Pope Pontian
Pope Pontian (died October 235) was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 230 to 28 September 235. In 235, during the persecution of Christians in the reign of the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, Pontian was arrested and sent to the island of Sardinia.
He abdicated to make the election of a new pope possible. Resigning on 28 September 235, he was the first pope to do so. This allowed an orderly transition in the Church of Rome and so ended a schism that had existed in the Church for eighteen years. Some accounts say he was beaten to death only weeks after his arrival on Sardinia.
Pontian is venerated as a saint in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
In the Martyrology
- August 13 Saint Pontian, pope, and Hippolytus, martyrs