pope from about 125 to about 136. Telesphorus is said to have been a Greek, possibly from Calabria. Successor to St. Sixtus I, he was the eighth pope and a witness to the persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Hadrian. He is considered the first pope after St. Peter to be martyred and is commemorated in the Greek and Roman churches. He is the only 2nd-century pope whose martyrdom can be verified.