Pontius of Gortyna
martyr at Gortyna in Crete
Feast: 23 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
At Gortyna on the island of Crete, the ten holy martyrs Theodulus, Saturninus, Euporus, Gelasius, Eunicianus, Zoticus, Pontius, Agathopus, Basilides and Evaristus, who, during the persecution of the emperor Decius, for publicly refusing to obey the order to offer sacrifices on the day of the dedication of the Temple of Fortune, suffered torments and at last died by beheading.
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
The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 23 December as one of ten martyrs at Gortyna in Crete who publicly refused to sacrifice on the day of the dedication of the Temple of Fortune under the emperor Decius and were beheaded.
- Roman Martyrology, 23 December (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Rf27c7089 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.