Lentorama 2025: Perfunctory Popes

Day 34: Mark

Not to be confused with the apostle and first patriarch of Alexandria, this Mark was Roman by birth. His reign, while short (263 days), saw him confer on the bishop of Ostia the power to consecrate newly-elected popes (which power they may have already had). He also started to compile lists of early martyrs and bishops.

Mark also established a couple of churches in Rome, one of which still stands (the Basilica San Marco, which is where he was eventually buried, a good 800 years after his death in 336).