1993 Vatican Documented Theca with Relics of 2 Popes & Martyrs: St. Callistus I & St. Urban I
Round glass-fronted yellow-metal reliquary theca with a scalloped openwork border housing first-class ex ossibus (of the bone) relics of two early Popes: Saint Callistus I and Saint Urban I. The relics are affixed to small white flower-shaped mounts against a deep-red silk ground and identified in Latin on typeset cedulae labels as S. Callisti Pp. M. and S. Urbani I. P. M. (Saint Callistus, Pope and Martyr, and Saint Urban I, Pope and Martyr). On the back, under the protective cap, the theca is secured by a seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a coat of arms of Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Vicar General of Rome (1991–2008). The reliquary is accompanied by a matching authentics document issued through the Vicariate of Rome on October 20, 1993, bearing the signature of Bishop Giuseppe Mani, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome, and registration number 486. The document specifies both relics as ex ossibus and identifies both saints as Popes and Martyrs.
Saint Pope Callistus I (†222) was an early pope whose ministry emphasized repentance and the reconciliation of sinners with the Church. Before his election, he served as a deacon under Pope Zephyrinus and administered the Christian cemetery on the Appian Way that bears his name. His papacy was marked by disputes over penitential discipline and ecclesiastical authority. Venerated as a martyr since antiquity, his recognition as a saint predates the formal processes of beatification and canonization. His feast day is October 14.
Saint Pope Urban I (†230) succeeded Saint Callistus I as Bishop of Rome in 222 and governed the Church during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus. Relatively little reliable information survives about his ministry; later traditions associate him with Saint Cecilia and commemorate him as a martyr, although the circumstances of his death remain uncertain. His veneration dates to the early Church and predates formal beatification and canonization procedures. His traditional feast day is May 25.
