The 39th Pope
St. Anastasius
Pope St. Anastasius
(399-401)
Pope St. Anastasius (399-401)
Although his pontificate was brief, he gained notoriety as the one who condemned the famous theologian Origen. When one thinks of a son taking over for his father, it hardly would be imagined that it would be as pope. The son of Pope Anastasius would succeed him as Pope Innocent I.
Pope Anastasius was favored by Saint Jerome and Saint Paulinus of Nola for his tendency toward asceticism. He held fast in his stand against Donatism which held that those penitents returning to the Catholic Church had to be re-baptized if they had been baptized by those in heresy or schism.
Pope Anastasius is buried in the cemetery of Pontian.
Habemus papam