Saint Stephen I was elected as the twenty-third Pope and head of the Catholic Church. Pope Stephen I led the Church from AD254 to 257. He was born in Rome to Greek parents and given the name Stephanos. Even as a young man, he actively participated in the activities of the Church and served the church leadership in various positions. Stephanos, who served the Church diligently was noticed by Pope Lucius I, who anointed Stephanos as a bishop.

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On March 5, AD254, immediately after Lucius I's pontificate, the church leadership elected Stephanus as pope. As soon as he was elected Pope, he took the name Stephen. Like his predecessors, Pope Stephen took a strong stance against Novationism, the heresy that was plaguing the Church.

Pope Stephen I and Saint Cyprian of Carthage had a strong disagreement regarding the admission of those baptized from heretics and schisms into the Church. A fierce opposition arose between the great leaders.

According to the teaching of the Church, those who have received baptism in the Holy Church, but who have renounced their faith due to religious persecution, repent and return to the Holy Church, do not need to receive baptism again. Cyprian taught that the baptism of those baptized by heretics and schisms was invalid. Therefore, he argued that those who had been baptized in that way needed to be re-baptized in order to become members of the Church.

Pope Stephen I emphasized that those who had been baptized by heretics and schismatics did not need to be baptized again in order to accept the Catholic faith and become members of the Holy Church. Eventually, his position was accepted by the church leadership.

Pope Stephen's study of rebaptism later became the basis of the Church's official teaching. The Church officially teaches that even sacraments administered by deposed priests are valid and that sacraments such as confession can be administered by deposed priests and those who have renounced their priesthood in special and unavoidable circumstances.

Pope Stephen I was a proponent that all believers should receive the same kind of support. Therefore, he was very careful to provide financial assistance to the faithful in Syria and other regions. It was with this assistance and support, that the faithful renovated the temples and engaged in other compassionate activities.

Church Tradition holds that Pope Stephen I was martyred during the reign of Emperor Valerian on 2nd August AD 257. During the Holy Mass while Pope Stephen I was conversing with the faithful, soldiers entered and beheaded the Pontiff on the orders of Emperor Valerian.

The Church commemorates this great Pontiff and martyr on his feast day on August 2nd

-edit&transl. SM

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