More from Professor Thomas Craugwell's Saints with a Past:A Study of Conversion in the Lives of Eight Notorious Sinners.

"Lecture #1

"St. Callixtus: Embezzler & Brawler"


"Callixtus was a Roman slave whose petty theft and reckless investments resulted in being sentenced to forced labor in the mines of Sardinia.

"Released by a general pardon, he returned to Rome where Pope St. Victor I gradually brought him to repentance.

"He was ordained a priest, served as administrator of one of the catacombs, and ultimately was elected pope.

"Like so many of the early popes, Callixtus died a martyr and was venerated by the Christians of Rome as a saint...."

All right! :)