Confessor, ecclesiastical writer, born Jerusalem; died there, 180. According to Eusebius he was a convert from Judaism. He visited Rome during the pontificate of Saint Anicetus, remaining there until 177 when he returned to the East. In his work against the Marcionites and Gnostics, of which only a few chapters remain, he appealed to the tradition of Apostolic preaching handed down in the churches through the succession of bishops. He compiled a list of popes and a catalogue of heresies. Feast, April 7,.