View source for Antipope Ursicinus

{{Short description|Roman priest elected pope in 366 or 367}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2017}}
{{lead too short|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Antipope
| honorific_prefix = Antipope
| name = Ursicinus
| began = 366
| ended = 367
| death_date = {{circa|381}}
| opposed = [[Pope Damasus I]]
| religion = [[Arianism]]{{efn|Ambrose of Milan, Epistles iv}}
| elected = 366
| predecessor = ''[[Roman Catholic Church|Roman]] claimant:'' <br> [[Damasus I]] <br> [[Pope Liberius|Liberius]] <br> ''[[Antipope#History|Antipapal]] claimant:'' <br /> [[Felix II]]
| successor = ''[[Roman Catholic Church|Roman]] claimant:'' <br> [[Damasus I]] <br> ''[[Antipope#History|Antipapal]] claimant:'' <br /> [[Eulalius]]
}}

'''Ursicinus''', also known as '''Ursinus''', was elected [[pope]] in a violently contested election in 366 as a rival to [[Pope Damasus I]]. He ruled in [[Rome]] for several months in 366–367, was afterwards declared [[antipope]], and died after 381.

==Background==
In 355, [[Roman Emperor|Emperor]] [[Constantius II]], who was sympathetic towards the [[Arianism|Arians]], banished [[Pope Liberius|Liberius]] for refusing to subscribe to a sentence of condemnation against [[Athanasius|Saint Athanasius]], staunch opponent of [[Arius]] of Alexandria.<ref name=Coulombe>[[Charles A. Coulombe]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4tbYF51StSQC Vicars of Christ]'' ({{ISBN|0-8065-2370-0}}), p. 73</ref>

Liberius was sent to a prison in [[Veria|Berea]] in Thrace. The [[Collectio Avellana]] says that Damasus was a [[deacon]] in Rome;<ref>[http://www.fourthcentury.com/index.php/avellana-1-english "The Papal Schism between Liberius and Felix", 1–4, ''Collectio Avellana'']</ref> [[Alban Butler]] and the ''[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]'' name him an [[archdeacon]] of the [[Diocese of Rome|Roman Church]].<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/DAMASUS.htm St Damasus, Pope, Confessor (A.D. 305–384)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925175213/http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/DAMASUS.htm |date=2007-09-25 }} Butler, Alban. ''The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints'', vol. III, ewtn</ref><ref name=EB>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/203964/Felix-II Encyclopædia Britannica: ''Felix (II)'']</ref> In any event, Damasus followed Liberius into exile, though he immediately returned to Rome. Having sworn to have no Pope but Liberius, members of the Roman clergy then chose the [[Antipope Felix II|Archdeacon Felix]] as his successor, an action that proved unpopular with the general populace. During the period before Liberius's return, Damasus had a great share in the government of the church.

In May 357, at the insistence of a number of prominent Romans, Liberius was allowed to return. Apparently the Emperor expected Felix and Liberius to rule jointly, but when Liberius returned, Felix was forced to retire to Porto, near Rome, where, after making an unsuccessful attempt to establish himself again in Rome, he died on 22 November 365.<ref name=EB/> However, the rival parties remained highly polarized in Rome.

==History==
Liberius died on 24 September 366. The upper-class partisans of Felix threw their support to [[Pope Damasus I|Damasus]], but the opposing supporters of Liberius, the [[deacon]]s and [[laity]], supported Ursicinus; the two were elected simultaneously, in an atmosphere of rioting. Supporters already clashed at the beginning of October. Such was the violence and bloodshed that the two ''praefecti'' of the city were called in to restore order, and after a first setback, when they were driven to the suburbs and a massacre of 137 was perpetrated in the basilica of Sicininus (as cited by [[Ammianus Marcellinus]]), the prefects banished Ursicinus to [[Gaul]]. There was further violence when he returned, which continued after Ursicinus was exiled again.

Church historians, such as [[Jerome]] and [[Tyrannius Rufinus|Rufinus]], took the part of Damasus. At a [[synod]] in 378 Ursicinus was condemned and Damasus exonerated and declared the true pope. The former antipope continued to intrigue{{Vague|October 2008|date=February 2009}} against Damasus for the next few years, and unsuccessfully attempted to revive his claim on Damasus's death. Ursicinus was among the [[Arianism|Arian]] party in [[Milan]], according to [[Ambrose]] (''Epistle'' iv).

A decree of 502 under [[Pope Symmachus]] ruled that laymen should no longer vote for the popes and that only higher clergy should be considered eligible.

==See also==
* [[Papal selection before 1059]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{notelist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050219072830/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.Ursinus_2.html  Henry Wace, ''Dictionary of Christian Biography'':] as "Ursinus"; a balanced historical account, with a detailed quote from the impartial pagan historian Ammianus Marcellinus.

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