12 Facts About Pope Fabian

Pope Fabian divided Rome into diaconates and appointed secretaries to collect the records of the martyrs.

Pope Fabian sent out seven "apostles to the Gauls" as missionaries, but probably did not baptize Emperor Philip the Arab as is alleged.

Pope Fabian died a martyr at the beginning of the Decian persecution and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

The congregation took this as a sign that he was marked out for this dignity, and Pope Fabian was at once proclaimed bishop by acclamation.

Pope Fabian had enough influence at court to effect the return of the bodies of both of these martyrs from Sardinia, where they had died at hard labor in the mines.

Pope Fabian sent seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatianus of Tours to Tours, Trophimus of Arles to Arles, Paul of Narbonne to Narbonne, Saturnin to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Martial to Limoges.

Pope Fabian condemned Privatus, the originator of a new heresy in Africa.

The Liber Pontificalis says that Pope Fabian divided the Christian communities of Rome into seven districts, each supervised by a deacon.

Pope Fabian's deeds are thus described in the Liber Pontificalis:.

Pope Fabian divided the regiones into deaconships and made seven sub-deaconships which seven secretaries oversaw, so that they brought together the deeds of the martyrs faithfully made whole, and he brought forth many works in the cemeteries.

The Liberian Catalogue of the popes reports that Fabian initiated considerable work on the catacombs, where honored Christians were interred, and where he caused the body of Pontian to be entombed at the catacomb of Callixtus.

Pope Fabian was interred in the catacomb of Callixtus in Rome.