Siricius of Rome

Siricius of Rome was bishop of Rome from December 384 until his death on 26 November 399. He is remembered above all for his letter to Himerius of Tarragona, the oldest papal decretal preserved in full.

He was a Roman, the son of a man named Tiburtius, and entered the service of the Church young, as reader and then deacon under Pope Liberius, as the inscription on his tomb shows. After the death of Damasus he was elected unanimously, although Ursinus tried to put himself forward. The confirmation of the emperor Valentinian II ended the objections.

In answer to the questions of Bishop Himerius of Tarragona in Spain, he sent the letter known as the Directa, with decisions on fifteen points concerning Baptism, penance, the discipline of the clergy and the celibacy of priests. He helped heal the Meletian schism of Antioch, receiving an embassy led by Bishop Acacius of Beroea, sent at the urging of Saint John Chrysostom and Theophilus of Alexandria. Together with Saints Ambrose and Martin of Tours he protested when the emperor Magnus Maximus put Priscillian to death.

He died on 26 November 399 and was buried in the basilica of San Silvestro. He is a saint of the undivided Church, commemorated on 26 November, also in English-⁠language Orthodox calendars that include Western saints. The claim that he was the first bishop of Rome to call himself pope is uncertain, since in the West the title was given to any bishop.