Saint Vitcor I was the fourteenth Pope and Shepherd of the Catholic Church. The election of Pope Victor I was a decisive step in the history of the Church, and especially in the history of popes. He was the first Pope to be elected from Africa in the history of the Holy Church.

Born in Africa, Pope Victor was bishop of Leptis Magna, the ancient city of Carthage, before he was elected as the patriarch. There is some controversy and differing opinions about his papacy. Historians have different opinions about the reign of Pope Victor. However, everyone agrees that he led the church for a decade.

During the time of Pope Victor I, Christians had to endure a lot of persecution from the Roman emperor and Roman authorities. Pope Victor worked and advocated for the liberation and freedom of Christians who were forced to work in the mines. He gladly received back those who were thus freed, into the Church.

Pope Victor I is most noted and his papacy became significant for his decisions regarding the observance of Easter, as well as for his stance against the doctrine of Adoptionism.

During the second century, many people in the West celebrated Easter on Sunday. In the East, they chose different days to celebrate this holiday. Victor unified all the churches when he declared that they should celebrate Easter on Sunday, which is a practice that the Church still uses.

As part of implementing this proposal, the Pope convened local synods. While most of the Synods agreed with Pope Victor's decision, the Eastern Churches in Asia Minor who celebrated Easter on the 14th of Nisan refused to agree with this decision of the Pope. They reiterated that they had been instructed to observe Easter in this way from the apostles, and thus the observance dates back to apostolic times.

The Eastern churches, led by Polycrates of Ephesus, refused to obey Pope Victor's decision. Knowing this, Pope Victor excommunicated Polycrates and his Eastern churches. As a result, Pope Victor faced a lot of opposition.

Saint Irenaeus severely criticized him and reminded Pope Victor that the popes since Pope Soter had tolerated differences in the practice and date of Easter and therefore asserted that the objections of Polycrates and others were not grounds for excommunication, as they were not against faith in Christ. These words of Saint Irenaeus persuaded Pope Victor to reconsider his decision and remove the excommunication on Polycrates and others.

According to the ecclesiastical historian Eusebius, Pope Victor strongly reacted against the heresy of adoptionism, which taught that Christ was not truly the Son of God, but rather adopted by God. He deposed Theodotus of Byzantium, the propagator of the said heresy. Theodotus taught through his writings was a mortal man born to a normal man and woman who later found his way to God. Theodotus also claimed that Jesus did not become God until his resurrection. The writings drew such ire that Victor claimed the man was a heretic and excommunicated him.

Early Church records indicate that Pope Victor I was a martyr, which is one of the reasons why he is recognized as a saint. The feast of Saint Victor I, the Pope is celebrated on July 28.
-edit & trans. SM