Saint Marcellus I

Marcellus I was pope at one of the worst moments: elected around the middle of 308, after the see of Rome had been empty for almost four years. To understand what he was facing, you need to know what had just happened. Diocletian had unleashed the last great persecution with four edicts: destroy the churches, burn the scriptures, imprison the leaders, torture and kill anyone who wouldn’t sacrifice to the old gods. There were many martyrs. But there were also a great many *lapsi*, that is, those who, to save themselves, had offered sacrifices to the idols, or had had their names put on the registers of those who had obeyed. Ordinary people, frightened, who had given in. And this is the real problem Marcellus found in his hands, and it wasn’t a theological one: what to do with those who now wanted to come back. Taking them back as if nothing had happened would have been a slap in the face to those who had died; turning them away forever would have emptied the churches and betrayed forgiveness. It’s a question every community, sooner or later, finds itself facing in some form. Meanwhile the persecution was dying down, and the Christians of Rome were slowly getting their property back and starting to meet again without fear. Marcellus died on January 16, 309. He had been born in Rome on January 6, 255. If your name is Marcello, today is your name day. No works or writings of his remain. What remains is a hard question that someone had to face first.