St. Titus

Titus was a Gentile Christian and trusted coworker of Paul. He accompanied Paul to Jerusalem and helped repair relations between the apostle and the troubled community at Corinth. Paul also entrusted him with organizing assistance for Christians in Jerusalem.

Second Corinthians gives a particularly concrete picture of his work. Titus helps carry a collection from intention into action, encouraging a community to complete the generosity it has promised. Paul presents this assistance as a sign of communion between Christians separated by distance and different circumstances.

The letter praises Titus’s own eagerness to serve, rather than describing him as a reluctant messenger. His task involves relationships, trust, and practical follow-through. It offers an important picture of early Christian leadership: care for the Church included coordinating material relief as well as teaching and worship.

The New Testament letter addressed to Titus connects him with leadership of the Church in Crete. His work demonstrates the importance of reconciliation, dependable service, and collaboration in the early Christian mission. The surviving evidence gives only a partial biography, so later details should not be confused with what Paul’s letters establish. He shares a January 26 commemoration with Timothy.

In Galatians 2, Titus is not only Paul's traveling companion. As a Greek Christian, he stands within the dispute over whether Gentile believers must be circumcised. Paul explicitly points to Titus not being compelled to undergo the rite when describing his meeting with the Jerusalem leaders.

The passage makes a theological disagreement concrete: the question concerned the belonging of an actual fellow believer. Paul's account connects recognition of the Gentile mission with partnership among leaders and continued concern for poor people. Reading Titus here adds another dimension to his later coordinating work at Corinth, while avoiding invented details about what he privately thought or said during the meeting.