Papias of Hierapolis
Greek Apostolic Father, Bishop of Hierapolis and author (c.60-c.130 AD)
Feast: 22 February (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Papias was Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia and one of the Apostolic Fathers; St. Irenaeus called him a hearer of John, a companion of Polycarp and a man of old time.
He wrote five books of explanations of the 'oracles of the Lord', now lost except for fragments. In its preface, kept by Eusebius, he says he preferred the living voice to books and so eagerly gathered what the elders reported from Andrew, Peter, Philip, Thomas, James, John, Matthew and other disciples of the Lord.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
An early bishop of Hierapolis who gathered the sayings of those who had known the apostles.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Papias
- Roman Martyrology, 22 February (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q273053 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Papias of Hierapolis (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.