In 591, a church at Messina was dedicated to Saints Stephen, Pankratios and Euplus, which probably refers to Pancras of Taormina and Euplius of Catania.

Pancras withdrew to a cave in Pontus where he was discovered by Saint Peter and was sent to Sicily in the year 40 to be the first Bishop of Tauromenium (the modern Taormina).

In the Catholic Church his cult is concentrated on the island of Sicily, where the veneration of saints from the eastern Mediterranean was particularly encouraged during the period of Byzantine rule.

In iconography, St Pancras is depicted as an old man with grey hair, vested as a bishop, holding a cross in his right hand, and a Gospel book in his left.

The cross commemorates a miracle attributed to St Pancras whereby he saved the city of Taormina from destruction by the pagan commander Aquilinus.