The Papacy: (400-500 A.D.) Part 5

St. Innocent I (401-417) 41st Pope

Two weak emperors ruled the empire

He consolidated papal supervision of the Church

He issued decrees promoting celibacy and combating adultery

Alaric, king of the Visigoths entered Italy and the emperor fled to Ravenna

Alaric sacked Rome, but spared the Churches and monastery, out of deference to Innocent I

The remaining pagans claimed that Rome fell because it had abandoned worship of the old gods.

St. Augustine refuted this claim in his work City of God

Innocent ordered that the repentant dying people cannot be refused final absolution

He decreed that only bishops should give the sacrament of confirmation

Some Christians believed in the heresy that denied both original sin and divine grace. This heresy held that one’s own personal will, good intentions and works, regardless of belief or sacraments, will win one’s salvation (Pelagiansism)

He established the Roman rite

He persuaded the emperor to gladiator contests in the arenas

St. Zosimus (417-418) 42nd Pope

He reconfirmed the condemnation of Pelagiansim

He insisted on the rights of the Church against foreign interference’

 

 

 

 

St. Boniface I (418-422) 43rd Pope

He continued the fight against Pelagianism

He enforced the law forbidding slaves to become priests

This time marks the beginning of secular interference in the election of popes

 

 

 

 

St. Celestine I (422-432) 44th Pope

Some Christians believed in the heresy that there were two persons in Christ, one human, one divine.

Because of this, the Virgin Mary could not be called the Mother of God, but only Mother of Christ (Nestorianism)

A Roman synod and the council of Ephesus condemned Nestorianism.

Ephesus was the location where Mary was placed in the care of John until her death

The condemnation of the council carried the force of the law, because Church laws were civil as well

Nestorianism spread into the Persian frontier. Nestorians took control of churches in Persia.

Persian authorities persucted Christians tied to Rome

St. Celestine sent missionaries to Britian and Ireland to evangelize and combat Pelagianism

Mention is first made in this period of the pastoral staff

St. Sixtus III (432-440) 45th Pope

He was very lenient against the Nestorians and Pelagians

He rebuilt the basilica of St. Mary Major in commemoration of the council of Ephesus reaffirmation of Mary’s divine motherhood

He restored the baptistery of the basilica of St. John Lateran

St. Leo I (440-461) 46th Pope

Against the background of crumbling imperial authority and barbarian invasions, He took a firm hand in Church affairs

Some Christians believed in the heresy that the human body is evil (Priscillianism)

Some Christians believed in the heresy that Christ had a single divine nature. (Monophystism)

He convened the council at Chalcedon which condemned Monophystism

Through misinterpretation of the council, many Christians in the East separated from the main body of the Church

Those Christians in the East did not separate were called Melkites (Royalists)

Attila the Hun came south into Italy. St. Leo convinced Attila to spare Rome

Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, came north into Italy. St. Leo convinced Gaiseric to spare Rome

St. Leo is called “Great” because of his energetic work in maintaining the unity of the Church

St. Hilarius (461-468) 47th Pope

He decreed that popes and bishops should not nominate their successors

He ordered that annual synods be held in southern Gaul

 

 

 

St. Simplicius ( 468-483) 48th Pope

The Church was ever more threatened by external and internal enemies

The Western emperor was deposed by the Odoacer, head of his Germanic guards

Arian Vandals ruled north Africa

Arian Visogoths ruled Spain and southern Gaul

Pagan Franks ruled northern Gaul

Odoacer proclaimed himself king of Italy, saying that empire needed one ruler

He resisted the Constantinople archbishops desire for greater power

The two older eastern patriarchates were in a virtual state of civil war

The struggle against Monophysitism was severe. This heresy was favored by three successive emperors

The Coptic Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox Churches developed as a result of these struggles in the East

For the first time since Constantine, there was not a single Catholic king on earth

He regulated the distribution of offerings to pilgrims and for new churches

 

St. Felix III (483-492) 49th Pope

His grandson was to become Pope St. Gregory I

He had to deal with the ongoing struggle of Monophytism

He condemned the emperor, leading to another schism

He decreed strict regulations for the readmission into the Church of those who had accepted Arianism

St. Gelasius I (492-496) 50th Pope

He also continued to struggle with schism

Pelagiansim and Manicheanism continued

He ordered that the laity to receive from the cup, contradicting the Manichean claim that wine is evil

He ended the pagan festival of Lupercalia. This festival featured goat sacrifices and physical striking

He was a great liturgist, instituting the code for ceremonies and rites

He inserted the Kyrie eleison, a responsorial psalm in the opening rite in the Mass. Kyrie eleison is Greek for “Lord have mercy.”

Anastasius II ( 496-498) 51st Pope

Clovis, king of France, was baptized. This was the first of the barbarian kings to Catholicism

Anastasius continued to fight against schism

He maintained that sacraments given by schismatic priest were valid.

He condemned the heresy Traducianism. This heresy teaches that human souls were handed down to children by their parents, rather than creations by God at the moment of conception

 

St. Symmachus (498-514) 52nd Pope

He was a convert from paganism

He issued regulations regarding papal elections

He ordered that the Gloria was to be sung at all Sunday Masses

He consolidated Church property

He ransomed all slaves, giving them their desired freedom

He started the first construction of the Vatican Palace

Laurentius was chosen as the 5^th anti-pope. He was chosen by those who were lenient toward the schismatic