Pope Telesphorus
Pope Saint Telesphorus was the Bishop of Rome from about 126 to 137 AD, during the reigns of emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He is traditionally listed as the eighth pope after Peter. Telesphorus was of Greek ancestry and was born in Thurii in southern Italy. Before becoming pope, he is said to have lived as a hermit.
His time as pope occurred when Rome was a center of many ideas, including various heresies. Telesphorus strongly opposed these, especially Gnosticism. Irenaeus notes that Telesphorus celebrated Easter on Sundays, rather than following the Jewish calendar, though he remained in communion with communities that kept different practices.
Traditionally, several liturgical customs are linked to his pontificate, such as Christmas Midnight Mass, Easter on Sundays, a seven-week Lenten period before Easter, and the singing of the Gloria. Some historians doubt these attributions, but they are part of the tradition surrounding his era.
Irenaeus also says that Telesphorus suffered martyrdom. He was buried in the Vatican Necropolis beside his predecessors. His feast is celebrated on January 2 in the Roman calendar, while the Eastern churches observe it on February 22; some Western sources list January 5.
He is honored in both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is considered a patron saint of the Carmelites, and is sometimes shown wearing papal robes in art. A stained glass window of him can be found at a Carmelite monastery in Boxmeer. The Canadian town of Saint-Télesphore in Quebec is named in his memory.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:36 (CET).