Anterus, Pope, St.
ANTERUS, POPE, ST.
Pontificate: Nov. 21, 235 to Jan. 3, 236. The Libe pontificalis says Anterus was a Greek, son of a Romulus, and that he was interested in collecting acts of martyrs. Its report that he was a martyr is untrustworthy. The Liberian catalogue says that he "fell asleep," and he does not appear in lists of martyrs. Little is known of his pontificate. He was the first pope buried in the bishops' crypt of the Cemetery of Callistus; apparently the body of pontianus, his predecessor, was buried there later. His feast does not appear in ancient calendars or Roman books of the liturgy before the ninth century.
Feast: Jan. 3.
Bibliography: eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 6.29 g. schwaiger, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiberg 1957–65) 1:602–603. j. p. kirsch, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart, et al. (Paris 1912–) 3:520–521. e. ferguson, ed., Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (New York 1997), 1.415. j. n. d. kelly, Oxford Dictionary of Popes (New York 1986), 16. a. calabria, S. Antero Papa e Martire, Patrono di Casalbuono (Salerno), Storia e leggenda (Salerno 1994).
[e. g. weltin]