Pope Linus

Photo courtesy of: www.stpeterslist.com

Tracing the succession of the early Popes has proven to be a difficult task for Church historians. Over the centuries, records of the succession of Popes have been created and destroyed, thus making it quite a cumbersome task.

In circumstances like these, where questions of history are without a definitive records, historians are compelled to use various methods in gathering their information. These methods include, but are not limited to, uncovering old letters, books, sketches or any other medium used to record events. Once a sufficient amount of information on a particular topic is discovered, historians hope to corroborate he information with other sources. Only after an extensive, and quite exhausting, search are historians able to begin telling the story of a particular place, person or event.

The biggest dilemma facing Church historians is the fact that no pure historical record exists tracing the lineage of the Popes. As a result, the modern Church has turned to the works of noted Church historians such as Irenaeus, Jerome, Eusebius, John Chrysostom as well as early Church rcords such as the Liberian Catalogue and the Liber Pontificalis. These documents and historians are consistent in identifying Linus as the second Pope.

Not much is known about Linus, but he s typically associated with the Linus mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21 in which Paul states:

"... Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Udens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren."

This passage implies that Linus was quite possibly a close associate of St. Paul's. It is even more plausible to deduce that Linus was with Paul towards the end of Paul's life because Timothy is believed to have been written by Paul towards the end of his life.

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Linus was from the Italian region of Tuscany. Tuscany is a region of the upper west coast of modern day Italy. His father's name was believed to be Herculanus. Other sources identify his mother as Claudia. Is this the Claudia who Paul mentions in 2 Timothy? That part is unknown but it sure is easy to make that connection.

Map courtesy of: www.welcometuscany.it

Based on the historical analysis, it is safe to assume that Linus became involved in the early Church after an encounter with Paul. Paul had gone on mission trips to Greece and Turkey in addition to various other parts of the Roman Empire. It is my impression that Linus must have encountered Paul during one of these missionary trips.

Map courtesy of: www.britannica.com

Linus is widely recognized to have served as the Pope of the Catholic Church for about twelve years, from the time of Peter's death in 64 AD to the time of his own death in 76 AD (dates are approximate of course.) While we commonly refer to a man in Linus' position at this point in time as 'Pope,' he was most likely not recognized as such during his lifetime. At the time of Linus' leadership of the early Church, there was not yet a monarchical system put in place like there is today.

Linus' most notable contribution to the Church as Bishop of Rome was in executing a decree initially issued by St. Peter, declaring that women should cover their heads in Church.

Catholic traditions holds that Linus died a martyr and was buried at Vatican Hill next to Peter. This narrative has come under question. Although Nero historically clearly persecuted questions during his time as emperor, it is also widely recognized the persecutions stopped after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul. From the last year or two of Nero's reign, and continuing for the next twenty five years in the Roman Empire, there are no indications of state- sponsored Christian persecution. This time in Roman history was marked more by Roman infighting rather than Christian persecution. As a result, the details of Linus' death ultimately have remained a mystery.

With regard to his burial place, a tomb found in St. Peter's Basilica in 1615 by a man named Torrigio was inscribed with the letters LINVS, and was once taken to be Linus' tomb. The claim has been disputed in that a late manuscript written by Torrigio shows that these were merely the last five letters of a longer name ending with the same letters such as Aquilinus or Anullinus.

Pope Linus has since been ascribed the title 'saint' by the Catholic Church. St. Linus' feast day is celebrated on September 23, which is the recognized day of his death in the year 67 AD.

As with Peter, the details of Linus' life are hard to piece together, although there are some general conclusions which can be made reading Pope Linus. He was an Italian. He was an early Church leader, a disciple of Paul and an integral figure in continuing the momentum of the early Church movement.