Hieromartyr
Libosus
Martyr of Carthage
A martyr at Carthage, remembered in the ancient martyrologies of the Church.
- Era
- 3rd century
- Place
- Carthage
- Order
- Martyrs
Life
Saint Libosus was bishop of Vaga in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis (today Béja in Tunisia) and died a martyr in the third century.
Historically he is attested on two occasions. In the autumn of 254 he was among the bishops who took part in the council of Carthage that condemned two Spanish bishops, Basilides of León and Martial of Mérida, who had denied the faith in the persecution of Decius; his name appears in the synodal letter among the thirty-six other bishops. He also took part in the council of Carthage of 1 September 256, where the validity of baptism given by heretics was discussed and it was decided that those coming from a schismatic or heretical Church must be baptized again; of the eighty-five bishops, Libosus gave his opinion thirtieth.
He suffered martyrdom in the persecution of the emperor Valerian, after the year 258. He was already commemorated in the Hieronymian Martyrology. He is a saint of the undivided Church, honoured in the Catholic Church, without synodal canonization.