
Pope St. Anicetus
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 The  Roman Pontiff  who succeeded Pius  towards the year 157, and  reigned till about 168. According to Duchesne (Origins) the  confusion of  dates  about  this period is such that more exact verification is impossible.  While Anicetus was  Pope, St. Polycarp, then in extreme old  age, came to confer with him (160-162) about the Paschal  controversy;  Polycarp  and others in  the East celebrating the  feast  on the fourteenth of the month of  Nisan, no   matter on what day of the week it fell;  whereas in  Rome  it was always  observed on  Sunday, and  the day of the Lord's death on Friday. The   matter was  discussed but nothing was decided. According to  Eusebius  : " Polycarp  could not persuade the  Pope, nor the  Pope,  Polycarp. The controversy was not ended but  the bonds of charity were not broken"; the  Pope  permitting the aged saint to celebrate  on the day he had been accustomed to in the  Church  of  Smyrna. 
 Hegesippus, the first  Christian  historian whose writings are of great value, because he lived  so near the  time  of the Apostles, also came to Rome  at this  time. His visit is recorded by most ecclesiastical  authors as  noteworthy, inasmuch as it calls attention to the fact that many  illustrious men repaired to  Rome  at  that period, thus emphasizing very early the supreme dignity and  authority of the  Roman Pontiffs. Marcion, Marcellinus, Valentine,  and Cordo were also at  Rome,  disturbing the  Church  by their Manichæism. Anicetus suffered martyrdom  in 161, but the dates  vary between 16,  17, and 20 April.
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