We have little definite information about Pope Saint Caius. It was said that he was a relative of the Emperor Diocletian and was also an uncle of an unidentified holy Susanna. He also made up the final structure of the lower orders. The information is not verifiable, but seems to maybe preclude his martyrdom, because – on the threshold of Peter from 283 to 296 – he died before the Diocletian persecution was unleashed.

Legend has it that Caius was born in the Dalmatian city of Salona (nda: Solin is about 5 km NE of Split), to a noble family related to the Roman emperor Diocletian.

Pope Caius was consecrated on December 17, 283. However, during his pontificate, the anti-repression was much attenuated. There were concessions for the construction of new churches and the expansion of cemeteries.

At the same time, on the home front, heresies multiplied. The last in chronological order was that of “Mitra” (nda: manicheistic type of heresy, of Asian origin, for which God assumed the heavenly contrast of light and of darkness).

His remains were first placed in the cemetery of San Callisto, in 1631, in what was his house in Rome, which then became a church. In 1880, when the church was demolished to build the Ministry of War, in via XX settembre, his relics were transferred to the chapel of the Barberini family.

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8 COMMENTS

  1. May the festival of the blessed martyrs and bishops Soter and Caius, be a safeguard unto us, we beseech Thee, O Lord; and may their venerable prayer commend us to Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

  2. Pope St.Caius, a relative of an Emperor, did what he could for the church.It is a gift that we have ANY information.
    The years 283—-296 were difficult times for everyone much less a Pope,,,,,but that did NOT stop him!!!!!!!I would imagine his strength came from the teachings of Peter the apostle.
    Pope St.Caius,,,,pray for our World, and guide us!!!!!!

  3. The feast-day of St. Caius is still celebrated annually, in and around a small chapel of St. Caius (Caia/Kaya), in the vicinity of Solin, ancient Roman Salona, near Split, Croatia, his birth place. Salona was also the birthplace of one of his relatives (uncle?), the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who built his, well-preserved, magnificent retirement fortified palace called Aspalathos (in Greek), or Spalatum (in Latin), today’s City of Split, on the Adriatic Sea, south of Salona, where he died peacefully, in 316 A. D.
    The male name Kaya (written Kaja, in Croatian) used to be, and still is, very popular among the citizens of Solin and its vicinity.

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