🕊️Saint Callixtus I, who governed the Church as Pope from 217 to 222, is a notable example of a merciful shepherd. Having been a slave in his youth, he understood human frailty and, for this reason, faced strong opposition from rigorists like Hippolytus when he defended that the Church should absolve and readmit repentant sinners, even those guilty of the gravest faults. His pastoral ministry centered on mercy, understanding that the power to bind and loose conferred upon Peter and his successors was for the salvation of souls. He was martyred around the year 222, leaving a legacy of compassion and doctrinal firmness.
📖Epistle (I Peter 5:1-4, 10-11)
Dearly beloved: The ancients therefore that are among you, I beseech, who am myself also an ancient, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ: as also a partaker of that glory which is to be revealed in time to come: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking care of it, not by constraint, but willingly, according to God: not for filthy lucre's sake, but voluntarily: Neither as lording it over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart. And when the prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never fading crown of glory. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you. To him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.
✝️Gospel (Matthew 16:13-19)
At that time, Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
✨Reflections
🔑Regarding the confession of Peter, the rock of faith, Saint Augustine teaches that Peter personified the universal Church in receiving the keys, and that this power was not given to one man alone, but to the unity of the Church. ‘For it was not one man who received these keys, but the unity of the Church’ (Sermon 295, 2). St. Callixtus I exercised this power to ‘bind and loose’ not as a tyrant, but as a merciful shepherd, understanding that the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven were given to open the gates to the penitent, not to lock them with excessive rigor, reflecting the very heart of Christ, the Chief Shepherd.
👑Saint Bede the Venerable, commenting on shepherding, emphasizes that the true pastor guides ‘not by force, but willingly,’ becoming a ‘pattern for the flock’ (Commentary on the First Epistle of Peter). The life of St. Callixtus I is an embodiment of this exhortation. He did not impose a tyrannical dominion of inflexible rules, but offered the model of God’s mercy, even while suffering opposition from those who accused him of laxity. Having ‘suffered a little’ because of heresies and persecutions, he received, as a martyr, the ‘never fading crown of glory’ promised by the Chief Shepherd.
🏛️The firmness of St. Callixtus I in defending the authority of the Successor of Peter to forgive all sins finds an echo in the teachings of the Council of Trent, which dogmatically defined the power of priests to absolve all sins in the name of Christ (Session XIV, Canon 11). Furthermore, his life prefigures the doctrine of the primacy of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, solemnly defined in the Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus, which affirms that the power to ‘bind and loose’ was conferred upon Peter and his successors for the building up and salvation of the entire flock, a truth that St. Callixtus defended with his own blood.
🔍See English version of the critical articles here.
