Patricius

Saint Patricius, hierarch, was bishop of Málaga in Spain at the beginning of the fourth century, regarded as the first bishop of the city. He appears as bishop of Málaga in the acts of the council of Elvira, near Granada, held between 300 and 313, where he came accompanied by priests of Teba, Ronda la Vieja and Alhaurín el Grande. The council gave impetus to Christianity in the region and brought many conversions. Patricius carried out his apostolate in the time of the emperor Diocletian, who ordered the persecution of Christians; at Málaga Saints Cyriacus and Paula, patrons of the city, then suffered. Patricius himself was persecuted and had to flee, reaching Gaul, where he died on 16 March 307. For Málaga there is no bishop again until the year 579. Pope Gregory XVI decreed his public veneration. A street in Málaga and a church in the Huelin district bear his name.