Pope St. Eleutherius

Pope St. Eleutherius governed the Roman Church from about 174 to 189, during the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his successor. His pontificate fell in an age troubled by the spread of Gnostic sects and by the rise of the Montanist movement in Asia Minor, controversies that reached even to Rome and called for the discernment of its bishop.

A later legend, recorded by the Venerable Bede, holds that a British king named Lucius wrote to Eleutherius asking to be made a Christian, prompting the pope to send missionaries to Britain; historians regard this account as unreliable, and it likely arose from a confusion of names, so it cannot be affirmed as fact. What is certain is that Eleutherius shepherded the Roman Church for some fifteen years in a difficult time. Venerated as a saint, he is celebrated on 26 May.