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[[Archbishop]] '''Vetranion of Tomis''', also ('''Bretannio''', '''Bretanion''', '''Bretannione''', and '''Vetranio''', was the ruling [[bishop]] of Tomis, now Constanta in Romania, during the fourth century. His feast day is on [[January 25]].<ref>Great [[Synaxarion|Synaxaristes]]: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/1888/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ἅγιος Βρετάννιος ὁ Ὁμολογητής].'' 25 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref>

==Life==
Not much is known of the life of Abp. Vetranion. He was of Cappadocian origin and came to the [[see]] of Tomis about the year 360.<ref>{{ro icon}} [http://www.biserica.org/WhosWho/DTR/V/Vetranion.html Vetranion - Dictionarul Teologilor Romani]</ref>

According to Sozomen (a historian of the fifth century) during the Roman campaign against the Goths in the region of Scythia during the years 376-382, the emperor Valens stopped at Tomis about the year 368 and urged the populace to convert to [[Arianism]] and reject the [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed|Nicene Creed]]. Vetranion spoke out against this, and as a consequence he was exiled. However, the public outcry over the bishop’s exile, induced Valens to allow Abp. Vetranion to return.<ref>{{it icon}} [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/38655 Santi Beati: San Bretannione]</ref>  

In 373 or 374, [[Basil the Great]] requested the ruler of Scythia Minor, Junius Soranus (Saran), to send to him [[relics]] of [[saint]]s of that region. In response, Junius Soranus sent the relics of [[Sava the Goth]] to St. Basil in Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, accompanied by a letter, the 'Epistle of the Church of God in Gothia to the Church of God located in Cappadocia and to all the Local Churches of the Holy Universal Church'.  The [[Translation (relics)|translation]] of St. Savas' relics and the writing of the letter has been attributed to Abp. Vetranion. This letter, written in Greek, is the oldest known writing to be composed on what is now Romanian soil.

Abp. Vetranion may have represented Tomis at the [[Third Ecumenical Council]] in 381, but his name may have been confused with the name of the bishop Gerontius (Terentius) of Tomis, who may have been the actual participant at this council.

Cardinal Cesare Baronio, a ecclesiastical historian of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] of the sixteenth century, in compiling his martyrology, seems arbitrarily to have assigned Abp. Vetranion the [[feast day]] of January 25.

==References==
<references/>

==Source==
* [[Wikipedia:Bretannio|Bretannio]]. Wikipedia.

[[Category:4th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Tomis]]
[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:4th-century saints]]