Liberian Catalogue

Encyclopedia : L : LI : LIB : Liberian Catalogue

In compiling the history of the Early Christian Church, the Liberian Catalogue is an essential document, for it consists of a list of the popes, designated bishops of Rome, ending with Pope Liberius (died 366), hence its name and approximate date. The list gives the lengths of their respective episcopates, the corresponding consular dates, and the names of the reigning emperor. In many cases there are other details. "The collection of tracts of which this forms a part was edited (apparently by one Furius Dionysius Philocalus) in 354" (CE).

The Liberian Catalogue was largely dependent on a work of bishop Hippolytus of Portus (died 235), his lost Chronica. The character of the entries changes after Pontian There are a number of discrepencies in the Liberian Catalogue that Church historians have been at pains to gloss (Edmundson 1913, lecture VIII) or to attribute to the errors of copyists (CE).

Anomalies in the Liberian Catalogue

George Edmundson pointed out a number of anomalies. "The deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul are stated to have taken place in 55 A.D. Clement succeeds Linus in 67 A.D., and Anencletus, the real successor of Linus, is duplicated and follows Clement, first at Cletus, then as Anacletus. Clement’s death is recorded as having occurred sixteen years before he became bishop according to the generally received date." Nor were the errors confined to the first-century episcopates. The Hippolytean source is not even accurate about Pope Pius himself, who in the words of the Muratorian fragment lived "very recently in our own times". Hegesippus and Irenaeus, both of whom stayed some time in Rome soon after the death of Pius, both give the order of succession as Pius, Anicetus, Soter, Eleutherus. The Liberian Catalogue makes Pius the successor of Anicetus instead of the predecessor.

References

George Edmundson, 1913. The Church in Rome in the First Century (Bampton Lectures) ([Lecture VIII, on-line])
Catholic Encyclopedia: "Chronological Lists of Popes" ([on-line])

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.