St. Julius
Julius I, Pope
Feast day: April 12
Born in Rome;
Died there in April 12, 352.
Saint Julius, son of Rusticus, was elected pope on February 6, 337, to succeed Pope Saint Mark. Soon Julius was involved in the Arian controversy when Eusebius of Nicomedia opposed the return of Saint Athansius to the see of Alexandria in 338. The Arian bishops in the East sent three deputies to Julius to accuse Athanasius. Julius shared the charges they presented with Athanasius, who thereupon sent his representatives to Rome. Upon questioning them, he decided that the accusations of Eusebius were false.
At the insistence of the Arians, Julius convened a synod in Rome in 340 or 341 in which Athanasius and other orthodox bishops participated. Neither the Arians or semi-Arians attended. When Julius demanded the they appear before him, they answered by convening the council of Antioch in 341 during which Eusebuis and his followers elected George as patriarch of Alexandria, whereupon the Arians elected Pistus (so now there are three bishops of the same see).
In a letter to the Eusebian bishops, Julius declared that Athanasius was the rightful patriarch of Alexandria and reinstated him. In it the Holy Father demonstrates the authority of the bishop of Rome. He writes:
"If they [Athanasius and Marcellus] had been guilty, you should have written to us all, that judgment might have been given by all: for they were bishops and churches that suffered, and these not common churches, but the same that the apostles themselves had governed. Why did they not write to us especially concerning the church of Alexandria? Are you ignorant, that it is the custom to write to us immediately, and that the decision ought to come from hence? In case therefore that the bishop of that see lay under any suspicions, you ought to have written to our church. But now, without having sent us any information on the subject, and having acted just as you thought proper, you require of us to approve your measures, without sending us any account of the reasons of your proceedings. These are not the ordinances of Paul, this is not the tradition of our fathers; this is an unprecedented sort of conduct. I declare to you what we have learned from the blessed apostle Peter, and I believe it so well known to everybody, that I should not have mentioned it, had not this happened."
This letter is considered one of the most momentous pronouncements of the Roman see, according to the historian Socrates, who wrote: "Julius, by virtue of the prerogative of his see, sent the bishops into the East, with letters full of vigor, restoring to each of them his see." Sozomen similarly writes: "For, because the care of all belonged to him, by the dignity of his see, he restored to every one his church."
The matter was not really settled until the Council of Sardica (Sofia), summoned by the Emperors Constans and Constantius in 342 or 343 at the urging of Julius, which declared Julius's action correct and that any deposed bishop had the right of appeal to the pope in Rome. It declared Athanasius and Marcellus of Ancyra as orthodox and restored them to their respective sees. (This was an ecumenical council but is considered as an appendix to the Council of Nicaea because it only confirmed its decrees, although it enacted 21 disciplinary canons.)
Julius, a model of charity and wisdom, also built several basilicas and churches in Rome before his death
Julius I, PopeFeast day: April 12
Born in Rome;
Died there in April 12, 352.
Saint Julius, son of Rusticus, was elected pope on February 6, 337, to succeed Pope Saint Mark. Soon Julius was involved in the Arian controversy when Eusebius of Nicomedia opposed the return of Saint Athansius to the see of Alexandria in 338. The Arian bishops in the East sent three deputies to Julius to accuse Athanasius. Julius shared the charges they presented with Athanasius, who thereupon sent his representatives to Rome. Upon questioning them, he decided that the accusations of Eusebius were false.
In a letter to the Eusebian bishops, Julius declared that Athanasius was the rightful patriarch of Alexandria and reinstated him. In it the Holy Father demonstrates the authority of the bishop of Rome. He writes:
"If they [Athanasius and Marcellus] had been guilty, you should have written to us all, that judgment might have been given by all: for they were bishops and churches that suffered, and these not common churches, but the same that the apostles themselves had governed. Why did they not write to us especially concerning the church of Alexandria? Are you ignorant, that it is the custom to write to us immediately, and that the decision ought to come from hence? In case therefore that the bishop of that see lay under any suspicions, you ought to have written to our church. But now, without having sent us any information on the subject, and having acted just as you thought proper, you require of us to approve your measures, without sending us any account of the reasons of your proceedings. These are not the ordinances of Paul, this is not the tradition of our fathers; this is an unprecedented sort of conduct. I declare to you what we have learned from the blessed apostle Peter, and I believe it so well known to everybody, that I should not have mentioned it, had not this happened."This letter is considered one of the most momentous pronouncements of the Roman see, according to the historian Socrates, who wrote: "Julius, by virtue of the prerogative of his see, sent the bishops into the East, with letters full of vigor, restoring to each of them his see." Sozomen similarly writes: "For, because the care of all belonged to him, by the dignity of his see, he restored to every one his church."
The matter was not really settled until the Council of Sardica (Sofia), summoned by the Emperors Constans and Constantius in 342 or 343 at the urging of Julius, which declared Julius's action correct and that any deposed bishop had the right of appeal to the pope in Rome. It declared Athanasius and Marcellus of Ancyra as orthodox and restored them to their respective sees. (This was an ecumenical council but is considered as an appendix to the Council of Nicaea because it only confirmed its decrees, although it enacted 21 disciplinary canons.)
Julius, a model of charity and wisdom, also built several basilicas and churches in Rome before his death
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