St. Anterus

Anterus · 235 – 236

Served as pope for only about six weeks, likely martyred during the persecution of Maximinus Thrax.

Anterus was a Greek, the son of Romulus. He succeeded Pontian in late 235 and was dead by early January 236, making his one of the shortest pontificates in history. Tradition says he was killed for ordering the collection of records about the martyrs, which would have drawn imperial attention. His burial in the papal crypt of the Catacomb of Callixtus was confirmed by archaeology in the twentieth century, when his tombstone was found bearing his name in Greek letters.

Six Weeks and a Tombstone

Anterus barely had time to do anything, but what he tried to do matters: collecting the stories of Christians who had died for their faith. The empire didn't want those stories preserved. Anterus apparently thought they were worth dying for.