Page "Pope Damasus I" Paragraph 3

Damasus faced accusations of murder and adultery ( despite having not been married ) in his early years as pope.

The neutrality of these claims have come into question with some suggesting that the accusations were motivated by the schismatic conflict with the supporters of Arianism.

His personal problems were contrasted with his religious accomplishments, which included restoring Saint Lawrence outside the Walls, encouraging his personal secretary Saint Jerome in his Vulgate translation of the Bible, and presiding over the Council of Rome in 382, which may have set down the canon of Scripture ( based upon the Decretum Gelasianum, which some consider a sixth century work ).

He also did much to encourage the veneration of the Christian martyrs.