The Roman Emperor Maximinus exiled Pope Pontianus to the mines of Sardinia. When it became impossible for the Pope to look after the daily administration of the Church he abdicated his tasks to a strong individual. Thus Saint Anterus was elected as the nineteenth Pontiff of the Catholic Church.

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Pope Anterus was born in Calabira in AD180 in Calabria, southern Italy.

Before his death, Pope Anterus abdicated the throne and the clerics in Rome came together to elect Anterus as the new Pope. He became the official pope on November 21, 235.

The Church was facing a period of trials and persecution. Pope Anterus began gathering documents which is now called the Acts of Martyrs. These documents contained testimonies from witnesses who saw the martyrdom of popes and other individuals in person. He worked with others to gather as many documents as they could find and then sent them to the Roman Church for storage in the archives.

He appointed several notaries and tasked them with finding those documents and keeping them safe.

Some traditions state that he was martyred because of the official eyewitness documents.

Pope Anterus was able to continue as the head of the Catholic Church for only 43 days. He was martyred on January 3, 236 AD.

The Church observes his feast day on January 3rd.
edit&transl. SM