Growing up as a Roman Catholic, although I recall being taught about the Protestant movement against the Church of Rome, I do not recall ever being told about Sabbatarians who confronted the leadership of that church.
Did any Sabbatarian/Church of God leaders try to confront the Bishops of Rome?
Yes.
But not at first.
Why?
Because it is likely that those who have been claimed to be the earliest leaders through the early 2nd century (they were not called bishops until the mid-2nd century and not called popes until the late 4th century) of the Church in Rome were faithful Christians.
Yet starting in the second century there were changes. And there were objections to those changes.
The late Roman Catholic priest and scholar Bellarmino Bagatti wrote:
In Rome, … Judeao-Christian … we meet many individuals who settled in the capital, bringing with them a Jewish formation. Since these individuals sought every means to have their ancient customs prevail, the Popes, Pius I (143-154), Eleutherius (173-189) and Victor (189-199), felt themselves forced to use disciplinary measures in their regard. (Bagatti, B. Translated by Eugene Hoade. The Church from the Circumcision. Nihil obstat: Marcus Adinolfi. Imprimi potest: Herminius Roncari. Imprimatur: +Albertus Gori, die 26 Junii 1970. Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem, 1971, p. 26)
Before going further, let me note that the Bishops of Rome were not called Popes then, and Pius I may have been the first to actually have been called Bishop of Rome. Let me also note that the original Christians in Rome did keep the Sabbath and “ancient customs” like the Holy Days and avoiding biblically unclean meat.
Now, while we do not see any specific Sabbatarian individual listed as opposing the Roman leader Pius, notice the following claims related to him:
PIUS I, ST. (140-155) Born at Aguileia in Fruili…Some historians attribute to him the choice of the date of Easter as the Sunday after the March full moon…Inspired by the ideas of St. Justin expressed in the “Dialogo con Trifone”, Pius established norms for welcoming the Jews converted to the Christian faith (Lopes A. The Popes: The lives of the pontiffs through 2000 years of history. Futura Edizoni, Roma, 1997, p. 4).
The “norms” likely involved renouncing of the biblical Sabbath, date of Passover, and likely other Christian practices Pius deemed to be too Jewish. Justin, who influenced Pius, actually wrote:
we live not after the law, …, and do not observe sabbaths as you do. … For we too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the Sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, if we did not know for what reason they were enjoined you,–namely, on account of your transgressions and the hardness of your hearts. (Dialogue with Trypho. Chapters XI, XVIII. Translated by Marcus Dods and George Reith. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885)
This logic as to why God gave the Sabbaths, Holy Days, and circumcision is totally wrong–reasons are shown in the article Justin Martyr: Saint, Heretic, or Apostate?
But, the main point is that there were Christians who did not accept the Greco-Roman changes to the faith.
In the 2nd century, Polycarp of Smyrna went to Rome and confronted one of the first (if not the actual first) Bishop of Rome named Anicetus–the man who succeeded Pius.
While in Rome, Polycarp objected to the anti-Sabbatarian Marcion and the trinitarian Valentinus the Gnostic, both of whom were in communion with the Church of Rome at that time. Furthermore, he told Anicetus that Passover was to be kept on the 14th of the first month of the biblical calendar, and not on Sunday, that Anicetus had been doing.
Probably about two decades afterwards, it appears that the faithful in the vicinity of Rome challenged Bishop Eleutherius who reportedly decreed that Christians could eat biblically unclean animals:
13. ELEUTHERIUS, ST. (175-189) Born at Nicopolis in Epirus, he was a disciple of Pope Anicetus…He dispensed with the obligations of Christians to follow several dietary laws of Judaic origin (Lopes A. The Popes: The lives of the pontiffs through 2000 years of history. Futura Edizoni, Roma, 1997, p. 5).
Presuming Eleutherius really did that, it shows that there were professors of Christ in his area that still avoided biblical unclean meat–and this has been a documented practice of the faithful throughout the church age (see also The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats).
Towards the end of the 2nd century, Polycrates of Ephesus told Bishop of Rome Victor I that the original apostles and various faithful ones kept Passover on the 14th of the first month of the Hebrew calendar and that he and others would obey God rather than men on that matter.
Specifically, Polycrates wrote to Victor in Rome the following:
We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis; and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. And Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna. Why need I mention the bishop and martyr Sagaris who fell asleep in Laodicea, or the blessed Papirius, or Melito, the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from heaven, when he shall rise from the dead ? All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, do according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed. For seven of my relatives were bishops; and I am the eighth. And my relatives always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said ‘ We ought to obey God rather than man’…I could mention the bishops who were present, whom I summoned at your desire; whose names, should I write them, would constitute a great multitude. And they, beholding my littleness, gave their consent to the letter, knowing that I did not bear my gray hairs in vain, but had always governed my life by the Lord Jesus (Eusebius. The History of the Church, Book V, Chapter XXIV, Verses 2-7 . Translated by A. Cushman McGiffert. Digireads.com Publishing, Stilwell (KS), 2005, p. 114).
Note that Polycrates:
1) Claimed to be a follower of the teachings passed on from the Apostle John
2) Claimed that he was being faithful to the teachings of the Gospel
3) Relied on the position that teachings from the Bible were above those of Roman-accepted tradition
4) Claimed that he was being faithful to the teachings passed down to him
5) Was then the spokesperson for many in Asia Minor
6) Claimed he and his predecessors observed the time of unleavened bread
7) Refused to accept the authority of Roman tradition over the Bible
8) Refused to accept the authority of the Bishop of Rome–he preferred to be separate (cf. Revelation 18:4)
9) Claimed that his life was to be governed by Jesus and not opinions of men
What about later?
Roman Catholic priest Malachi Martin lived and worked in Vatican City for years. He was deeply involved in researching and writing about Church history, theology, and the inner workings of the Roman Catholic Church. In a book he wrote, Malachi Martin reported a meeting between Jewish Christians and Bishop of Rome Sylvester I, but gave no source (so, perhaps, it may have come from the archives in the Vatican library?):
Jewish Christians … occupied the oldest Christian churches in the Middle East and whose leaders were always from the family of Jesus himself. … they shunned all worldly power … their first bishop was James, first cousin {actually half-brother-ed.} of Jesus. …
A meeting between Silvester and the Jewish Christian leaders took place in 318. … The vital interview was not, as far as we know, recorded, but the issues were very well known, and it is probable the Joses, the oldest of the Christian Jews, spoke on behalf of the desposyni and the rest.
That most hallowed name, desposyni, had been respected by all believers in the first century and a half of Christian history. The word literally meant, in Greek, “belonging to the Lord.” …
Silvester knew their history well. Jewish Christians had composed the only church ever in Jerusalem until the year 135. … Hadrian’s ban. After that, Jewish Christian churches were set up all over Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia … and always in quarrel with Greek Christians who refused to … observe the Torah …
They therefore asked Silvester to revoke his confirmation of Greek Christian bishops at Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Ephesus, and in Alexandria, and to name instead desposynos bishops to take their place. …
Silvester curtly and decisively dismissed the claims of the Jewish Christians . He told them that the mother church was now in Rome, with the bones of the Apostle Peter, and he insisted that they accept the Greek bishops to lead them.
It was the last known discussion between the Jewish Christians of the old mother church and the non-Jewish Christians of the new mother church. By his adaption, Silvester, backed by Constantine … The Jewish Christians had no place in such a church structure. …
A few … pass into the anonymity of the … Eastern rites–Syriac, Assyrian, Greek, Armenians. (Martin M. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church. Bantam edition, 1983, pp. 30-32)
So presuming this meeting happened, then some who are long-descended nephews of Jesus did attempt to see if the Church of Rome would accept various aspects the original faith, but they were denied.
Sylvester, who was a 4th century contemporary to Emperor Constantine — a man who detested Jews as well as Christians with practices he considered to be Jewish — refused to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3), even when he was reminded of aspects of it.
Notice also:
The … Cathari … They denied that the true priesthood was in the Roman Church, which they supposed to have been apostate from the time of Pope Sylvester, whom they regarded as the Antichrist.
The Church was the harlot of the Apocalypse; all its ministrations were vain, and the true priesthood was confined to their own communion. … They turned the Donation of Constantine against the Roman church, arguing that, as Constantine’s empire was one of violence and injustice, and as he made it over to Sylvester, the popes are successors of Constantine, not of St. Peter. (Robertson JC. History of the Christian Church: A.D. 64-1517, Volume 3. J. Murray, 1866, pp. 193,194).
That said, yes, directly and indirectly Sabbatarians voiced opposition to the Bishops of Rome. Those bishops took on the pagan title of Pontifex Maximus in the late 4th century and typically are now referred to as popes. The Donation of Constantine was a forged document, probably in the 8th century, so the comments from the Cathari, while going back to the 4th century time, were likely not made before the 9th through 13th century.
While not directly going against a specific pope, those called Paulicians denounced the Church of Rome, in the 9th century, and its claimed succession:
They called themselves the Apostolic Catholic church, but … nicknamed Paulicians by their enemies … (Paulicians. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: Mun to Pay. 1911, p. 961; Blackwell D. A HANDBOOK OF CHURCH HISTORY: A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Ambassador College Graduate School of Theology. April 1973, p.29)
The Paulicians did not call themselves Paulicians or Tonrakians, but the Universal and Apostolic Church. To them the orthodox churches, … had apostatized from the faith, lost their orders, and forfeited their sacraments. As to their Mariolatry and adoration of saints and pictures and crosses, it was all nothing but idolatry. (Arpee L. Armenian Paulicianism and the Key of Truth. The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 10, No. 2, Apr., 1906: 267-285)
The Paulicians claimed to be THE ‘holy universal and apostolic church’ founded by Jesus Christ and his apostles. Of the false churches, they would say: “We do not belong to these, for they have long ago broken connection with the church.” … 6th century. … The succession of ministers thus begun by the hands of Jesus Christ remained unbroken in the True Church through all ages. (Lesson 50 – What Became of the Church Jesus Built? 58 Lesson: Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course, 1968, p. 13).
So, these Paulicians considered that they had maintained apostolic succession, were the true catholic church, and that the Roman churches were not.
As far as succession goes, you can check out our free eBook: Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession?
Some items of related interest may include the following:
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.