The Rebaptism Controversy
The major theological dispute of Stephen's pontificate concerned the treatment of converts who had been baptized by schismatic sects. Stephen held that such converts did not need to be re-baptized — a conciliatory position that, according to the sources, eventually won broad acceptance in the Latin Church.
This put him in sharp conflict with Cyprian of Carthage and the African bishops, who maintained the opposite view and required the rebaptism of those baptized outside the Church. The dispute grew heated, and Cyprian is reported to have described Stephen as 'quarrelsome' in his letters.
Against Novatianism and the Discipline of the Lapsed
Stephen contended against the Novatianist position, which denied penance and communion to repentant Christians who had lapsed under persecution. Bishop Faustinus of Lyon urged him to act against Marcian, the Novatianist bishop of Arles, who refused penance and communion to repentant lapsed Christians.
Stephen also insisted on the restoration of the bishops of León and Astorga in Spain. These bishops had been deposed for unfaithfulness during the persecution but had afterwards repented, and Stephen upheld their reinstatement.
Martyrdom
The sources place Stephen's death during the renewed persecution of Christians under the Emperor Valerian, traditionally on 2 August 257. According to the Golden Legend, Valerian resumed the persecution in 257, and Stephen was beheaded while seated on his pontifical throne celebrating Mass; another account places his execution at the temple of Mars.
The sources note a historical uncertainty: the Depositio episcoporum of 354 does not speak of Pope Stephen I as a martyr, and the Roman Catholic Church does not celebrate him as one. He is nonetheless venerated as a hieromartyr in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. He was succeeded as Bishop of Rome by Sixtus II; the OCA synaxarion notes that Sixtus became bishop following the martyric death of Stephen.
Relics & Shrines
A relic said to contain Stephen's head is preserved in Speyer Cathedral in Germany. In the eighteenth century, what was said to be his chair — still allegedly stained with blood — was also preserved.
His feast day is observed on 2 August. The Roman Catholic Church removed him from the General Roman Calendar in the 1969 revision.
