Pope Peter III of Alexandria also known as Peter Mongus (from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

μογγός ''mongos'', "stammerer") was the 27th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.

Biography

After the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bith ...

, Peter Mongus was an ardent adherent of

Miaphysitism Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the "Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' (''physis'')." It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and differs from the Chalcedonian positio ...

and deacon of

Timothy Aelurus Pope Timothy II of Alexandria (died 477), also known as Timothy Ailuros (from Greek Αἴλουρος, "cat," because of his small build or in this case probably "weasel"), succeeded twice in supplanting the Chalcedonian patriarch of Alexandria. ...

. After Timothy expelled the Chalcedonian

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

Proterius in 457, Mongus took part in the persecution of the Chalcedonians. When Timothy Aelurus, who had been expelled in 460 and returned in 475, died in 477, his followers elected Mongus to succeed him. However, the

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

brought

Timothy Salophakiolos Timothy III (died 481), called Salophakiolos ("wobble cap"), was the patriarch of Alexandria from 460 until 475 and again from 477 until his death. He was an adherent of the Council of Chalcedon and opponent of Monophysitism. As such, he is not reco ...

, a Chalcedonian who had supplanted Aelurus before in 460, back to Alexandria and sentenced Mongus to death. Mongus escaped by flight and remained in hiding until 482. In the previous year,

John Talaia John Talaia was patriarch of Alexandria from 481 until 482. He was consecrated in 481, succeeding Timothy III Salophakiolos. He was a convinced adherent of the Council of Chalcedon and refused to sign Emperor Zeno's Henoticon (which glossed o ...

had succeeded Timothy Salophakiolos as patriarch. However, as Talaia refused to sign Emperor Zeno's

Henoticon The ''Henotikon'' ( or in English; Greek ''henōtikón'' "act of union") was a christological document issued by Byzantine emperor Zeno in 482, in an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the differences between the supporters of the Council of Chalc ...

(which glossed over the Council of Chalcedon), the emperor expelled him and recognized Mongus as the legitimate patriarch on the condition that he would sign the Henoticon. Mongus complied and after taking possession of the see, he signed the controversial document and sent notice of his succession to his fellow patriarchs.

Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople Acacius (Greek: Ακάκιος, ?26 November 489) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 472 to 489. Acacius was practically the first prelate throughout Eastern Orthodoxy and renowned for ambitious participation in the Chalcedonia ...

entered him into his diptychs as

patriarch of Alexandria The Patriarch of Alexandria is the archbishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Historically, this office has included the designation "pope" (etymologically "Father", like "Abbot"). The Alexandrian episcopate was revered as one of the three major episco ...

. Talaia had meanwhile fled to Rome, where he was welcomed by

Pope Felix III Pope Felix III (died 1 March 492) was the bishop of Rome from 13 March 483 to his death. His repudiation of the '' Henotikon'' is considered the beginning of the Acacian schism. He is commemorated on March 1. Family Felix was born into a Roman s ...

, who refused to recognize Mongus and defended Talaia's rights in two letters to Acacius. As Acacius maintained the Henoticon and communion with Mongus, the pope excommunicated the patriarchs in 484. This

Acacian schism The Acacian schism, between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches, lasted 35 years, from 484 to 519 AD. It resulted from a drift in the leaders of Eastern Christianity toward Miaphysitism and Emperor Zeno's unsuccessful attempt to reconcile th ...

lasted until 519. Mongus became the chief champion of all Miaphysites. He held a synod to condemn Chalcedon, and desecrated the tombs of his two Chalcedonian predecessors Proterios and Timothy Salophakiolos. When Acacius died in 489, Mongus encouraged his successor

Fravitta Flavius Fravitta (Greek: ; died 404/405) was a leader of the Goths and a top-ranking officer in the army of the Eastern Roman Empire. Fravitta was a member of the Visigoth aristocracy. He was also a pagan, and for this reason he was praised by Eun ...

to maintain the schism with Rome. Fravitta's successor Euphemius sought to heal the schism by

excommunicating Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the Koinonia, communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The ...

Mongus, who however died soon afterwards in 490.

Works

He is said to have written many books, of which however nothing remains. A pretended correspondence between him and Acacius (in Coptic) is proved to be spurious by Amélineau in the "Memoires publiés par les membres de la mission archéologique française au Caire", IV (Paris, 1888), 196–228.

References

* *

Bibliography

* * * "Peter Mongo" in: ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church.'', F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (ed.), London: Oxford University Press, 1974, p. 1074. * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Peter 03 Of Alexandria, Pope Peter III

Peter III of Alexandria Pope Peter III of Alexandria also known as Peter Mongus (from the Greek μογγός ''mongos'', "stammerer") was the 27th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. Biography After the Council of Chalcedon, Peter Mongus was an ar ...

Peter III Peter III Year of birth unknown