Saint Marcellinus became the twenty-ninth leader of the Catholic Church on June 30th, AD 296 after succeeding Saint Caius. Little is known about his early reign, but it was during his time as Pope that the Church faced the most severe persecution in its history.
Emperor Diocletian displayed a tolerant attitude toward Christians at the beginning of his reign. Emperor Diocletian's wife was also a Christian. It was a milestone in the history of the Roman Empire and the Holy Church. In order to facilitate the administration of the Roman Empire, Emperor Diocletian divided the empire in two, placing the eastern part under his control and his colleague Maximian in charge of the western part.
Click here to view our visual series on “The Pontiff”
The elite of the Roman Empire propagated that the Roman gods and Roman religion held the Roman Empire together, that Christians and Christianity were against the Empire, and that Christians would cause the eventual destruction of the Empire. Inspite of these allegations, the attitude of tolerance towards Christians continued for some time.
Yielding to the pressures of anti-Christians, Diocletian in A.D300 ordered all Christians in his army to worship and sacrifice to the Roman gods. He ordered that those who violate this command will lose their position in the army and their lives.
According to the instructions of his governor, Galerius, on February 3rd AD303, Emperor Diocletian issued his first edict against the Christians. Through the said royal decree, the emperor ordered to destroy the Christian churches, hand over the holy books and sacred objects to the Roman authorities and worship the Roman gods. He also ordered that those who violate the said laws should be sent to forced labor.
Pope Marcellinus seemingly agreed to some of the emperor's demands, and briefly stepped down from his position. However, he was convinced to return by the Synod of Bishops, who understood his good intentions. Pope Marcellinus returned and remained in full communion with the church. Upon knowledge of the Popes intention of not taking his side, Diocletian had the Pope executed.
The Annuario Pontificio is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church lists his official demise as 25th October AD 304.
The Church venerates him as a martyr and a saint.
Supporters of Donatism has accused Pope Marcellus I, Melchiades, Sylvester I and also many priests and deacons who became future popes of the later church, of apostasy.They have however failed to provide any concrete evidence for this.
-edit&transl. SM
Click here to read other articles in this series