He became a deacon when Pope Sixtus II was made pope in 257, and was appointed the “archdeacon of Rome,” the first of seven deacons who served the Church. Pope Sixtus was killed on August 6, and Lawrence, who had been the Church’s treasurer, was made the principal authority of the Roman Church. When he was called before Valerian’s executioners, he was ordered to present the Church’s wealth. Lawrence brought the sick, poor and crippled of Rome, calling them the “true wealth” of the Church. He was the last of the seven deacons to be killed.