Pope Agatho (577 – 10 January 681) served as the bishop of Rome from 27 June 678 until his death on 10 January 681. He heard the appeal of Wilfrid of York, who had been displaced from his see by the division of the archdiocese ordered by Theodore of Canterbury. During Agatho's tenure, the Sixth Ecumenical Council was convened to deal with monothelitism. He is venerated as a saint by both the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

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churches. He is said to have been the longest lived Pope ever.

Early life

Little is known of Agatho before his papacy but he may have been among the many Sicilian clergy in

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at that time, due to the

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's attacks on

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in the mid-7th century. He served several years as treasurer of the church of Rome. He succeeded Donus in the pontificate.Butler, Alban. "St. Agatho, Pope", ''The Lives of the Saints'', Vol. I, 1866
Butler spells the name of Agatho's predecessor as "Domnus"; according t

in th
''Catholic Encyclopedia''
this is an alternative spelling of "Donus".

Papacy

Shortly after Agatho became pope, Bishop Wilfrid of York arrived in

to invoke the authority of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

on his behalf. Wilfrid had been deposed from his see by Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury, who had carved up Wilfrid's diocese and appointed three bishops to govern the new sees. At a

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

which Pope Agatho convoked in the Lateran to investigate the affair, it was decided that Wilfrid's diocese should indeed be divided, but that Wilfrid himself should name the bishops.Joseph Brusher, S.J.
''Popes Through the Ages''
. The major event of his pontificate was the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680–681), following the end of the Muslim Siege of Constantinople, which suppressed Monothelitism, which had been tolerated by previous popes ( Honorius I among them). The council began when Emperor Constantine IV, wanting to heal the

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

that separated the two sides, wrote to Pope Donus suggesting a conference on the matter, but Donus was dead by the time the letter arrived. Agatho was quick to seize the olive branch offered by the Emperor. He ordered councils held throughout the West so that legates could present the universal tradition of the Western Church. Then he sent a large delegation to meet the Easterners at Constantinople. The legates and patriarchs gathered in the imperial palace on 7 November 680. The Monothelites presented their case. Then a letter of Pope Agatho was read that explained the traditional belief of the Church that

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

was of two wills, divine and human. Patriarch George of Constantinople accepted Agatho's letter, as did most of the bishops present. The council proclaimed the existence of the two wills in Christ and condemned Monothelitism, with Pope Honorius I being included in the condemnation. When the council ended in September 681 the decrees were sent to the Pope, but Agatho had died in January. The council had not only ended Monothelism, but also had healed the schism. Agatho also undertook negotiations between the Holy See and Constantine IV concerning the interference of the Byzantine court in papal elections. Constantine promised Agatho to abolish or reduce the tax that the popes had to pay to the imperial treasury on their

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

Age

Church records state that Agatho served as pope as a centenarian, dying between the ages of 103–104. Recent research has cast doubt on his age, with some claiming that Pope Agatho and the monk "Agathon" have been confused, and are two different people.

Veneration

Anastatius says that the number of his miracles procured him the title of ''Thaumaturgus''. He died in 681, having held the pontificate about two and a half years. He is venerated as a saint by both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.Ott, Michael. "Pope St. Agatho." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 12 September 2017 His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

in Western Christianity is on 10 January. Eastern Christians, including Eastern Orthodox and the

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

, commemorate him on 20 February.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agatho 6th-century births 681 deaths Popes Sicilian popes Papal saints Greek popes Popes of the Byzantine Papacy 7th-century archbishops 7th-century Christian saints Medieval Italian saints 7th-century popes Clergy from Palermo Burials at St. Peter's Basilica Italian men centenarians