Pope Marcellus I

Marcellus became bishop of Rome in May or June 308, filling a seat left empty for years after his predecessor Marcellinus. The empire was still dangerous ground for Christians, and when believers who had lapsed under recent persecution sought readmission, Marcellus imposed penances severe enough to split the community. The resulting tumult gave Maxentius cause to banish him from Rome in 309. He died that same year, January 16, never having returned. His relics rest under the altar of San Marcello al Corso, though his feast day was quietly removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969.