Bishop · Martyr · Apostolic Father
A bishop wrote seven letters on the road to martyrdom.
Ignatius governed the Church of Antioch while the memory of the Apostles was still near. Sent to Rome in chains, he used the road to martyrdom to strengthen the churches through seven letters that still bear witness to Catholic faith and unity.
Ancient Christian tradition associates Ignatius with the circle of Saint John the Apostle. He became Bishop of Antioch, the city where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians.
His letters belong to a Church still close to the apostolic age. They show a bishop concerned with the unity of Christians, the truth about Christ, and the worship of the Church.
Roman soldiers took Ignatius westward from Syria to be executed in Rome. Along the road he wrote to churches in Asia Minor and to the Christians awaiting him in the imperial capital.
The seven surviving letters urge Christians to remain united with their bishops, reject false teaching, confess that Christ truly came in the flesh, and hold fast to the Eucharist. Written under guard, they preserve the concerns of an early Christian pastor in his own words.
Ignatius knew what awaited him and asked the Roman Christians not to intervene to save him. His letter presents this as the final offering of his own life, not as a command laid upon others.
Ancient tradition holds that he was killed by wild beasts in Rome around the beginning of the second century. The letters written on that last journey remain among the clearest witnesses to the life and belief of the early Church.
At a glance
Ancient Christian tradition associates Ignatius with the circle of Saint John the Apostle.
Serves as Bishop of Antioch.
Writes seven surviving letters while under military guard.
Suffers martyrdom in Rome.
Watch the story
A brief account of the bishop of Antioch and the letters he wrote while being taken to Rome.
Sources & further reading
The design standard
Across nearly twenty centuries, the letters of Ignatius still sound recognizably Catholic: the bishop at the center of unity, the Eucharist truly received, and Jesus Christ truly come in the flesh.
He wrote as a condemned man to churches he would never visit again. Those churches preserved his words, and through them the voice of an early bishop has come down to us.
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Saint Ignatius of Antioch — Near to God Heavyweight Tee