Editing Pope Linus (section)

== Episcopate ==
The chronology of the early popes is heavily disputed.<ref>[[Eusebius]], [[Ecclesiastical History (Eusebius)|''Ecclesiastical History'']], [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxiv.html book VIII, chapter 34, note 3]. [[Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers]] edition, 1890. See also the extensive note in [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.ii.html Book VIII, Chapter 2].</ref> [[Eusebius]] and [[Jerome]] dated Linus' episcopate between the years AD 68<ref>[[Jerome]], ''[[Chronicon (Jerome)|Chronicon]]'', [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_03_part2.htm AD 68], 14th year of [[Nero]] (Oct. 67–Oct. 68): "After Peter, Linus first held the church of Rome for 11 years." Jerome's work is a translation of [[Eusebius]]' ''[[Chronicon (Eusebius)|Chronicon]]'', which actually uses a calendar that begins in 3 October, hence why Nero's accession is dated to AD 55 (instead of 54). See {{Cite book |last=Burgess |first=R. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9R_CGC9wL9MC&pg=PA28 |title=Studies in Eusebian and Post-Eusebian Chronography |date=1999 |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |isbn=978-3-515-07530-5 |pages=22–24}}</ref> and 80.<ref>[[Jerome]], ''Chronicon'', [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_03_part2.htm AD 80], 2nd year of [[Titus]] (Oct. 79–Oct. 80): "Cletus (also called [[Anencletus]]) is appointed second bishop of the Roman church for 12 years."</ref><ref>[[Eusebius]], [[Ecclesiastical History (Eusebius)|''Ecclesiastical History'']], [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xiii.html VIII, 13]. "After [[Vespasian]] had reigned ten years [[Titus]], his son, succeeded him. In the second year of his reign, Linus, who had been bishop of the church of Rome for twelve years, delivered his office to [[Anencletus]]."</ref> The ''[[Liberian Catalogue]]'' and the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'' date it as AD 56 to 67, during the reign of [[Nero]].<ref>The [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/chronography_of_354_13_bishops_of_rome.htm ''Liberian Catalogue''] gives him a tenure of 12 years, while the [https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/liberpontificalis1.html ''Liber Pontificalis''] gives him 11 years. Both date it between the [[Roman consul|consulates]] of [[Quintus Volusius Saturninus|Q. Volusius Saturninus]] with [[Publius Cornelius Scipio (consul 56)|P. Cornelius Scipio]] and that of [[Lucius Julius Rufus|L. Julius Rufus]] with [[Fonteius Capito (consul 67)|Fonteius Capito]], a tenure of 12 years if [[Inclusive counting|counted inclusively]].</ref> This is most likely a mistake, as all four sources give Peter an episcopate of 25 years in Rome, and the ''Liber Pontificalis'' even records that Peter died 38 years after Jesus' death, that is, AD 67–68.{{sfn|Loomis|2006|p=4, note 3. "Our author gives two incompatible traditions, the first that Peter did not come to Rome before the reign of Nero, the second that after a pontificate of twenty-five years at Rome he was put to death under Nero. The latter is Jerome version"}} The ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' gives his years as {{circa}} 64–76 or {{circa}} 67–79.<ref name="kirsch" />

Linus is named in the [[valediction]] of the [[Second Epistle to Timothy]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Timothy|4:21}}</ref> In that epistle, Linus is noted as being with Paul the Apostle in Rome near the end of Paul's life. Irenaeus stated that this is the same Linus who became Bishop of Rome.

According to the ''Liber Pontificalis'', Linus was an Italian born in [[Volterra]] in [[Tuscany]]. His father's name was recorded as Herculanus. The ''Apostolic Constitutions'' denominated his mother Claudia; immediately after the name Linus in 2 ''Timothy'' 4:21 a Claudia is named, but the [[Bible]] does not explicitly identify Claudia as Linus' mother. According to the ''Liber Pontificalis'', Linus decreed that women should cover their heads in church, created the first 15 bishops, and died a [[martyr]].{{sfn|Loomis|2006|p=6}} It dated his burial as 23 September, on which date he is still commemorated.<ref name=martyr>''Martyrologium Romanum'' (Typis Vaticanis, 2004, p. 532).</ref> His name is included in the [[Roman Canon]] of the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]].

With respect to Linus' purported decree prescribing the covering of women's heads, [[J.P. Kirsch]] commented in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' that "without doubt this decree is apocryphal, and copied by the author of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' from Paul's ''[[First Epistle to the Corinthians]]'' (11:5) and arbitrarily attributed to the first successor of the Apostle in Rome. The statement made in the same source, that Linus suffered [[martyrdom]], cannot be proved and is improbable. For between [[Nero]] and [[Domitian]] there is no mention of any persecution of the Roman Church; and Irenaeus (1. c., III, iv, 3) from among the early Roman bishops designates only [[Pope Telesphorus|Telesphorus]] as a glorious martyr."<ref name="kirsch" /> The ''[[Roman Martyrology]]'' does not categorize Linus as a martyr as does the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]''; the current entry in the former regarding him states: "At Rome, the commemoration of Saint Linus, Pope, to whom, as Saint Irenaeus narrates, the blessed Apostles entrusted the responsibility of the episcopate of the Church founded in the City, and whom the blessed Paul the Apostle mentions as a companion of his."<ref name=martyr/>