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Pope John V

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Pope
John V
Bishop of Rome
Pope John V depicted enthroned on Roman Catholic coinage
Pope John V depicted enthroned on Roman Catholic coinage
Church Catholic Church
Papacy began July 23, 685
Papacy ended August 2, 686
Predecessor Benedict II
Successor Conon
Personal details
Born Antioch, Byzantine Empire
(modern-day Antakya, Hatay, Turkey)
Died 2 August 686
Rome, Byzantine Empire
(modern-day Italy)
Other popes named John

Pope John V (Latin: Ioannes V; died 2 August 686) was the bishop of Rome from 23 July 685[1] to his death on 2 August 686.[2] He was the first pope of the Byzantine Papacy consecrated without prior imperial consent, and the first in a line of ten consecutive popes of Eastern origin. His papacy was marked by reconciliation between the city of Rome and the Empire.

Early life

John was born in Antioch[3] and was of Syrian origin.[4] He was named papal legate to the Third Council of Constantinople in 680.

Papacy

John V was the first Pope of the Byzantine Papacy consecrated without the direct imperial approval. Emperor Constantine IV had done away with the requirement during the pontificate of Benedict II, John V's predecessor, providing that "the one elected to the Apostolic See may be ordained pontiff from that moment and without delay".[5] In a return to the "ancient practice", John V was elected in July 685 "by the general population" of Rome.[5][6] Constantine IV doubtlessly trusted that the population and clergy of Rome had been sufficiently Easternized, and indeed the next ten pontiffs were of Eastern descent.[5]

John V's papacy saw a continuation of improving relations with Byzantium. The Emperor greatly reduced taxes on the papal patrimonies of Sicily and Calabria and abolished other taxes, such as a surtax on grain that had been paid only with difficulty in recent years.[7] A letter from Justinian II assured John V that a "synod of high-ranking civil and ecclesiastical officials", including the apocrisiarius and the Byzantine military, had read and thereafter sealed the text of the Third Council of Constantinople, to prevent any alteration to its canons.[8] The letter was addressed to "John pope of the city of Rome", written while the Emperor believed the pope to still be alive, but received by Pope Conon.[9]

Like his immediate predecessors, John V was unusually generous towards the diaconies of Rome, distributing 1,900 solidi to "all the clergy, the monastic diaconies, and the mansionarii" for the poor.[3]

Death

After a pontificate of little more than a year, John V died in his bed in August 686, giving rise to a "heated debate over his successor". The clergy favored an archpriest named Peter, while the army supported another priest, Theodore.[10] The faction of the clergy gathered outside the Constantinian basilica and the faction of the military met in the Church of St. Stephen.[10] Shuttle diplomacy proved futile and eventually the clergy elected Conon, a Greco-Sicilian.[10]

John V was buried among the papal tombs in Old St. Peter's Basilica.[11] His inscription praised him for combating Monothelitism at the Third Council of Constantinople "with the titles of the faith, keeping such vigilance, you united the minds so that the inimical wolf mixing in might not seize the sheep, or the more powerful crush those below".[12] John V's tomb was destroyed during the Arab raid against Rome in 846.[11]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Pope John V — (685-686).

A Syrian whose father was one Cyriacus; when he was born is not known; d. 2 August, 686. As a deacon he was one of those who represented the Apostolic See at the Sixth Oecumenical Council. He returned to Rome in July, 682, with the official documents of the synod. He obtained such favour in the eyes of the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus that the latter lessened the taxes which had been imposed on the papal patrimonies in Sicily and Calabria, and generally reduced the fiscal burdens from which the Church suffered. John's energy, learning, and moderation are highly praised by his biographer. It was no doubt the possession of these virtues which caused him to be elected pope in the basilica of St. John Lateran. The necessity of waiting for the imperial confirmation of papal elections having been abolished by Constantine Pognatus, John was straightway conducted to the Lateran palace as pope. He was consecrated about 23 July, 685, and reigned for a little more than a year. From the days of St. Gregory the Great, the Archbishop of Cagliari in Sardinia enjoyed certain metropolitan powers. Although the right of consecrating the bishops of the island was not one of his privileges, Citonatus of Cagliari proceeded to lay hands on the bishop-elect of Turris Libisonis. John, however, definitively declared the See of Turris directly subject to the Holy See. John's generosity showed itself in his liberal donations. In his short pontificate he distributed 1900 solidi to the clergy and to the deaconries for the poor. After a long illness, he died on 2 August, 686, and was buried in St. Peter's.

References

  1. Back to citation "Miranda, Salvador. "Giovanni V", Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, Florida International University". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  2. Back to citation Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope John V". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  3. Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Ekonomou, 2007, p. 210.
  4. Back to citation McKitterick, Rosamond (2020-06-25). Rome and the Invention of the Papacy: The Liber Pontificalis. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-83682-1; Cates, William Leist Redwin (1866). The Pocket Date Book of Universal History, Containing, Classified Tables of the Principal Facts, Historical, Biographical, and Scientific from the Beginning of the World to Present Time by William L. R. Cates. Frederick AìWarne and Company; Dodd, Erica Cruikshank; Dodd, Erica; Studies, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval; Chiarelli, Leonard C. (2001). The Frescoes of Mar Musa Al-Habashi: A Study in Medieval Painting in Syria. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. ISBN 978-0-88844-139-3.
  5. Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 Back to citation occurrence 5.2 Ekonomou, 2007, p. 215.
  6. Back to citation Ekonomou, 2007, p. 247.
  7. Back to citation Ekonomou, 2007, p. 217.
  8. Back to citation Ekonomou, 2007, p. 219.
  9. Back to citation Ekonomou, 2007, p. 239.
  10. Back to citation occurrence 10.0 Back to citation occurrence 10.1 Back to citation occurrence 10.2 Ekonomou, 2007, p. 216.
  11. Back to citation occurrence 11.0 Back to citation occurrence 11.1 Reardon, Wendy J. 2004. The Deaths of the Popes. Macfarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-1527-4. pp. 55–56.
  12. Back to citation Ekonomou, 2007, p. 243.

Bibliography

  • Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0739119778
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