The Martyrdom of Saint Pontianus (Baltasar de Echave, 1612) Pope Pontian was pontiff from AD230 to AD235. He was the eighteenth pope and is the first to have the exact dates of his period in office recorded. He was exiled to Sardinia where he was beaten to death. Before his death he abdicated, allowing the orderly election of a successor. This abdication ended the schism between the papal office and the opposition antipope Hippolytus, who was also exiled to and died on Sardinia.

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