St. Sixtus II pope, occupied the Roman see in the middle of the third century. Before being consecrated Pope, he exercised as a priest with complete availability, and his personality was recognized as a great value.
But in the year of his consecration as Pope he was the victim of the persecution against the Church promoted by an emperor of sad memory, Valerian. This emperor, who tried to destroy Christianity, had the idea of decreeing that all believers caught in liturgical assembly should be killed, and that priests who worshipped the God revealed by Christ, and not the Roman gods, should also be killed.
Pope Sixtus was caught, along with other faithful, celebrating Mass in the Catacombs, and there they were all killed. It was the year of the Lord, 258.
