Pope Lucius I  Pope Lucius I was the bishop of Rome from 25 June 253 to his death on 5 March 254. He was banished soon after his consecration, but gained permission to return. He was mistakenly classified as a martyr in the persecution by Emperor Valerian, which did not begin until after Lucius' death. Lucius was born in Rome. Nothing is known about his family except his father's name, Porphyrianus. He was elected probably on 25 June 253. His election took place during the persecution which caused the banishment of his predecessor, Cornelius, and he also was banished soon after his consecration, but succeeded in gaining permission to return. Lucius is praised in several letters of Cyprian (see Epist. lxviii. 5) for condemning the Novationists for their refusal to readmit to communion Christians who repented for having lapsed under persecution. Lucius I's feast day is 5 March, on which date he is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology in the following terms: "In the cemetery of Callistus on the Via Appia, Rome, burial of Saint Lucius, Pope, successor of Saint Cornelius. For his faith in Christ he suffered exile and acted as an outstanding confessor of the faith, with moderation and prudence, in the difficult times that were his." His feast did not appear in the Tridentine Calendar of Pope Pius V. In 1602, it was inserted under the date of 4 March, into the General Roman Calendar. With the insertion in 1621 on the same date of the feast of Saint Casimir, the celebration of Pope Lucius was reduced to a commemoration within Saint Casimir's Mass. In the 1969 revision Pope Lucius's feast was omitted from the General Roman Calendar, partly because of the baselessness of the title of "martyr" with which he had previously been honoured, and was moved in the Roman Martyrology to the day of his death. In spite of what is mistakenly stated in the "Liber Pontificalis", he did not in fact suffer martyrdom. The persecution of Valerian in which he was said to have been martyred is known to have started later than March 254, when Pope Lucius died. Lucius I's tombstone is still extant in the catacomb of Callixtus. His relics were later brought to the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, along with the relics of Cecilia and others. His head is preserved in a reliquary in St. Ansgar's Cathedral in Copenhagen, Denmark.