St. Evaristus was the son of a Greek Jew, originally from Bethlehem, and was the sixth Pope of the Catholic Church. He is traditionally considered a martyr, but there is no documentation of the event. He is buried in the Vatican, near Saint Peter.

Pope Saint Evaristus is assumed to have given his life by martyrdom at the same time as St. Ignatius of Antioch. He is often represented with a sword because he was decapitated, or with a crib, because it is believed that he was born in Bethlehem, from which his father emigrated.