Damasius I

Damasius was the son of Anthony, a priest of the church of St. Lawrence (San Lorenzo) in Rome , and Lawrence. The years of his youth fell on the reign of Emperor Constantine I , who issued the Edict of Milan ( 313 ), which provided freedom of religion to Christians in all parts of the Roman Empire. Emperor Licinius refused to recognize this edict, which led to a civil war in 324 and subsequent Christian religious supremacy in Constantinople . This became the basis for the future rivalry of the See of Constantinople with the Roman See. Damascus in these years was about 24 years old.

When Pope Liberius was expelled by Emperor Constantius II in 354 , Damasius was the archdeacon of the Roman church and accompanied Liberia to exile, although he returned to Rome immediately afterwards.

After the death of Liberia, a conflict arose among the clergy. Part of the population of Rome and the clergy supported the election of Ursin , part was for Damasius. The historian Kelly claims that Damasius hired a gang of thugs who stormed the Julian Basilica, where Ursin’s supporters settled, and 160 Ursin’s supporters died during the struggle ^[1] . The scale of the struggle was such that two prefects of the city were called up to restore order, and after the first failure they expelled Ursin to Gaul ^[2] . Ursin returned to continue the struggle, but was again exiled.

At the synod in 378 , Ursin was condemned, and Damasius declared a true pope . Antipapa continued to intrigue against Damasius in the following years and unsuccessfully tried to revive his claims after the death of the latter.

In 380 , Emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity the official religion. Using the support of the emperor, Damasius I fought both against other currents of Christianity ( Arianism ) and against non-Christian religions. For this, the pantheon of Christian martyrs was opposed to the pagan pantheon , including the cult of St. Peter . Damasius was actively engaged in church construction. Under him Christian catacombs were put in order.

Damasius I commissioned St. Jerome of Stridon to begin the translation of the Bible , which later became known as the Vulgate . Replaced the Greek language in the liturgy with Latin . The official correspondence of Damasius has been preserved.

In 381 , Emperor Theodosius I convened the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople . Damascus was not invited to the cathedral. The council condemned Arianism , recognized the bishop of Constantinople second in importance after the bishop of Rome , and also forbade the bishops of one church from interfering in the affairs of another Christian church. Damasius agreed with the first decision, and protested against the second and third. His position was ignored ^[3] .

After death, he was canonized . Memory in the Catholic Church - December 11 .

• Kowalski. I. Period II. Under the tutelage of the Roman Empire // Popes and papacy.
• Korelin M.S. Damaz // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• SOZOMEN CHURCH HISTORY Book 6 Chapter 23 (Neopr.) . Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived February 12, 2012.
• Biography, bibliography of the author's works and bibliography of works about the author on the scientific and theological portal Bogoslov.ru