Titus (1st century), bishop. A disciple of Paul, who later became his companion and secretary, Titus was of gentile birth and for that reason was not circumcized when he became a Christian. He took part in the council of Jerusalem, was sent to Corinth on a difficult mission, and was later left by Paul to organize the church in Crete. Later still he was sent to Dalmatia, but he was believed to have returned ultimately to Crete, where he died and where he is venerated as its first bishop. Paul's epistle to Titus, whose authenticity has been much discussed, instructed him to ordain presbyters and to govern firmly the Cretans, whom Paul did not esteem highly.
Titus' body was supposed to be buried at Gortyna (Crete), until the head was taken to Venice in 823. His cult was mainly eastern: the Greeks and Syriacs keep his feast on 25 August; in the West he is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 4 January, but since Pius IX his feast was on 6 February; in the 1970 revision of the Roman Calendar Titus and Timothy share a feast on 26 January.
Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.
- Commentaries on the Pastoral Epistles by C. Spicq (Études Bibliques,
2 vols. 1969), J. N. D. Kelly (1963) and C. K. Barrett (1963); AA.SS. Ian. I (1643), 163–4
