The Lives and Times of the Popes - Saint Anacletus

The Diario maintains that Cletus and Anacletus are one and the same person; Novaes asserts that they were not; and he says that Saint Cletus was the son of Emilian, and was created pope on the 24th of September, A.D. 80. During the life and by the order of Saint Peter, he divided Rome into twenty-five parishes, and placed them under the direction of the same number of priests. From that statement it has been inferred that Cletus was a coadjutor of Saint Peter in the suburban cities. We must not give implicit credence to those authors who hold that Saint Cletus was the first pontiff who, in the apostolic letters, used the formula “salutem et apostolicam benedictionem.” That formula is not to be found before the time of John V, who was created pope in 685. Saint Cletus is said to have originated those pilgrimages to the churches of Rome which have since been called Stations; and he is also said to have converted into a church his own house, situated near the baths of Philip in the Rione de’ Monti. He is said to have suffered martyrdom, during the second persecution of the Church, on the 26th of April, in the year 93; and Novaes adds that he was interred at the Vatican. It is stated, also, that the Holy See remained vacant for twenty days after his decease.

Saint Anacletus was a Greek, born at Athens, and, according to Novaes, was the son of Antiochus. Under Saint Peter, he was deacon, priest, and subsequently bishop. He was elected pontiff on the 3d of April, A.D. 78. He finished and dedicated the basilica which was built on the spot where Saint Peter was martyred. Many authors maintain that Cletus and Anacletus are but one and the same person – neglecting to notice that the birthplace, the parentage, the works, and the festivals appointed by the Church for each of these saints, quite clearly show they are different. Panvini maintains this; nevertheless, the very learned Father Lazzari, who was especially learned in sacred antiquity, read before the Roman College, in 1755, a fine dissertation in which he maintained that Cletus and Anacletus were one and the same person. He cited, in support of that opinion, the authority of Papebrock. Cletus would have been pontiff in 73, but, being exiled with the other Christians, he must have renounced the pontificate, and was replaced by Clement I, up to the year 83. Then, Clement himself being exiled, he, in his turn, renounced the pontificate in favor of the same Cletus, his predecessor. Cletus, on being called to Rome, would quite naturally be named Anacletus, that is to say, Revocato, the Recalled, or iterum Cletus. In this manner Lazzari reconciles the authority of the ancient Fathers and the ancient catalogues, which speak of Cletus and of Anacletus, while others mention first Cletus and then Anacletus. For the opinion which confounds Cletus and Anacletus, Papebrock, Dupin, Tillemont, Pearson, Baillet, Father Holloix, and Natalis Alexander may be consulted; for the contrary opinion, the two Pagis, Schelstrate, and Sandini.

Anacletus was distinguished for a rare integrity and great learning. According to the authors of the Art de Verifier les Dates, and the Diario, he died A.D. 91. Novaes says that some decretals attributed to this pope are suspected by modern critics.

He belonged to the order of regular canons, according to those who make that order coeval with Saint Peter.

- from "The Lives and Times of the Popes", by Alexis-François Artaud de Montor