I - 123: Saint Titus - Apostle Paul's Follower and Troubleshooter

Remains of the Saint Titus Church in Gortyna, the provincial Capital in Roman Times

One of the disadvantages of being a protestant is that there are no Saints. Our church teaches that only God shall be worshiped. The relationship of any individual with God is direct. There are no intermediaries. Praying to a Saint is considered an idolatry. The downside of having no Saints is that Protestands hardly know our church’s history. In the Roman Catholic world, important people were canonized.  As of today, there are more than 10’000 saints. You find Saints in every church and chapel. Through them, Catholics learn about their history. In the first millenia, Saints were made by acclamation. Local churches elevated whom they deemed worthy to the status of a Saint. But in 993 AD Pope John XV formalized the process when he canonized Ulrich of Augsburg.

The Holy Cathedral of Saint Titus in Heraklion was built as a Mosque in 1869

When preparing this summer’s sailing and planning the 2nd week in and around Heraklion, I came across the Holy Cathedral of Saint Titus. As you may understand, the name Saint Titus meant little to me. I know only a few of the 10’000 Saints. Only when I googled “Prominent people of Crete”, I found Titus’ name again – listed amongst other prominent Romans. Now it peaked my interest. I had found the founder of Crete’s church. Not only that, I also found that he was a companion of Apostle Paul. Titus was his secretary and assistant - one who could read and write. In today’s world, we assume that everybody is literate (given the state of our schools, this believe has become a little brittle). In Roman time, only 5 – 10% of the population, mainly the urban elite, could read and write. Saint Paul with his classic education in Judaism and Greek philosophy was one of them. Many believe that Titus was his scribe. But the educated Paul did not need one. Given Titus’ education, I rather believe that he was Saint Paul’s follower, collegue and trouble shooter.

The Journeys of Saint Paul from 46 AD to his arrival as Prisoner in Rome in 63 AD

It is unclear how the two men met. Probably somewhere in Asia Minor during Paul’s first mission. Titus was one of the gentiles Saint Paul accepted into the church. Like Paul, he had studied classical Greek philosphy. As a Roman  – like Paul - he was keenly aware of the spiritual emptiness that the Emperor’s claim on being a God produced. How could such imperfect human beings like Emperors Claudius and Nero, well known for their follies and brutality be Gods? Saint Paul’s message of resurection resonated with Titus. There would be a final judgement and all human being, be they emperors or slaves, would be judged. At the final judgement, there would be justice for everyone. Good men and women would make it to heaven, the Neros of the world to the purgatory.

Portrait of Saint Titus in a Monastery on Mount Athos

To my regret, there is not much biographical information about Titus. Nobody knows when he was born. He died either in 96 AD or 107 AD which means that he was probably 20 to 30 years younger than Saint Paul (5 - 68 AD). He thus may well have been one of Paul’s students. Titus was the man to whom Paul addressed the Epistles of Titus. In these pastoral lettres, Paul stipulates the requirements and duties of presbyters (church elders) and bishops. In the early church, when there was no bible yet, their role was vital to keep the memory and message of Jesus alive. They had to make sure that the gospel remained coherent and did not deviate in all possible directions. We all remember the experiment from our school days when we sat in a cricle and had to quietly pass on a message from one to the next. Within 15 relays, the original message was distorted beyond recognition.

Folio 41 of the Epistles to Titus, British Library

Titus and Paul were close. Titus accompanied Saint Paul in 48/49 AD to Jerusalem to discuss with other church elders the issue of accepting gentiles. Under mosaic rules, church members had to be circumcized. This requirement was lifted. The church opened up to everybody who believed in Jesus.  A few years later, Paul sent him in 55/56 AD to Corinth to settle a dispute which could have torn the young Christian community apart. Titus' intervention was successful and Paul so overjoyed that he sent him to Crete to found the first Christian community. This leg of the story is not undisputed though. Other sources claim that Paul and Titus visited Crete in 64 AD together. After two years of house arrest in Rome, Paul was released and allowed to travel. The story of Saint Paul’s freedom rhymes with other sources which claim that he went on a mission to the south of France. Be it as it may, Paul then had to leave for Asia Minor for other urgent business. He thus ordained his friend and follower as bishop before leaving the island. What definitely seems to be true is that Titus was the person who brought christianity to Crete.

Gortyna (Gortys) was the Provincial Capital of Crete during Roman Time

Everywhere in the Roman Empire, Christianity started as an underground religion. It’s focal point was the holy communion on Sunday at the local bishop’s home. There were no churches yet. Christians were lying low following the principle “Give the emperor what is the emperor’s. And give God what belongs to God”. Prosecutions were severe albeit rare. Most of the time, Roman Emperors left Christians alone. That a large party of the Roman Army had become Christian helped – for soldiers who faced death the idea of resurrection was appealing. By 250 AD, about 2.5 % of Romans were Christians. 150 years later, everybody was. Emperor Theodosius had made it a state religion. Church building started already under Constantine the Great with the Hagia Eirene (Holy Peace) in 330 AD. Constantine died in 337 AD. The Hagia Eirene still stands today near the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul (Constantinople).

The Hagia Eirene is Constantinople's oldest Church Building

The empire’s most prolific church builder was Emperor Justinian though. Following the Nika Rebellion in 532 AD, he built the Hagia Sofia (Holy Wisdom) and refurbished the Hagia Eirene. He encouraged and financed the building of churches throughout the Empire. We visited last year the Church of Saint Nicholas in Myra which was also built by Justinian. The oldest church in Crete, the Basilica of Saint Titus in Gortyna, provincial capital in Roman times, goes back to Justinian. It collapsed in an earthquake in the 7th century and was never rebuilt. The Church of Saint Titus took over its functions. It dates from about the same time. When Gortyna was abandoned after the Arab occupation in 832 AD, it started to fall apart. But the ruins give you a pretty good idea of how it looked.

The Church of Saint Nicholas was also built in the 6th Century

The Holy Cathedral of Saint Titus in Heraklion is much younger. It has an interesting albeit checkered history. Built after Crete was reconquered by Byzantium in 961 AD, it became the island’s principal church when the episcopal seat was transferred from Gortyna to Candia (Heraklion). With it came – apparently – the skull of Saint Titus – a precious relict. Destroyed several times by earth quakes or fires, the building has no continous history. The location is the same though. After Venice took over the island in 1210 AD, the orthodox church was converted into a Roman catholic cathedral only to be made a mosque in 1669 when Candia (Heraklion) fell to the Ottoman. The Venetians did not hesitate to take Saint Titus’ skull with them when they left. It only returned in 1966!

The Interior of the Saint Titus Cathedral still shows that it was built as a Mosque in 1869

The current building dates from 1869 after yet another earth quake destroyed the medieval building. It was rebuilt in the classic 19th century Greek style by the architect Athanasios Moussis. After the Greek-Turkish population exchange (read ethnic cleansing) in 1923, the mosque was re-converted into an orthodox church and dedicated to worship in 1925. The minaret was demolished in 1966. Since 2013 the church is a cathedral. We shall visit this important place of history and Saint Titus this summer.