Pope Adeodatus I (570 – 8 November 618), also called Deodatus I or Deusdedit, was the

bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

from 19 October 615 to his death on 8 November 618. He was the first priest to be elected pope since

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–114 ...

in 533. The first use of lead seals or '' bullae'' on papal documents is attributed to him. His feast day is 8 November.

Biography

Adeodatus was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, the son of a

subdeacon Subdeacon is a minor orders, minor order of ministry for men or women in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed below the deacon and above the acolyte in the order of precedence. Subdeacons in ...

named Stephanus or Stephen. He served as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

for 40 years before his election and was the first priest to be elected pope since

in 533.

Pontificate

Almost nothing is known about Adeodatus I's pontificate. It represents the second wave of opposition to

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...

's papal reforms, the first being the pontificate of Sabinian. He reversed the practice of his predecessor,

Boniface IV Pope Boniface IV (; 550 – 8 May 615) was the bishop of Rome from 608 to his death on 8 May 615. He was a member of the Benedictine order. Boniface had served as a deacon under Pope Gregory I, and like his mentor, he ran the Lateran Palace as ...

, of filling the papal administrative ranks with monks by recalling the clergy to such positions and by ordaining some 14 priests, the first ordinations in Rome since Gregory's pontificate. According to tradition, Adeodatus was the first pope to use lead seals (''bullae'') on papal documents, which in time came to be called "

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

s". One ''bulla'' dating from his reign is still preserved, the obverse of which represents the Good Shepherd in the midst of His sheep, with the letters Alpha and Omega underneath, while the reverse bears the inscription: Deusdedit Papæ. In August 618, an earthquake struck Rome, followed by an outbreak of

scabies Scabies (; also sometimes known as the seven-year itch) is a contagious human skin infestation by the tiny (0.2–0.45 mm) mite ''Sarcoptes scabiei'', variety ''hominis''. The word is from . The most common symptoms are severe itchiness a ...

. Adeodatus died 8 November 618, and was eventually succeeded by

Boniface V Pope Boniface V (; died 25 October 625) was the bishop of Rome from 23 December 619 to his death on 25 October 625. He did much for the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England, and enacted the decree by which churches became places of sanctuary. ...

. 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 ...

is 8 November. He is also a saint in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

as one of the pre-

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 ...

"Orthodox Popes of Rome".

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adeodatus 01 618 deaths Italian popes 7th-century archbishops Popes of the Byzantine Papacy Italian Roman Catholic saints Papal saints 7th-century Christian saints Popes Year of birth unknown 7th-century popes Burials at St. Peter's Basilica

Biography

Pontificate

See also

References

External links