Saint Sylvester I assumed the throne of Saint Peter as the Thirty-third Pontiff of the Catholic Church after the demise of Saint Miltiades. Although his reign lasted for twenty-two years, information is scarce about his reign.
A supposedly peaceful and absolute Ecclesiastical leadership under the Emperor Constantine seemed to be a mirage for Pope Sylvester I. Emperor Constantine interfered with the scope of papal authority as emperor of the Roman Empire and took over several papal powers under his authority.
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Perhaps the scarcity of information of the Pope Sylvester I’s reign could be because the events that took place in the church then bear more importance in church history than the contributions he made to the church as a pope. Emperor Constantine even assumed the title of bishop in charge of the material affairs of the church, owing to his influence over the church's administration and authority.
After the Donatists who argued that the episcopal consecration of Bishop Caecilianus was invalid, they petitioned to the emperor again for a resolution to the problem. A council was hence convened in a place called Als in August. The said council was attended by about 130 bishops and was not appointed by Pope Sylvester, the bishop of Rome and the head of the Catholic Church. Instead Marinus, the bishop of Als, was entrusted with the said responsibility. Pope Sylvester I sent a delegation of four consisting of two priests and two deacons as his representatives to the said council. At the conclusion of the council, the council's decisions were communicated to Pope Sylvester I in a letter acknowledging his pre-eminence in the Western Church and asking him to communicate the said decisions to other ecclesiastical communities.
It was during the reign of Pope Sylvester I that the Council of Nicaea, the first universal Synod of the Church which is forever inscribed in golden letters in the history of the Church, was convened. The synod was convened to define what true faith was and to declare the heresy of Arianism, which could have caused the division and destruction of the church, to be false. A priest named Arius, who was a priest in Alexandria, taught that Christ was not equal to God, but that Christ was the first creation and the best of God's creations. The said study questioned the very divinity of Christ and a group refused to see him as God. Emperor Constantine realising that this would lead to the division of the church, convened he Universal Synod in AD325 at Nicaea. Pope Sylvester I was also invited to the synod, but due to his ill health and advanced age, he sent two priests to Nicaea as his representatives. Nicaea declared Arianism a heresy at the Synod and excommunicated the preacher Arius. Similarly, Christ's humanity and divinity were declared as Dogma of faith and taught that Christ is one in essence with God the Father (Homoousios).
Pope Sylvester I's reign was a time of growth and benefit for the Catholic Church. St. Peter's Basilica, the Lateran Basilica, and many other churches were built thanks to the generosity of Emperor Constantine.
According to legend, Pope Sylvester I baptized Emperor Constantine. Legend says that Constantine was healed from leprosy, leading him to repentance, and ultimately baptism. But historical records testify that Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia and an Arian partisan, baptized the emperor Constantine shortly before his death. The legend of the emperor's conversion is the source of the document known as the Donation of Constantine, which shows papal sovereignty over the Western Empire and the Church.
Pope Sylvester I's reign lasted gor about twenty-two years. He attained eternal rest on 31st December AD335.
-edit&transl. SM
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