Pope Honorius I

Infobox Pope
English name=Honorius I


birth_name=???
term_start=October 27, 625
term_end=October 12, 638
predecessor=Boniface V
successor=Severinus
birth_date=???
birthplace=Campania
dead=dead|death_date=death date|638|10|12|mf=y
deathplace=???
other=Honorius

Pope Honorius I (died October 12, 638) was pope from 625 to 638.

Honorius, according to the "Liber Pontificalis", came from Campania and was the son of the consul Petronius. He became pope on October 27, 625, two days after the death of his predecessor, Boniface V. The festival of the Elevation of the Cross is said to have been instituted during the pontificate of Honorius, which was marked also by considerable missionary enterprise. Much of this was centered on England, especially Wessex. He also succeeded in bringing the Irish Easter celebrations in line with the rest of the Catholic Church.

Honorius favoured Monothelitism; a formula proposed by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, with the design of bringing about a reconciliation between the Monophysites and the Catholics. Monothelitism bore that Christ had accomplished His work of redemption by one manifestation of his will as the God-man. To this end, Honorius "sent his deacon Gaios" to a synod in Cyprus in 634, hosted by archbishop Arkadios II and with additional representatives from Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople. The anti-Monothelite side in Jerusalem, championed by Maximus the Confessor and Sophronius, sent to this synod Anastasius pupil of Maximus, George of Reshaina pupil of Sophronius and two of George's own pupils, and also eight bishops from Palestine. When the two sides were presented to the emperor, the emperor persisted with Monothelitism and so with Honorius. (George of Reshaina, "An Early Life of Maximus the Confessor", 316-7)

Anathematization

More than forty years after his death, Honorius was anathematized by name along with the Monothelites by the Third Council of Constantinople (First Trullan) in 680. The anathema read, after mentioning the chief Monothelites, "and with them Honorius, who was Prelate of Rome, as having followed them in all things".

Furthermore, the Acts of the Thirteenth Session of the Council state, "And with these we define that there shall be expelled from the holy Church of God and anathematized Honorius who was some time Pope of Old Rome, because of what we found written by him to [Patriarch] Sergius, that in all respects he followed his view and confirmed his impious doctrines." The Sixteenth Session adds: "To Theodore of Pharan, the heretic, anathema! To Sergius, the heretic, anathema! To Cyrus, the heretic, anathema! To Honorius, the heretic, anathema! To Pyrrhus, the heretic, anathema!"

This condemnation was subsequently confirmed by Leo II (a fact disputed by such persons as Cesare Baronio and Bellarmine, [http://www.eclipseofthechurch.com/HonoriusCalumny.htm] but which has since become commonly accepted) in the form, "and also Honorius, who did not attempt to sanctify this Apostolic Church with the teaching of Apostolic tradition, but by profane treachery permitted its purity to be polluted" (quotations from the Catholic Encyclopedia).

This anathema was later one of the main arguments against Papal infallibility in the discussions surrounding the First Vatican Council of 1870, where the episode was not ultimately regarded as contrary to the proposed dogma. This was because (1) Honorius was not considered to be speaking ex cathedra, by the supporters of infallibility, in the letters in question (although the Roman historian Hefele and opponents of the definition believed that Honorius had spoken ex cathedra) [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07452b.htm] , and (2) he was alleged to have never been condemned as a Monothelite, nor, asserted the proponents of infallibility, was he condemned for teaching heresy, but rather for gross negligence and a lax leadership at a time when his letters and guidance were in a position to quash the heresy at its roots.

External links

* [http://www.catholicculture.org/library/view.cfm?recnum=3301 Guilty Only of Failure To Teach]
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc4.i.xi.viii.html History of the Christian Church, Volume IV: Mediaeval Christianity. A.D. 590-1073, Philip Schaff]

Original text taken from a paper copy of the 9th edition "Encyclopædia Britannica" (1881) and the [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07452b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia]