Moses

Saint Moses was a priest at Rome, dean of the college of presbyters that governed the Church of Rome after the death of Pope Fabian, and a confessor of the faith in the persecution of Decius; he died in the year 251, after being kept in prison.

In the middle of the third century the emperor Decius began a persecution at Rome, in which Pope Fabian and other bishops and priests were seized and put to death. As it was impossible to elect a new pope, the Church of Rome was governed by a college of priests, and Moses, for his age and prestige, was chosen dean. During the persecution many Christians had denied the faith to save their lives, and sharp disputes followed between the intransigent and the more moderate, among whom was Moses, who understood the conduct of the fallen. He died in 251, after spending some time in prison. He was regarded as a martyr, though he had not been put to death as such.

He is venerated as a saint of the undivided Church by several Christian confessions, without synodal canonization.