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Frumentius
Bishop of Aksum
SaintFull write-upByzantine EmpirePre-congregation
Feast: 18 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
315
Died
380
Beatified
—
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began
Who they were
In Ethiopia, Saint Frumentius, bishop, who was at first a prisoner and, afterwards ordained bishop by Saint Athanasius, spread the Gospel in this region.
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 20 July as a former captive, ordained bishop by Saint Athanasius, who spread the Gospel in Ethiopia.
Sources
- Roman Martyrology, 20 July (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q251060 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Frumentius (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.