Saint Peter of Alexandria

Pope Peter I of Alexandria (Greek: Πέτρος Α΄ Αλεξανδρείας, Coptic: Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ ⲁ̅, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ ⲓⲉⲣⲟⲙⲁⲣⲧⲩⲣⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲁⲣⲭⲏⲉⲣⲉⲩⲥ) was the 17th Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria from 302 to 311. He is revered as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Catholic Church. Peter was born and raised in Alexandria. The Coptic Orthodox Church believes that Peter was given by his parents to Theonas to be brought up as a priest, similarly to the story of Samuel in the Old Testament. He rose through the ranks of holy orders, first becoming a reader, then a deacon, then a priest. Highly educated, Peter became head of the school of Alexandria. In early 300, while on his death bed, Theonas advised the church leaders to choose Peter as his successor, which they did. Peter's time as bishop included the Diocletianic Persecution, which began in 303, and continued intermittently over the next ten years. Forced into exile from the city during the anti-Christian persecutions, Peter traveled through many lands, encouraging his flock by letter, before returning to his city to guide the Alexandrian Church personally during this period. He secretly visited those imprisoned, assisted widows and orphans, and conducted clandestine services. Accounts of Peter's position during the persecution vary, but one states that he was imprisoned for a time with bishop Meletius of Lycopolis and they fell into an argument over the treatment of Christians who had either offered pagan sacrifice or surrendered scriptures to the authorities to save their lives during the persecution. Peter urged leniency while Meletius held firmly that the lapsed had abandoned their faith and needed to be rebaptised. Their argument became heated, and was ended when Peter hung a curtain between him and Meletius. One of Meletius' followers was a priest named Arius (modern scholarship differs on whether this was the same Arius as became involved with the Arian controversy a few years later).