Confessor
Confessor Liberius of Rome
еп. 352 — †366
Hierarch Liberius the Confessor, Pope of Rome (352-366) — who firmly refused to condemn St. Athanasius the Great at the demand of the Arian-leaning Emperor Constantius II and was exiled to Thrace for this; after several years of exile, under pressure, he signed a semi-Arian formula, which allowed him to return to Rome, but in the final years of his pontificate he again worked to restore Orthodoxy.
Hierarch Liberius became Bishop (Pope) of Rome in 352. He firmly refused to comply with the demand of Emperor Constantius II, who leaned toward Arianism, to condemn St. Athanasius of Alexandria (the Great) — for this he was exiled to Beroea in Thrace in 355, and the deacon Felix, acceptable to the emperor, was installed in his place.
IMPORTANT, HONEST CLARIFICATION: after prolonged pressure and isolation in exile, Hierarch Liberius, in 357-358, could not hold out and signed a semi-Arian ("Third Sirmian") formula, effectively condemning St. Athanasius, in order to secure his return to Rome. St. Athanasius himself later forgave him, placing the blame rather on "those who slowly tortured him" than on "the intimidated." It is precisely because of this episode that Western (Catholic) tradition later did not canonize Liberius, whereas Orthodox veneration preserves his memory specifically as a "confessor" — an emphasis that highlights his initial stand for the truth and his subsequent labors to restore Orthodoxy in Rome, rather than concealing the episode of his lapse.
In the final years of his pontificate, the hierarch worked to restore the Nicene confession in Rome. He reposed in 366.
His feast is kept on August 27/September 9.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: category righteous→confessor — the established liturgical title "Liberius the Confessor" more accurately reflects his veneration than the general category "righteous."