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Although referred to as the "Crypt of the Popes", it
really appears to be the "Crypt of the
Bishop-Martyrs" of the Church of the turbulent 3rd century.
In it were buried other bishops - not just those of Rome. It even
includes a reference to Cyprian of Carthage, who's buried in Carthage and
not in Rome. It may have been the most secure burial spot (and
physical record) available for the highest leaders of Christianity in the
middle of the 3rd century. As such, and in light of the fact that
almost everything above ground relating to Christianity was destroyed
between 303 and 311, it provided an INSCRIBED
IN STONE record of the systematic and extremely severe attacks
upon the Church that began around 235 A.D. during the
Period of Military Anarchy.
Further analysis and interpretation of the martyrs listed on the Depositio Martyrum is needed before the significance associated with the names missing therefrom is understood, but it appears to indicate that as of around 354 A.D., when the list was published, the "Crypt of the Popes" had not yet been found. That may prove how well it was hidden and how complete was the obliteration of all Christians during the FINAL Great Persecution begun in 303: there was no one left who could pass along information regarding it. (If it was discovered by 354, then the full import of those buried in it may not have been realized until after the Depositio Martyrum was published.)
The crypt is located in the oldest, most professionally developed section of the catacomb of Callistus. It was probably part of the original area developed for the family who donated the cemetery above and catacombs below to the Church around 199 A.D. Probably originally intended to contain the bodies of a dozen "ordinary" Christians known to the family, it was plain and utilitarian. It became more ostentatious from improvements made after it was re-discovered in the latter half of the 4th century.
It became the repository for the martyred bishops (of Rome and elsewhere) when Pope Fabian moved the bodies of Pontian and Anterus there after he became Pope in 236. From that point forward, the Church leadership made all efforts to both secure it's location and ensure that those suffering from the persecutions of the Empire were preserved for resurrection and posterity.
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It's likely that while other burial crypts and galleries were filled-in with the
tufa being dug from newly created burial passageways, thereby
making them more difficult to access by angry pagans wanting to defile them,
the "Crypt of the Popes" had to remain clear in order to
make it available for ever more just martyred Popes - making it the most
secure and closely guarded part of the entire complex until it was filled
and sealed with the same tufa used throughout the rest of the
underground cemetery complex of Calixtus. ]
In one biography, Latin variations of Pope-Saint
Callistus' name appear as CALIXTUS or
CALLIXTUS. All of the following individuals are referenced to
have been buried in the catacomb of Callistus, Calixtus or Callixtus on
the Appian Way:
Bishop (foreign) May 19th is the day of reverence shared with Calocerus
and Partenius, among others, but he was buried here on the 25th of May,
293. "XIIII kal. iun.--Partheni et Caloceri in Callisti Diocletiano VIIII et Maximiano VIII conss." is
reflected in the Depositio Martyrum, but more
about them is yet to be found. (This cannot be the Urban referenced
in the St. Cecilia ?legend/martyrology?, who was the only friend of the
family buried in this area before its donation to the Church. He
probably died before the year 200, with St. Cecilia preceding him by
several years or decades.)
Pope:
October 222 - May 23, 230 Followed Pope Callistus I, who died on
October 14th, 222. He was fortunate to reign at the same time as
Emperor Alexander Severus, who with his mother, Julia Mammaea, held
favorable opinions of Christianity. Apparently, Pope Urban is
really buried in the Catacomb of Praetextatus - being the last Pope to be
buried in a more or less routine fashion before the cyclic persecutions
begin with Emperor Maximinus (235-238) in 235.
Pope: 230
- 235 His body was brought to Calixtus by Pope Fabian as part of the
dedication to this 'most holy' place for Saints being martyred at the
onset of what's to become repeated cycles of persecution over the next
seven decades.
Pope: 11/21/235 -
1/3/236 His 40 day reign ends during the persecution of Maximinus. Notable is that his
"sepulchre" in the "famous papal crypt" isn't discovered for 16
centuries. That's a good record of secrecy!
Pope: 236 - 1/20/250
His is the story of the dove landing on his head during the selection
process making him the choice by acclamation of the astounded
participatants. During this peaceful term, the Church flourishes and
the cemetery of Callistus is made ready for all who will follow.
Details of his 'historically certain' martyrdom are lacking but he
undoubtedly succumbs to the cruelty of
Decius, who in January, 250, 3 months into office, issues the edict
ordering the death of the Bishops and torture of others until they
recant. (The secret nature of the 'papal crypt' in Callistus is
implied here, because had Decius or any other authorities known of its
existence, they surely would have obliterated it from the face of the
earth.) The seriousness of Decius' edict can be judged by the fact
flees for his safety and manages to survive to write his famous (and
extremely valuable for historical purposes) letters for another 8 years.
Pope: 251
- 253 Assumes office after the persecution of Decius subsides but
dies when a plague scares the populace into demanding another round of
persecutions from newly installed Emperor Trebonianus Gallus. The
latter persecution sees less apostasy than the former - thanks to
Cornelius ability to rally the Christian faithful during his short
term. His area was discussed in THE CRYPTS OF LUCINA (a now dead
link).
Pope: 253
- 254 Survived the end of the persecution of Trebonianus Gallus by
avoiding Rome. Continues Cornelius' policy of admitting apostates
to communion after "due penance" and receives praise from Bishop Cyprian
of Carthage.
Pope: 254
- 8/27/257 Cyprian, writes Stephen about the apostasy problem. Saint Cyprian believes in tough love - without the
love. Stephen may have died in exile during the next round of
persecutions under Valerian - aimed at the leadership and
corporate life of the Church.
Pope: 257
- 8/6/258 Among the first to suffer under the 'Great Persecution' of
Valerian, he tells
"...; you will follow me in three days." Laurence, after hiding the Church treasury in
the house of Cyriacus, is captured.
He leads his torturers to the poor people of Rome as the 'hidden treasure'
of the Church. Needless to say, he pays for that legerdemain with his
life but does help keep the real treasury from falling into the hands of the
authorities until ??? Their differing burial places suggests that
those doing the burying were alive to bury Sixtus and his fellow
Deacon-Martyrs but weren't on or after the 10th, four days later.
Presumably, it took a while for the new Church leadership to learn that
Callistus was the burial place for these (leader)-Saint-Martyrs. That
also suggests there may have been another, unknown Cyriacus
caretaker who was put to death in 258 with the others.
It should be noted, at this point, that it was very important to the leadership of the Church that there be a Bishop of Rome at all times. The Good Shepherd motif appears often in the catacombs. That's interpreted to represent the very first such Role Model and Martyr - Jesus Christ. There should be little doubt that the Bishops of the Church, especially those in Rome participating in what was evolving into a centralized administration, role modeling and asset gathering function, were using the Good Shepherd as their Role Model. It also explains how Christianity actually got stronger with each succeeding cycle of persecution and growth - the Christian faithful were provided with heroically courageous leadership as role models. The fact that one after another of these Pope-Saint-Martyrs, especially those buried at Calixtus and indicated here, were willing to die on behalf of their 'flock' proved they were the best 'shepherds' one could have.
It also points to something else - when there was an unwanted vacancy for more than several months, it must have been because that latest round of persecutions killed off so much of the leadership that it took a while to establish new leaders to elect the next Bishop of Rome. In other words, the severity of the killings by the Emperor in power can be gauged by the amount of time it took to replace the almost always 'first to be martyred' Bishop of Rome. Pope: July 22, 259 to December 26, 268 Became Bishop of Rome after a 50 week vacancy following the death of Pope St. Sixtus II on August 6th, 258. The contemporaneous execution of the 'presumed' successor, St. Laurence, along with Pope St. Sixtus and most likely numerous others in the chain of command, may have been the reason it took a while to find someone to become the next Pope-Saint-Martyr. As evidenced by Pope St. Dionysius' length of time in office there now begins another period of relative quiet after Emperor Gallienus issues an edit of toleration allowing the Church to re-build its assets and rally the faithful once again. Pope: 269 - 274 His account in the "Liber Pontificalis" points out the tendency toward errors regarding duplicate names in that document. Emperor (270-275) threatens to rescind the edict of toleration but dies before it can be carried out. Church activities become more public. Pope: 275 - 283 His tombstone has been found here but most everything else about him is in doubt. Eusebius gives him a reign of only ten months. Pope: 283 - 296 A doubtful account in the "Liber Pontificalis" indicates he may have been related to the Emperor Diocletian. Little else is known - primarily because Diocletian's FINAL Great Persecution begun in 303, seven years after Pope Caius' death, also manages to destroy most Church records up to this time. SS. GAIUS & EUSEBIUS have separate crypts in Calixtus. Pope-Saint Eusebius (310-310) died of starvation soon after being exiled to Sicily but his body was returned to Calixtus by Pope-Saint Miltiades (311-314). His being buried here seems to be more an assumption than fact. The Calixtus catacombs may have remained blocked and hidden for decades after the FINAL Great Persecution of 303-313. Even the AREA CALLED ST. MILTIADES fails to mention that his body was actually located there. His burial there would indicate that the site wasn't as secret as presumed; or that not all of the 'secret keepers' were martyred; or that the new Church leaders found the not so well hidden site within a decade after its closure; or that he's merely buried in another, not so secret section of the catacomb. The new Edict of Toleration issued at Milan in 313 () should have made it safer to bury Miltiades in a less secretive manner or place.
