Pontian was ordained bishop of Rome in 230, succeeding St Urban I. In 235 he was banished to Sardinia by Emperor Maximinus Thrax, along with the priest Hippolytus. There he resigned from his office and later died in 236. His body was buried in the cemetery of St Callistus, while the body of Hippolytus was buried in a cemetery along the Via Tiburtina. The Roman Church sanctioned devotion to both martyrs at the beginning of the fourth century. – CTS New Daily Roman Missal 2012, p 2907; Christian Prayer 1990, p 1198
