
The Little Peace of the Church
From Lives of the Popes by CatholicCulture.org
April 27, 2026 · 11 min · Episode 6
About this episode
This episode discusses the period of intense persecution of the popes in the third century and the subsequent toleration that followed.
The popes in the middle of the third century experienced intense persecution by the emperors Decius and Valerius, but this suddenly gave way to a period of official and explicit toleration, which provided the Church with a foretaste of the lasting relief that was to come under Constantine. This installment covers popes #24-28: Sts. Sixtus II, Dionysius, Felix I, Eutychian, and Gaius. Links Article https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/little-peace-church/ The Paradoxical Prestige of the Deacon in the Early Church https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/paradoxical-prestige-deacon-in-early-church/ DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters
Topics covered
- persecution
- Christianity
- Church history
- popes
- toleration
- early Church
Keywords
- popes
- persecution
- Christianity
- toleration
- early Church
- history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: CatholicCulture.org, Catholic Culture
More episodes of Lives of the Popes
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- The First Antipope · March 30, 2026 · 14 min
- The Ten Popes of the Second Century · March 18, 2026 · 21 min
- Popes of the Apostolic Era · March 18, 2026 · 10 min
- Introducing Lives of the Popes · March 16, 2026 · 15 min
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