San Giovanni I di Napoli

Who they were

Saint John I was bishop of Naples in a particularly turbulent period, the fourteenth in the line of Neapolitan bishops, succeeding Saint Orsus in 414. He is remembered for translating the remains of Saint Januarius from the Agro Marciano at Pozzuoli to the extra-urban cemetery that later took the martyr's name and became the chief burial place of the Christian community of Naples.

According to Uranius's letter to Pacatus on the death of Bishop Paulinus of Nola, Paulinus appeared to John in a dream three days before John's own death, foretelling it. John died during the night of Holy Saturday, 2 April 432, just as he had begun the liturgy, and was buried the next day, the feast of the Resurrection, in the oratory where Saint Januarius had himself been laid; his memory, later confused with a later bishop of the same name, was restored to the diocesan calendar in 1955 with his feast fixed on 3 April.

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

Fourteenth bishop of Naples, who translated the relics of Saint Januarius to the catacomb that took his name; died during the Easter Vigil liturgy on 2 April 432.

Connected on this site

• Paulinus of Nola Saint
  “According to Uranius's letter to Pacatus on the death of Bishop Paulinus of Nola, Paulinus appeared to John in a dream three days before John's own death, foretelling it.” — this site's research