Pope Conon (died 21 September 687) was the bishop of Rome from 21 October 686 to his death. He had been put forward as a compromise candidate, there being a conflict between the two factions resident in Rome — the military and the clerical. He consecrated the Irish missionary St Kilian and commissioned him to preach in Franconia.

Background

According to the ''

Liber pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adrian II (867� ...

'', Conon was a Greek, the son of an officer from the Thracesian Theme. He was educated in Sicily, where his father may have been posted during the stay of

Constans II Constans II ( grc-gre, Κώνστας, Kōnstas; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), nicknamed "the Bearded" ( la, Pogonatus; grc-gre, ὁ Πωγωνᾶτος, ho Pōgōnãtos), was the Eastern Roman emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last ...

, and was later ordained a priest at Rome. He may have been among the many Sicilian clergy in Rome, at that time, due to Muslim raids on Sicily in the mid-7th century.

Papacy

Conon's age, venerable appearance, and simple character caused the clergy and soldiery of Rome, who were in disagreement, to put aside their respective candidates and to elect him as pope.

Andrew J. Ekonomou Andrew John Ekonomou is an attorney in Donald Trump's legal team working under Jay Sekulow. He is a scholar of Byzantine history, having received his PhD in the topic from Emory University in 2000. Ekonomou serves as senior counsel at the America ...

says that due to an "increasing influx" of Easterners into Rome at that time, that the Syrian, Greek, and Greco-Sicilian population together outnumbered the Latins. This would also have increased Conon's electability.Ekonomou, Andrew J., ''Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes'', Lexington Books, 2007, p. 247
Conon was consecrated on 21 October 686 after notice of his election had been sent to the exarch of Ravenna, or after it had been confirmed by him.Mann, Horace. "Pope Conon." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 12 September 2017 Conon received the Irish missionaries Kilian and his companions, consecrated Kilian bishop, and commissioned him and the others to preach the faith in Franconia. (Vita S. Kiliani, in Canisius, Lect. Antiquæ, III, 175–180.) He was in favour with Emperor Justinian II, who informed him that he had recovered the Acts of the Third Council of Constantinople, by which, the emperor wrote, it was his intention to abide. Justinian also remitted certain taxes and dues owing to the imperial exchequer from several papal patrimonies. Conon was buried in the Patriarchal Basilica of St. Peter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conon 687 deaths Popes Sicilian popes Greek popes Popes of the Byzantine Papacy 7th-century archbishops 630 births 7th-century popes Burials at St. Peter's Basilica