Seventh Century = Twenty Popes
65. Sabinian, 604-606. Was Gregory the Great's nuncio in Constantinople from 593-595. Was regarded by Gregory as insufficiently firm with the Emperor Maurice and Patriarch John IV. During his short reign the famine that had killed Gregory, intensified. While Gregory had given away grain to alleviate the starvation of the people, Sabinian kept tight control and sold it - much to the dissatisfaction of the masses. Italian, from Volterra in Tuscany.
66. Boniface III, February-November 607. A capable diplomat, and protégée of Gregory the Great. He obtained from the Emperor Phocas a formal acknowledgement that the Church of Rome was Head of all the Churches of the world: 'Rome is the See of Peter, the Head of all Churches'. The Emperor Justinian (527-565) had already issued such a proclamation, but this time of the pretensions of the Patriarch of the non-Apostolic See of Constantinople to religious equality with the Church of Rome has stopped, at least for a time. Held a synod to regulate papal elections; forbade under pain of excommunication any discussion of a pope's successor until three days after his death. Roman, of a Greek family.
67. St Boniface IV, 608-615. The son of a doctor from L'Aquila he was one of Gregory the Great's Deacons. Enjoyed good relations with the Emperors and on May 13, 609 the Emperor granted his request to have the pagan Temple of the Pantheon turned into a Church dedicated to our Lady. In 610 he held a synod, attended by Mellitus, first bishop of London. Mellitus took back to England letters from the Pope to Lawrence, the Archbishop of Canterbury, King Ethelbert of Kent and the English people. Italian.
68. St Adeodatus, 615-618. Described by Pope Honorious I (died 638 A.D.) as simple, devout, wise and shrewd, he had been a priest for 40 years when elected. He 'greatly loved the clergy' and won the hearts of all the laity, by his benevolence. He maintained good relations with the Emperor. Natural disasters, earthquakes and plague disturbed his short pontificate. Roman.
69. Boniface V, 619-625. He was a good administrator, confirmed the right of asylum in churches. He brought canon law and civil law into line with each other in matters that concerned both. He took a special interest in the infant English Church - wrote to Mellitus of Canterbury and to Bishop Justus of Rochester and conferred the pallium on Justus when he was made Archbishop. He wrote to King Edwin of Northumbria and to Ethelburga his wife, who was already a Catholic. Much loved, he was compassionate and gentle and distributed his personal fortune in charity to the poor. Neapolitan.
70. Honorius I, 625-638. He did much to bring peace to the troubled regions of northern Italy. Supported the struggling English mission, wrote to King Edwin of Northumbria congratulating him on becoming Catholic, and in 627 sent Birinius off to preach the gospel to the West Saxons. Became embroiled, unwittingly, in a theological controversy over one of two wills in Christ. Sergius I, Patriarch of Constantinople and the Emperor Heraclius proposed that there was only one will in Christ - and Honorius agreed. He was dead when Heraclius's Ecthesis appeared, forbidding all discussion of more than one will. All Honorius's successors agreed in rejecting this doctrine of one will (called Monotheletism) and most commentators say that Honorius was more imprudent than theologically at fault. Muhammad died during Honorius's reign. He reformed the education of the clergy, restoring the Roman aqueducts, handled the corn supply well, acted as paymaster for the imperial troops stationed in Rome, and carried out a remarkable programme of building, repairing and embellishing churches and public buildings. When he was buried in St Peter's he was called the 'leader of the common people'. Italian, from Campania.
71. Severinus, May-August 640. A good priest, elderly when elected, he was treated brutally by soldiers of the Emperor who demanded that he subscribe to the Ecthesis. He refused, and seems to have died as a result of the harsh treatment he received. Rome was plundered by the troops of the Exarch in Ravenna. Severinus is buried in St Peter's. Roman.
72. John IV, 640-642. Held a synod that condemned the Ecthesis of Heraclius. The latter, on his death bed, wrote the Pope regretting the edict, and blaming it on the Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople. He sent Abbot Martin to Dalmatia (Croatia) to ransom Catholics enslaved by the Avar and Slav invaders. Endowed a chapel next to the Lateran Palace in honour of the Dalmatian martyrs. Wrote to certain Irish and Scottish Bishops cautioning them about Pelagianism and advising them to follow the custom throughout the Church concerning the observance of Easter. Dalmatian (from Croatia).
73. Theodore I, 642-649. Born in Jerusalem he seems to have come to Rome fleeing the Arab invaders. Became involved in arguments about the number of wills in Christ, and excommunicated Paul II, Patriarch of Constantinople, and his predecessor, Phyrrus I, for being Monothelites. Eighty-six African Bishops sent him a synodal letter in which they wrote: 'Since the earliest age, it has been laws that decree drawn up in the most distant provinces receive binding force only through being confirmed by the See of Peter'. Was generous to the poor of Rome. Greek.
74. St Martin I, 649-655. Had been Papal Nuncio in Constantinople. Around the anger of Emperor Constans II by refusing to wait for Imperial approval before being consecrated Pope - as had been the practice since the death of Gregory the Great in 604. He rejected Monotheletism outright, and therefore came out publicly against what has been called the Imperio-Papism of the Byzantine Court in Constantinople. The Exarch of Ravenna (the Emperor's representative) tried to have the Pope murdered, but died before it could be carried out. Martin, a sick man, was arrested while saying Mass in the Lateran Basilica, smuggled out of Rome (where he was loved) and dragged, sick and brutalized, to Constantinople where he arrived on September 17, 653. After three months solitary confinement, he was brought to trial on December 19, on a trial of treason. Found guilty he was condemned to death and publicly flogged, but the death sentence was commuted to banishment. He spent three more months in prison in appalling conditions, and taken by ship to Chersonesus in the Crimea, he died. He is reverenced as a saint and martyr (the last Pope to be honoured as a martyr) and he is also honoured as such by the Greeks. Italian, from Todi.
75. St Eugene I, 655-657. An elderly priest when elected, he was disappointed to be forced to accept election by the Emperor while Pope Martin was still alive. He did not consider himself legally to be Pope until Martin's death in 655. A mild and saintly man, Eugene tried to reconcile the Churches of Rome and Constantinople, but failed, and the Emperor Constans II threatened that once he had disposed of the heathen he would treat Eugene as he had treated Martin. Before the Emperor could act, the Pope had died, revered by clergy and people, for his gentle goodness. Roman, son of Rufinianus.
76. St Vitalian, 657-672. Despite his efforts to be conciliatory with the Empire the Pope was badly treated by Constans, who tried to set Ravenna up as a See independent of Rome. Concerned for the Anglo-Saxon Church Vitalian supported King Oswy of Northumbria in his efforts to have the Roman date for Easter accepted throughout the British Isles as decreed by the Synod of Whitby (664). He consecrated the gifted Greek monk Theodore of Tarsus as Archbishop of Canterbury (668-690) and sent him to England to re-organise the Catholic Church there. He was accompanied by an African abbot Hadrian to ensure that too many alien Greek ideas and customs were not introduced into England. He established a school of music in Rome and when Constans II was murdered, he supported his rightful heir who was to become Constantine IV. The new emperor treated the Pope better than his father had. Italian, from Segni.
77. Adeodatus II, 672-676. Elected Pope in his old age, he continued the Papal resistance to the Monothelite heresy. Wrote to Hadrian, abbot of St Peter's Monastery, Canterbury, and to the Bishops of Gaul advising them of privileges granted by the Monastery of St Martin of Tours. Generous, compassionate to pilgrims to the tomb of St Peter, kind to his clergy, he was much loved. Roman, son of Jovinianus.
78. Donus I, 676-678. Elderly when elected, he reconciled the See of Ravenna with that of Rome. The former abandoned its claims to independence of Rome engineered by Constans II. Discovered that Syrian monks occupying a monastery in Rome were Nestorians. The monks were dispersed throughout other monasteries in the hope that they would accept orthodox Catholic doctrine. Constantinople showed signs of wishing for unity with the Holy See. The Emperor sent Donus a courteous letter inviting him to send a delegation to discuss reconciliation - but he died before it arrived. Roman, son of Mauritius.
79. St Agatho, 678-681. During his reign the Sixth General Council was held in Constantinople, to settle the Monothelite issue forever. Preparatory synods were ordered by the Pope to held throughout the Church - and one was held in England, at Hatfield, presided over by Theodore of Canterbury. At the end of the Council it was acknowledged that the true faith, written by God's hand, had been given to the Church of Old Rome, and that Peter had spoken through Agatho. At the Lateran Synod of 679, Agatho upheld the appeal of Wilfrid, Bishop of York, against his deposition by Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. He sent John, Precentor of St Peters in Rome, to England to teach liturgical chant and to report on conditions in England. A kindly man he was loved by all for his good humour. Sicilian.
80. St Leo II, 681-683. Effected peace between Rome and Constantinople. A realist, he sealed the reconciliation between Ravenna and Rome. A competent singer, he did much for Church music. Had a great love for the poor. Reconstructed the Basilica of San Giorgio in Velabro for the use of the flourishing Greek community in Rome. Sicilian.
81. Benedict II, 684-685. Humble-minded and gentle he did much for the poor. Unlike his Greek speaking Sicilian born predecessors he was born in Rome, and had been a choir boy in the Papal choir.
He was priest when elected. Confirmed the re-instatement of St Wilfid of York. Roman.
82. John V, 685-686. Another refugee from the Muslim invaders of Antioch. Confirmed the authority of the Holy See over the Church in Sardinia, where Citonatus of Cagliari consecrated a bishop without the Pope's knowledge or consent. Ill for most of his short reign, he is remembered as an energetic defender of the See of Peter. Syrian.
83. Conon, 686-687. Brought up in Sicily, son of a General in the army, Conon was elderly when appointed. Unworldly, saintly, he was almost continuously ill, throughout his Pontificate. Ordained St Kilian, apostle of Franconia, Germany.
84. St Sergius I, 687-701. Able and energetic Pope. On April 10, 689 he baptized young Caedwalla, the king of the West Saxons and gave the pallium to Beorhtweald, Archbishop of Canterbury and saw to it that Wilfrid was restored to York (700). In 693 he authorized the mission of the Anglo-Saxon St Willibrord, and in 695 consecrated him Archbishop of the Frisians. When the Emperor Justinian tried to force the Pope to sign a decree condemning celibacy of the clergy and other Catholic traditions, he refused. Enraged, the Emperor Zacharias, commandant of the Imperial bodyguard, to Rome to get the Pope's signature, or to bring him in chains to Constantinople. The Imperial troops in Ravenna and Rome rallied around the Pope and pursued Zacharias relentlessly until Sergius (under whose bed he had hidden himself from the soldiers) had to plead for his life. He introduced the singing of the Agnus Dei at Mass, and surrounded the four great feasts of Our Lady - Annunciation, Assumption, Nativity and Presentation - with special solemnity. Syrian, from Antioch, born in Palermo, Sicily.
65. Sabinian, 604-606. Was Gregory the Great's nuncio in Constantinople from 593-595. Was regarded by Gregory as insufficiently firm with the Emperor Maurice and Patriarch John IV. During his short reign the famine that had killed Gregory, intensified. While Gregory had given away grain to alleviate the starvation of the people, Sabinian kept tight control and sold it - much to the dissatisfaction of the masses. Italian, from Volterra in Tuscany.
66. Boniface III, February-November 607. A capable diplomat, and protégée of Gregory the Great. He obtained from the Emperor Phocas a formal acknowledgement that the Church of Rome was Head of all the Churches of the world: 'Rome is the See of Peter, the Head of all Churches'. The Emperor Justinian (527-565) had already issued such a proclamation, but this time of the pretensions of the Patriarch of the non-Apostolic See of Constantinople to religious equality with the Church of Rome has stopped, at least for a time. Held a synod to regulate papal elections; forbade under pain of excommunication any discussion of a pope's successor until three days after his death. Roman, of a Greek family.
67. St Boniface IV, 608-615. The son of a doctor from L'Aquila he was one of Gregory the Great's Deacons. Enjoyed good relations with the Emperors and on May 13, 609 the Emperor granted his request to have the pagan Temple of the Pantheon turned into a Church dedicated to our Lady. In 610 he held a synod, attended by Mellitus, first bishop of London. Mellitus took back to England letters from the Pope to Lawrence, the Archbishop of Canterbury, King Ethelbert of Kent and the English people. Italian.
68. St Adeodatus, 615-618. Described by Pope Honorious I (died 638 A.D.) as simple, devout, wise and shrewd, he had been a priest for 40 years when elected. He 'greatly loved the clergy' and won the hearts of all the laity, by his benevolence. He maintained good relations with the Emperor. Natural disasters, earthquakes and plague disturbed his short pontificate. Roman.
69. Boniface V, 619-625. He was a good administrator, confirmed the right of asylum in churches. He brought canon law and civil law into line with each other in matters that concerned both. He took a special interest in the infant English Church - wrote to Mellitus of Canterbury and to Bishop Justus of Rochester and conferred the pallium on Justus when he was made Archbishop. He wrote to King Edwin of Northumbria and to Ethelburga his wife, who was already a Catholic. Much loved, he was compassionate and gentle and distributed his personal fortune in charity to the poor. Neapolitan.
70. Honorius I, 625-638. He did much to bring peace to the troubled regions of northern Italy. Supported the struggling English mission, wrote to King Edwin of Northumbria congratulating him on becoming Catholic, and in 627 sent Birinius off to preach the gospel to the West Saxons. Became embroiled, unwittingly, in a theological controversy over one of two wills in Christ. Sergius I, Patriarch of Constantinople and the Emperor Heraclius proposed that there was only one will in Christ - and Honorius agreed. He was dead when Heraclius's Ecthesis appeared, forbidding all discussion of more than one will. All Honorius's successors agreed in rejecting this doctrine of one will (called Monotheletism) and most commentators say that Honorius was more imprudent than theologically at fault. Muhammad died during Honorius's reign. He reformed the education of the clergy, restoring the Roman aqueducts, handled the corn supply well, acted as paymaster for the imperial troops stationed in Rome, and carried out a remarkable programme of building, repairing and embellishing churches and public buildings. When he was buried in St Peter's he was called the 'leader of the common people'. Italian, from Campania.
71. Severinus, May-August 640. A good priest, elderly when elected, he was treated brutally by soldiers of the Emperor who demanded that he subscribe to the Ecthesis. He refused, and seems to have died as a result of the harsh treatment he received. Rome was plundered by the troops of the Exarch in Ravenna. Severinus is buried in St Peter's. Roman.
72. John IV, 640-642. Held a synod that condemned the Ecthesis of Heraclius. The latter, on his death bed, wrote the Pope regretting the edict, and blaming it on the Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople. He sent Abbot Martin to Dalmatia (Croatia) to ransom Catholics enslaved by the Avar and Slav invaders. Endowed a chapel next to the Lateran Palace in honour of the Dalmatian martyrs. Wrote to certain Irish and Scottish Bishops cautioning them about Pelagianism and advising them to follow the custom throughout the Church concerning the observance of Easter. Dalmatian (from Croatia).
73. Theodore I, 642-649. Born in Jerusalem he seems to have come to Rome fleeing the Arab invaders. Became involved in arguments about the number of wills in Christ, and excommunicated Paul II, Patriarch of Constantinople, and his predecessor, Phyrrus I, for being Monothelites. Eighty-six African Bishops sent him a synodal letter in which they wrote: 'Since the earliest age, it has been laws that decree drawn up in the most distant provinces receive binding force only through being confirmed by the See of Peter'. Was generous to the poor of Rome. Greek.
74. St Martin I, 649-655. Had been Papal Nuncio in Constantinople. Around the anger of Emperor Constans II by refusing to wait for Imperial approval before being consecrated Pope - as had been the practice since the death of Gregory the Great in 604. He rejected Monotheletism outright, and therefore came out publicly against what has been called the Imperio-Papism of the Byzantine Court in Constantinople. The Exarch of Ravenna (the Emperor's representative) tried to have the Pope murdered, but died before it could be carried out. Martin, a sick man, was arrested while saying Mass in the Lateran Basilica, smuggled out of Rome (where he was loved) and dragged, sick and brutalized, to Constantinople where he arrived on September 17, 653. After three months solitary confinement, he was brought to trial on December 19, on a trial of treason. Found guilty he was condemned to death and publicly flogged, but the death sentence was commuted to banishment. He spent three more months in prison in appalling conditions, and taken by ship to Chersonesus in the Crimea, he died. He is reverenced as a saint and martyr (the last Pope to be honoured as a martyr) and he is also honoured as such by the Greeks. Italian, from Todi.
75. St Eugene I, 655-657. An elderly priest when elected, he was disappointed to be forced to accept election by the Emperor while Pope Martin was still alive. He did not consider himself legally to be Pope until Martin's death in 655. A mild and saintly man, Eugene tried to reconcile the Churches of Rome and Constantinople, but failed, and the Emperor Constans II threatened that once he had disposed of the heathen he would treat Eugene as he had treated Martin. Before the Emperor could act, the Pope had died, revered by clergy and people, for his gentle goodness. Roman, son of Rufinianus.
76. St Vitalian, 657-672. Despite his efforts to be conciliatory with the Empire the Pope was badly treated by Constans, who tried to set Ravenna up as a See independent of Rome. Concerned for the Anglo-Saxon Church Vitalian supported King Oswy of Northumbria in his efforts to have the Roman date for Easter accepted throughout the British Isles as decreed by the Synod of Whitby (664). He consecrated the gifted Greek monk Theodore of Tarsus as Archbishop of Canterbury (668-690) and sent him to England to re-organise the Catholic Church there. He was accompanied by an African abbot Hadrian to ensure that too many alien Greek ideas and customs were not introduced into England. He established a school of music in Rome and when Constans II was murdered, he supported his rightful heir who was to become Constantine IV. The new emperor treated the Pope better than his father had. Italian, from Segni.
77. Adeodatus II, 672-676. Elected Pope in his old age, he continued the Papal resistance to the Monothelite heresy. Wrote to Hadrian, abbot of St Peter's Monastery, Canterbury, and to the Bishops of Gaul advising them of privileges granted by the Monastery of St Martin of Tours. Generous, compassionate to pilgrims to the tomb of St Peter, kind to his clergy, he was much loved. Roman, son of Jovinianus.
78. Donus I, 676-678. Elderly when elected, he reconciled the See of Ravenna with that of Rome. The former abandoned its claims to independence of Rome engineered by Constans II. Discovered that Syrian monks occupying a monastery in Rome were Nestorians. The monks were dispersed throughout other monasteries in the hope that they would accept orthodox Catholic doctrine. Constantinople showed signs of wishing for unity with the Holy See. The Emperor sent Donus a courteous letter inviting him to send a delegation to discuss reconciliation - but he died before it arrived. Roman, son of Mauritius.
79. St Agatho, 678-681. During his reign the Sixth General Council was held in Constantinople, to settle the Monothelite issue forever. Preparatory synods were ordered by the Pope to held throughout the Church - and one was held in England, at Hatfield, presided over by Theodore of Canterbury. At the end of the Council it was acknowledged that the true faith, written by God's hand, had been given to the Church of Old Rome, and that Peter had spoken through Agatho. At the Lateran Synod of 679, Agatho upheld the appeal of Wilfrid, Bishop of York, against his deposition by Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. He sent John, Precentor of St Peters in Rome, to England to teach liturgical chant and to report on conditions in England. A kindly man he was loved by all for his good humour. Sicilian.
80. St Leo II, 681-683. Effected peace between Rome and Constantinople. A realist, he sealed the reconciliation between Ravenna and Rome. A competent singer, he did much for Church music. Had a great love for the poor. Reconstructed the Basilica of San Giorgio in Velabro for the use of the flourishing Greek community in Rome. Sicilian.
81. Benedict II, 684-685. Humble-minded and gentle he did much for the poor. Unlike his Greek speaking Sicilian born predecessors he was born in Rome, and had been a choir boy in the Papal choir.
He was priest when elected. Confirmed the re-instatement of St Wilfid of York. Roman.
82. John V, 685-686. Another refugee from the Muslim invaders of Antioch. Confirmed the authority of the Holy See over the Church in Sardinia, where Citonatus of Cagliari consecrated a bishop without the Pope's knowledge or consent. Ill for most of his short reign, he is remembered as an energetic defender of the See of Peter. Syrian.
83. Conon, 686-687. Brought up in Sicily, son of a General in the army, Conon was elderly when appointed. Unworldly, saintly, he was almost continuously ill, throughout his Pontificate. Ordained St Kilian, apostle of Franconia, Germany.
84. St Sergius I, 687-701. Able and energetic Pope. On April 10, 689 he baptized young Caedwalla, the king of the West Saxons and gave the pallium to Beorhtweald, Archbishop of Canterbury and saw to it that Wilfrid was restored to York (700). In 693 he authorized the mission of the Anglo-Saxon St Willibrord, and in 695 consecrated him Archbishop of the Frisians. When the Emperor Justinian tried to force the Pope to sign a decree condemning celibacy of the clergy and other Catholic traditions, he refused. Enraged, the Emperor Zacharias, commandant of the Imperial bodyguard, to Rome to get the Pope's signature, or to bring him in chains to Constantinople. The Imperial troops in Ravenna and Rome rallied around the Pope and pursued Zacharias relentlessly until Sergius (under whose bed he had hidden himself from the soldiers) had to plead for his life. He introduced the singing of the Agnus Dei at Mass, and surrounded the four great feasts of Our Lady - Annunciation, Assumption, Nativity and Presentation - with special solemnity. Syrian, from Antioch, born in Palermo, Sicily.
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