Pope Theodore I
| Pope Theodore I | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
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Modern mosaic at Santa Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio
| |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 24 November 642 |
| Papacy ended | 14 May 649 |
| Predecessor | John IV |
| Successor | Martin I |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jerusalem, Palaestina Prima, Byzantine Empire |
| Died | 14 May 649 Rome[1] |
| Other popes named Theodore | |
Pope Theodore I (Latin: Theodorus I; died 14 May 649) was the bishop of Rome from 24 November 642 to his death on 14 May 649. His pontificate was dominated by the struggle with Monothelitism.
Early career
According to the Liber Pontificalis, Theodore was a Greek man from Jerusalem whose father, Theodore, had been a bishop in the city; he is the only pope to have been a native of that city.[2] He was among the many Syrian clergy who fled to Rome following the Muslim conquest of the Levant.[3] He was made a cardinal deacon possibly around 640 and a full cardinal by Pope John IV.
Pontificate
Theodore I's election was supported by the exarch of Ravenna, who governed Italy in the name of the emperor in Constantinople. He was installed on 24 November 642, succeeding John IV.[4] The main focus of his pontificate was the continued struggle against the heretical Monothelites. He refused to recognize Paul II as the patriarch of Constantinople because Paul's predecessor, Pyrrhus I, had not been correctly replaced. He pressed Emperor Constans II to withdraw the Ecthesis of Heraclius. While his efforts made little impression on Constantinople, it increased the opposition to the teaching in the West; Pyrrhus even briefly recanted Monothelitism in 645, but was excommunicated in 648. Paul was excommunicated in 649. In response, Paul destroyed the Roman altar in the palace of Placidia and exiled or imprisoned the papal apocrisiarius. He also sought to end the issue with the emperor by promulgating the Type of Constans, ordering that the Ecthesis be taken down and seeking to end discussion on the doctrine.[5]
Theodore planned the Lateran Council of 649 to condemn the Ecthesis, but died before he could convene it. His successor, Martin I, did so instead. Theodore was buried in Old St. Peter's Basilica.[5] His feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Church is on 18 May.[6]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope Theodore I — Pope from 642 to 649; the date of his birth is unknown. He was a Greek of Jerusalem and the son of a bishop, Theodore. His election as pope was promptly confirmed by the Exarch of Ravenna, perhaps because he was a Greek, and he was consecrated 24 Nov., 642. Engaged throughout all his pontificate in the struggle against Monothelitism, he at once wrote to the Byzantine Emperor Constans II to inform him that he could not recognize Paul as Patriarch of Constantinople, because the deposition of his predecessor (Pyrrhus) had not been canonical. He then urged Constans to withdraw the Ecthesis. He also wrote to Paul and to the bishops who had consecrated him, to impress upon them the importance of securing the legal deposition of Pyrrhus, if the accession of Paul was to be recognized. If Theodore's vigorous action produced no result at Constantinople, it elsewhere excited strong opposition to Monothelitism. The Bishops of Cyprus, Palestine, and Africa expressed their loyal submission to his teaching in very striking language. Even the deposed patriarch Pyrrhus recanted his heresy before Theodore (645), but soon relapsed into his old errors, and was excommunicated by the pope (648). Meanwhile, urged by the bishops of Africa, Theodore made another effort to reclaim Paul, but only succeeded in drawing from him an express declaration of his belief in the doctrine of one Will in our Lord. This brought upon him sentence of excommunication and deposition from Rome (649). To this Paul replied by barbarously ill-treating the papal apocrisiarii (or nuncios) at Constantinople. He also prevailed upon Constans to issue a new decree known as the Type (Typus). This document ordered the Ecthesis to be taken down, and enjoined that in future there was to be no more discussion on the doctrine of one or two Wills or Operations. The Type was promptly condemned "by the whole West" in general, and specifically by Theodore's successor (St. Martin I), but it is not certain whether Theodore lived long enough to anathematize it. This energetic pontiff, who was good to the poor of Rome, and a benefactor of its churches, was buried in St. Peter's, 14 May, 649.
Liber Pontificalis, I, 330 sqq., ed. DUCHESNE (Paris, 1886); JAFFÉ, Regesta, I, 228 sqq. (Leipzig, 1888); MAXIMI, Disputatio, vita, etc., in LABBE, Concil., V, pp.1813 sqq.; or P.L., CXXIX; or COMBEFIS (2 vols., Paris. 1675); Acts of the Lateran Council under Martin I; MANN, Lives of the Popes in the early Middle Ages, I (London, 1902), 369 sqq.
References
- Back to citation The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Theodore I". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- Back to citation Anastasius (bibliothecarius) (1602). Bibliothecarii Historia, de vitis romanorvm pontificvm. in typographeio I. Albini. p. 67. “Theodorus, natione Grecus, ex patre Theodoro episcopo de civitate Hierusolima”
- Back to citation Paul F. Bradshaw (2013). New SCM Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship. Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd. p. 5. ISBN 9780334049326.
- Back to citation Chisholm 1911.
- Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 Mann 1913.
- Back to citation Ὁ Ἅγιος Θεόδωρος ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας Ἐπίσκοπος Ρώμης. 18 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ. (in Greek)
Bibliography
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Theodore". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 765.