![[Pope Saint Soter]](http://saints.sqpn.com/saints70.jpg "jpg portrait of Pope Soter, date unknown, artist unknown")
Also known as
- Pope of Charity
- Sotero
- Soterus
Profile
Nothing is known of his life before he was chosen 12th pope c.166, and not much is known of his pontificate. Forbade women to burn incense in services. Ratified that matrimony was a valid sacrament only if blessed by a priest. Inaugurated Easter as an annual festival in Rome.
Born
Papal Ascension
- c.166
Died
- tradition says he was martyred c.175, though no evidence has survived
- buried in the Callistus cemetery in Rome, Italy
Additional Information
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
- Medieval Religion Listserv, by John Dillon
- New Catholic Dictionary
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
- Roman Martyrology
- uCatholic
- Wikipedia
Readings
From the beginning it has been your custom to do good to all the brethren in many ways, and to send alms to many churches in every city, refreshing the poverty of those who sent requests, or giving aid to the brethren in the mines, by the alms which you have had the habit of giving from old, Romans keeping up the traditional custom of the Romans; which your blessed Bishop Soter has not only preserved, but has even increased, by providing the abundance which he has sent to the saints, and by further consoling with blessed words with brethren who came to him, as a loving father his children.
- from a fragment of a letter to Pope Saint Soter from Saint Dionysius of Corinth
MLA Citation
- “Pope Saint Soter“. Saints.SQPN.com. 23 April 2013. Web. 18 June 2013. <>