Saint Pontian and Saint Hippolytus

Today, the Catholic church honors not one, but two saints. The reason is that the stories of these two men are intertwined and together, they teach us a valuable lesson.

Saint Pontian was a pope for five years. During this time, he excommunicated the theologian Origen of Alexandria. In retaliation, the Roman emperor banished him to exile in 235, and he resigned his post so that someone else could take over as Pope.

Saint Hippolytus' story is a little more interesting. Hippolytus was a presbyter in Rome and was called "holier than the Church." He had a beef with the pope, saying he was too lenient on a certain heresy, and called him "a tool in the hands" of a deacon named Callistus. As fate would have it, Callistus was elected the next pope. Hippolytus went after him next, accusing him of being too lenient with penitents, and he was elected "antipope" by his followers. He was very rigorous about discipline and was very much a religious extremist who felt that the church was too soft. He remained separated from the church throughout Pontian's reign as Pope, but again, as fate would have it, he was banished in 235 as well; to the same island Pontian had been exiled to, Sardinia. Here he made peace with Pontian, and they died together in exile. They are remembered as martyrs.

While I disagree with Hippolytus' teachings very much and could not find much more information about Pontian, I think there is something to be learned here about reconciliation and putting aside your differences. Hippolytus was finally able, in the end, to look past his and Pontian's religious differences and make peace with the ex-Pope after a lifetime of attacking the church. Perhaps we should focus on apology and forgiveness today. Forgiveness is one of the cornerstones of virtually every religion. Whether you look at Buddha, Jesus, or any other spiritual leader, they all harped on forgiveness more than almost any other virtue. At Creative Life, there is a part of the meditation in which we are told not only to forgive others, but also to forgive ourselves. This is something that I think everyone needs to work on. It is incredibly difficult to forgive others, but it's even more difficult to forgive yourself.