# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/pope-pontian
# Generated: 2026-09-01T12:45:05.197Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/pope-pontian"
name: "Pope Pontian"
slug: "pope-pontian"
description: "He was the first pope to resign — a choice made not from scandal or weakness, but from a prison island, to keep the Church from fracturing while he waited to die."
tagline: "Pope"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/18-St.Pontian.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Italy"
  isoCode: "IT"
category:
  name: "Religious Figures"
  slug: "religious-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Religious Figure"
  slug: "religious-figure"
deathDate: "235"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           59.69
  momentum:             0
  historical:           22.1962
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 222
tags:
  - name: "Religious Figures"
    slug: "religious-figures"
  - name: "Religious Figure"
    slug: "religious-figure"
  - name: "Religion"
    slug: "religion"
  - name: "Ancient History"
    slug: "ancient-history"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pontian"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q132113"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Pope%20Pontian"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "بنطيانوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%B3_%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "القديس بونتيان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Poncianu"
    title: "Papa Poncianu"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be_x_old.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%8B%D1%8F%D0%BD_(%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0_%D1%80%D1%8B%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%96)"
    title: "Пантыян (папа рымскі)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%86%D1%96%D1%8F%D0%BD_(%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D1%8B%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%96)"
    title: "Панціян (Папа Рымскі)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD"
    title: "Понтиан"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontianus"
    title: "Pontianus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Poncijan"
    title: "Papa Poncijan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Ponci%C3%A0"
    title: "Papa Poncià"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cdo.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A1u-hu%C3%B2ng_Pontianus"
    title: "Gáu-huòng Pontianus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ceb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponciano"
    title: "Ponciano"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%DB%86%D9%86%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "پۆنتیان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponci%C3%A1n"
    title: "Poncián"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pave_Pontian"
    title: "Pave Pontian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontianus"
    title: "Pontianus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://diq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontianus"
    title: "Pontianus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0%CE%AC%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%82_%CE%A0%CE%BF%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%8C%CF%82"
    title: "Πάπας Ποντιανός"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiano"
    title: "Pontiano"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponciano"
    title: "Ponciano"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontianus"
    title: "Pontianus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontziano"
    title: "Pontziano"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%BE_%D9%BE%D9%88%D9%86%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "پاپ پونتیان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pous_Pontianus"
    title: "Pous Pontianus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://als.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontianus"
    title: "Pontianus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Pontian became bishop of Rome on 21 July 230, leading a community still nursing an eighteen-year schism. Five years later, Emperor Maximinus Thrax began his persecution and Pontian was arrested, exiled to Sardinia — a death sentence dressed as exile. On 28 September 235, from that island, he abdicated, ensuring the Church could elect a successor without the paralysis of an absent, captive pope. The schism ended with his resignation. Some accounts say he was beaten to death within weeks of arrival. Both Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions venerate him as a saint.