Pope Saint Caius

Caius, or Gaius, was bishop of Rome from about 283 to 296. According to the Liber Pontificalis he came from Dalmatia, and a later legend made him a relative of Emperor Diocletian. Little is known for certain about his pontificate, which fell in a relatively peaceful period for Christians before Diocletian's persecution began in 303.

Tradition credits him with organizing the Church in Rome and with ordering that a man pass through the minor orders before being ordained a bishop. Later accounts, especially the legend of Saint Susanna, describe him hiding in the catacombs and dying as a martyr, though historians think he likely died in peace. He died on April 22, 296, and was buried in the Catacomb of Callixtus, where fragments of his epitaph were discovered in the nineteenth century. He has long been honored on this day together with Pope Saint Soter.

Caius is remembered in Rome, where a church once stood in his honor, and in Dalmatia, today's Croatia. His feast recalls the many quiet shepherds who held the early Church together in dangerous times.