Jose Mario O. Mandia
We have seen previously (Keeper, 4) that through the centuries, some Fathers of the Church have provided us with a record of the list of the Popes until their times. But we have not only the list of names, but also the biographies of the Popes through the centuries. The recognized source of these biographies, especially of the first 15 centuries of Christianity, is the Liber Pontificalis.
Known in the earliest extant manuscripts as Liber episcopalis in quo continentur acta beatorum pontificum Urbis Romae (‘episcopal book in which are contained the acts of the blessed pontiffs of the city of Rome’) and later as the Gesta or Chronica pontificum, the Liber Pontificalis (‘pontifical book’ or Book of the Popes) is a collection of biographies of popes from Saint Peter all the way to the 15th century. From the 12th century onwards, it came to be called the Liber Pontificalis and was regarded as the standard in documenting the successors of Peter (cf Levillain, Philippe. 2002. The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. Routledge, p 941).
The project was started by various anonymous authors in the 3rd century who began drawing up a list of the bishops of Rome. It grew into a biographical series at various stages between the 6th and 9th century, and between c. 1100 and the 15th century. When it was enlarged in the 6th century, more details were added such as the birth name of the pope, his father’s name, place of birth, profession before elevation, length of pontificate, some historical notes, major theological pronouncements and decrees, administrative milestones, ordinations, date of death, place of burial, and the duration of the sede vacante that follows (cf Levillain, Philippe. 2002. The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. Routledge, p 941).
During the Middle Ages, many people considered Saint Jerome as the author of all the biographies up until those of Pope Damasus I (366–383) who had appointed Jerome secretary. Other sources attribute the early work to various authors such as Hegesippus (a Christian writer who fought against the Gnostics and Marcion), Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, and Eusebius of Caesarea (the first Church historian).
In the 16th century, Onofrio Panvinio (Augustinian friar, historian and antiquary) attributed the biographies after Damasus until Pope Nicholas I (858–867) to Anastasius Bibliothecarius (c. 810 – c. 878) who was the librarian (bibliothecarius) and chief archivist of the Church of Rome. Scholars continued to cite Anastasius as the author of that portion of the biographies until the 17th century, although this was disputed by scholars such as Caesar Baronius, Ciampini, Schelstrate and others. (Cf. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). “Liber Pontificalis”. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.)
In 1887, Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne, a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions, published the first complete critical edition of the Liber Pontificalis. He argued the compilation of biographies was gradual and not systematic. According to him, it was impossible to determine with certainty the authorship of the biographies, save for a few exceptions. He thinks, however, that the portion covered from the first pope to Pope Felix III (483-492) was done by one single author who was a contemporary of Pope Anastasius II (496-498). He based his claim on the Catalogus Liberianus, which lists the bishops of Rome from Peter to Liberius (died 366). It gives additional details such as the lengths of each pontificate and the name of the emperor during that time. The Catalogus Liberianus is based on the list made by Hippolytus of Rome and the Leonine Catalogue. This latter document is no longer extant.
A complete list of the popes to the present time and their respective biographies can be found in the Annuario Pontificio, the yearly publication of the Roman Curia, in the section called “I Sommi Pontefici Romani” (The Roman Supreme Pontiffs).
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