SIRICIUS, SAINT

born c. 334, , Rome died Nov. 26, 399, Rome; feast day November 26 pope from 384 to 399. Ordained a deacon by Pope Liberius, he was elected as Pope St. Damasus I's successor in December 384. His famous lettersthe earliest surviving texts of papal decretalsfocus particularly on religious discipline and include decisions on baptism, consecration, ordination, penance, and continence. Siricius' important decretal of 386 (written to Bishop Himerius of Tarragona), commanding celibacy for priests, was the first decree on this subject and has remained in force ever since the pontificate (440461) of Pope St. Leo I the Great. Significantly, Siricius asserted papal authority by accompanying his decretals with threats of sanctions against those who contravened them; his letters designate the pope as a sovereign of the whole Western church, for which he makes laws. Likewise, Siricius believed he was entitled to intervene in the affairs of the Eastern church. At the request of Bishop St. Ambrose of Milan, he became involved with settling the Meletian Schism, a complex situation involving the disputed bishopric of Antioch. His instructions to the Council of Caesarea (393) for recognizing Flavian I as the legitimate Antiochene bishop terminated the long-standing schism. He arbitrated in 394 in a dispute within the Arabian church on the bishopric of Bosra (Bostra). A column still surviving in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, Rome, commemorates Siricius' dedication (390) of that church.