St. Mark
Marcus · 336 – 336
A brief pontificate of only eight months, during which he established two Roman basilicas.
Mark was a Roman who served as pope for just eight months in 336. He is credited with founding two churches in Rome and with establishing the practice of the Bishop of Rome being consecrated by the Bishop of Ostia. Brief as his reign was, it fell during a critical period after Constantine's legalization of Christianity.
Why He Matters
Mark's short pontificate came during the first flush of the Church's new public freedom under Constantine. He helped establish the physical and institutional infrastructure that a newly legal Church needed.