Pope Honorius I (died 12 October 638) was the

bishop of Rome A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

from 27 October 625 to his death. He was active in spreading

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

among

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

and attempted to convince the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

to calculate Easter in the Roman fashion. He is chiefly remembered for his correspondence with Patriarch

Sergius I of Constantinople Sergius I ( el, Σέργιος Α΄, ''Sergios I'' ; d. 9 December 638 in Constantinople) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 610 to 638. He is most famous for promoting Monothelite Christianity, especially through the ''Ecthesi ...

over the latter's monothelite teachings. Honorius was posthumously

anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

tized, initially for subscribing to monothelitism, and later only for failing to end it. The anathema against Honorius I became one of the central arguments against the doctrine of

papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope when he speaks ''ex cathedra'' is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the aposto ...

Early life

Honorius was a rich aristocrat who came from

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

. His father was the consul Petronius. Nothing is known about Honorius I's career before he became pope on 27 October 625. He was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

only two days after the death of his predecessor,

Boniface V Pope Boniface V ( la, Bonifatius V; died 25 October 625) was the bishop of Rome from 23 December 619 to his death. He did much for the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England, and enacted the decree by which churches became places of sanctuary. ...

. The vacancy was short probably because of the presence in Rome of

Isaac the Armenian Isaac the Armenian ( la, Isachius Armenus; grc-gre, Ισαάκ, Isaák) was an exarch of Ravenna hailing from the Kamsarakan clan. The chronology of the Exarchate in this period is uncertain: either he succeeded Euselnus and served c. 625 – 6 ...

, who was empowered to confirm the election as the imperial

exarch in Italy The Exarchate of Ravenna ( la, Exarchatus Ravennatis; el, Εξαρχάτο της Ραβέννας) or of Italy was a lordship of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in Italy, from 584 to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the ...

Papacy

As pope, Honorius I looked up to Gregory I and employed monks rather than secular clergy as staff at the

Lateran Palace The Lateran Palace ( la, Palatium Lateranense), formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran ( la, Palatium Apostolicum Lateranense), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome. Located on St. ...

. He initially supported

Adaloald Adaloald (602–628) was the Lombard king of Italy from 616 to 626. He was son and heir of King Agilulf and his Catholic queen Theodelinda. He was baptised shortly after his birth in 602; the abbot Secundus of Non (later historian) was his g ...

, the deposed Catholic

king of the Lombards The Kings of the Lombards or ''reges Langobardorum'' (singular ''rex Langobardorum'') were the monarchs of the Lombard people from the early 6th century until the Lombardic identity became lost in the 9th and 10th centuries. After 568, the Lombar ...

, but established cordial relations with Adoald's Arian rival

Arioald Arioald was the Lombard king of Italy from 626 to 636. Duke of Turin, he married the princess Gundeberga, daughter of King Agilulf and his queen Theodelinda. He was, unlike his father-in-law, an Arian who did not accept Catholicism. Arioald de ...

. He did not succeed in resolving the schism of Venetia-Istria, but took steps to appease the

archbishops of Ravenna This page is a list of Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops of Ravenna and, from 1985, of the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia.Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England and sent

Birinus Birinus (also ''Berin'', ''Birin''; – 3 December 649 or 650) was the first Bishop of Dorchester and was known as the " Apostle to the West Saxons" for his conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity. He is venerated as a saint ...

to convert the

West Saxons la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

, but less successful in convincing the

to abandon their system of computing the date of Easter. At the

Sixth Council of Toledo The Sixth Council of Toledo was the second council convoked by King Chintila and opened on 9 January 638 in the church of St. Leocadia in Toledo. It was attended by fifty three bishops, including those from Narbonensis who had not participated in t ...

, Honorius urged the Visigothic bishops to continue baptizing Jews, a policy instituted by Gregory I. Honorius became involved in early discussions regarding the doctrine of

Monothelitism Monothelitism, or monotheletism (from el, μονοθελητισμός, monothelētismós, doctrine of one will), is a theological doctrine in Christianity, that holds Christ as having only one will. The doctrine is thus contrary to dyothelit ...

, which is the teaching that Christ has only one energy and one will, in contrast with the teaching that he has two energies and two wills, both human and divine. Patriarch

wrote an initial letter informing Honorius of the

Monoenergism Monoenergism ( el, μονοενεργητισμός) was a notion in early medieval Christian theology, representing the belief that Christ had only one "energy" (''energeia''). The teaching of one energy was propagated during the first half o ...

controversy, asking Honorius to endorse a position that Church unity should not be endangered by having any discussions or disputes over Christ’s possessing one energy or two. Sergius added that the doctrine of two energies could lead to the erroneous belief that Jesus has two conflicting wills.Hefele, pg 25 Pope Honorius’ reply in 635 endorsed this view that all discussions over energies should cease, and agreed that Jesus does not have two conflicting wills, but one will, since Jesus did not assume the vitiated human nature tainted by

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

's fall, but human nature as it existed prior to Adam's fall.Hefele, pg 29-30 Honorius was apparently aware of the

rise of Islam The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territorie ...

and viewed this religion's tenets as closely resembling those of

Arius Arius (; grc-koi, Ἄρειος, ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaic presbyter, ascetic, and priest best known for the doctrine of Arianism. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead in Christianity, which emphasized God the Father's un ...

Legacy

In the

Third Council of Constantinople The Third Council of Constantinople, counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, as well by certain other Western Churches, met in 680–681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical ...

, the monothelites were

tized by name "and with them Honorius, who was Prelate of Rome, as having followed them in all things" in the XIII session. Citing his written correspondence with Sergius, Honorius was subsequently accused of having confirmed his impious doctrines; the XVI session reaffirmed the condemnation of the heretics explicitly stating "to Honorius, the heretic, anathema!",, quote: " ..Sergio hæretico anathema, Cyro hæretico anathema, ''Honorio hæretico anathema'', Pyrro hæretico anathema .. and concluding with the decree of the XVII session that Honorius had not stopped provoking scandal and error in the Body of the Church; for he had "with unheard of expressions disseminated amidst the faithful people the heresy of the one will", doing so "in agreement with the insane false doctrine of the impious Apollinaire, Severus and Themistius".Mansi, XI, col. 733 The Roman legates made no objection to his condemnation.

Pope Leo II Pope Leo II ( – 28 June 683) was the bishop of Rome from 17 August 682 to his death. He is one of the popes of the Byzantine Papacy. Described by a contemporary biographer as both just and learned, he is commemorated as a saint in the Roman Ma ...

's letter of confirmation of the Council commended it for it had "perfectly preached the definition of the true faith" and made reference to the condemnation of his predecessor: Within the year a Latin translation of the Acts of the council had been disseminated and signed by the Bishops throughout the West. The condemnation of Pope Honorius was reiterated by Pope Leo's successors, subsequent councils and included in Breviary lessons up until the eighteenth century. As a result, Honorius would later be the subject of vigorous attacks by opponents of

in the discussions surrounding the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

of 1870. In contemporary times, that Honorius actually agreed with Sergius on the doctrine of monothelitism has given rise to much discussion, and

John B. Bury John Bagnell Bury (; 16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was an Anglo-Irish historian, classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist. He objected to the label "Byzantinist" explicitly in the preface to the 1889 edition of his ''La ...

argues that the most reasonable conclusion is that Honorius did not really apprehend the point at issue, considering it more a question of grammar than theology, for he placed "one energy" and "two energies" on exactly the same footing; in Bury's words, "it was for the 'imprudent economy of silence' that he was condemned".Bury, pg 252

References

Bibliography

* Bury, John B., A history of the later Roman empire from Arcadius to Irene, Volume 2 (2005) * * Hefele, Charles J., A History of the Councils of the Church, From the Original Documents, Volume 5 (1896) * *

External links

Guilty Only of Failure To Teach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honorius 01 638 deaths Popes of the Byzantine Papacy 7th-century popes Italian popes People declared heretics by the first seven ecumenical councils Popes Year of birth unknown 7th-century Italian writers 7th-century Latin writers Burials at St. Peter's Basilica