytus was among the most learned churchmen of his day, author of the Apostolic Tradition and numerous commentaries, who had set himself up as rival bishop of Rome in protest against what he saw as papal laxity toward repentant sinners. Pontian, elected pope in 230, represented the broader Church's merciful discipline. That these two adversaries could be reconciled in suffering remains one of the most moving stories of the early Church.

Both died around 235 in the mines, and their bodies were later returned to Rome. Pontian was buried in the papal crypt of the Catacombs of San Callisto, Hippolytus along the Via Tiburtina. Their shared feast on August 13 is a reminder that no disagreement within the Church is beyond the healing power of shared sacrifice.