The Threatened Series - 25
JOHN I (13 August 523 - 18 May 526)
Was the friend of Boethius, who dedicated his Theological Tractates to
him. During his reign the Emperor Justin began persecuting the Arians,
including the Goths, in his realm.
This upset Theodoric, who was both an Arian and a Goth. He ordered
John to go to Constantinople with three demands: to secure a
suspension of persecution, to have confiscated churches returned to the
Arians, and to allow forcibly converted Arians to return to their Arian
faith. John promised to do what he could about the first two demands,
but flatly refused to take on the last.
John was the first pope to visit the east, and he had a great
reception. The whole city came out to the twelfth milestone to meet
him, the emperor prostrated himself before him, and on Easter Day was
seated higher than the patriarch, and celebrated the Mass in Latin.
All very gratifying.
When they got down to business, the Emperor agreed to the first two
demands, but, as John had expected, he refused the third. Still, John
and the other delegates felt that two out of three wasn't bad, and
hurried home feeling moderately gruntled.
Theodoric was not gruntled. He felt the mission had been a failure,
since it had not achieved what he regarded as his most important
demand. He was suspicious of the magnificent reception John had
received. He had already executed Boethius on the charge of
treasonable correspondence with the Emperor. We can only surmise what
he might have done to John if John had not saved him the trouble by
dying.
FELIX IV (12 July 526 - 22 Sept 530) was really III, just as III was
really II; he is known as IV to avoid confusion.
After the death of John there was a vacancy of 58 days, quite lengthy
by papal standards. There seems to have been a deadlock between
pro-imperial and pro-Gothic factions, and Theodoric in the end gave
them a nudge in the direction of Felix, whom he regarded as a
pro-Gothic friend. Theodoric himself died in August 526; and not
before time, many would say.
Felix supported Caesarius of Arles in his efforts to put an end to
Semi-Pelagianism (a somewhat misleading term, as its adherents, while
rejecting what they regarded as the extreme predestinarian views of
Augustine, did not endorse those of Pelagius.) We haven't had occasion
to discuss Pelagianism; it didn't affect the east and was not the
subject of any of the Ecumenical Councils. It was however the cause of
a lot of trouble in the west. Another time perhaps . . .
On his death-bed Felix nominated his successor, Boniface II, even
handing him his pallium (though making him promise to return it if
Felix should recover). All this was quite unconstitutional, and led to
another schism, the majority of clergy and senate electing an antipope,
DIOSCORUS; this gentleman however solved the problem by dying only
three weeks after his election, and his party fell in behind the
minority candidate, Boniface.
BONIFACE II (22 Sept 530 - 17 Oct 532).
The first pope of Germanic descent, though born in Italy. His descent
was important for his nomination, for Felix had wanted to secure a
pro-Gothic succession. So did Boniface, and nominated the deacon
Vigilius as his own successor. This caused an outrage, however, and he
was obliged to withdraw his nomination.
JOHN II (2 Jan 533 - 8 May 535). After the death of Boniface there was
another long interregnum, with much canvassing and bribery. Eventually
the choice fell on a chap called Mercury. Since this was the name of a
pagan god, he took a new name, in remembrance of his revered
predecessor John I. He was the first pope to change his name on
election - a practice which has since become the norm.
John accepted a decree which the Emperor Justinian had published on 15
March 533. This acknowledged the teaching of the first four Eucmenical
Councils (remember those?
1. Nicæa I 325 Arianism
2. Constantinople I 381 Apollinarianism
3. Ephesus 431 Nestorianism
4. Chalcedon 451 Eutychianism = Monophysitism)
However, Justinian had also used the 'Theopaschite' formula, 'One of
the Trinity suffered in the flesh'. This is perfectly orthodox in
itself - or at least, is capable of an orthodox interpretation - but
Hormisdas had rejected it as unnecessary and open to misunderstanding.
He had not actually condemned it as heretical. "The emperor favoured
it because, by excluding Nestorian interpretations of the Chalcedonian
Christology and fully expressing the teaching of Cyril of Alexandria,
it seemed calculated to appeal to monophysites in the empire, whom it
was his policy to win over." (ODP p. 58). John wrote to the emperor
pronouncing his decree orthodox, which cheered up Justinian no end.
Notice the continuing importance of monophysitism in the east, and the
imperial policy of trying to win back the monophysites. This was the
cause of the fifth Eucmenical Council, which we shall get to when we
have disposed of a couple more popes.
Oriens.
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