Editing Pope Agatho (section)

==Papacy==
[[File:Mosaico di San Sebastiano.JPG|thumb|[[Mosaic]] of [[Saint Sebastian]], added to [[San Pietro in Vincoli]] {{circa|AD 680}}, and therefore contemporaneous with Agatho's reign]]
Shortly after Agatho became pope, Bishop [[Wilfrid]] of York arrived in [[Rome]] to invoke the authority of the [[Holy See]] 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]] 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.<ref name="popes">Joseph Brusher, S.J., [http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/POPEp79.htm ''Popes Through the Ages''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206180918/http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/POPEp79.htm |date=6 February 2006 }}.</ref>

The major event of his pontificate was the [[Sixth Ecumenical Council]] (680–681), following the end of the Muslim [[Siege of Constantinople (674–78)|Siege of Constantinople]],<ref>{{cite book|author1=Hubert Cunliffe-Jones|title=A History of Christian Doctrine|date=24 April 2006|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9780567043931|page=233|edition=reprint}}</ref> 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 (religion)|schism]] 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.<ref name="popes"/>

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]] 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.<ref name="popes"/>

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]].<ref name="popes"/>

===Age===
Church records state that Agatho served as pope as a [[centenarian]], dying between the ages of 103–104.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Father Richard Kunst: Why Bad Popes Have Been Good for the Church – Papal Artifacts |url=https://www.papalartifacts.com/why-bad-popes-have-been-good-for-the-church/ |access-date=2024-03-26 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-16 |title=A look at the oldest popes of history, including Francis |url=https://aleteia.org/2021/12/16/a-look-at-the-oldest-popes-of-history-including-francis/ |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=Aleteia — Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=A look at the oldest popes of history, including Francis |url=https://aleteia.org/2021/12/16/a-look-at-the-oldest-popes-of-history-including-francis/ |website=aleteia.org |publisher=Aleteia SAS |access-date=18 February 2024}}</ref>