Liberian Catalogue - Anomalies in The Liberian Catalogue

Anomalies in The Liberian Catalogue

George Edmundson pointed out a number of anomalies. "The deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul are stated to have taken place in A.D. 55 Clement succeeds Linus in A.D. 67, and Anencletus, the real successor of Linus, is duplicated and follows Clement, first at Cletus, then as Anacletus. Clement’s death is recorded as having occurred sixteen years before he became bishop according to the generally received date." Nor were the errors confined to the first-century episcopates. The Hippolytean source is not even accurate about Pope Pius himself, who in the words of the Muratorian fragment lived "very recently in our own times". Hegesippus and Irenaeus, both of whom stayed some time in Rome soon after the death of Pius, both give the order of succession as Pius, Anicetus, Soter, Eleutherus. The Liberian Catalogue makes Pius the successor of Anicetus instead of the predecessor.