Editing Third Council of Constantinople (section)

==Preparations==
After Constans' son and successor, [[Constantine IV]] had overcome the [[Siege of Constantinople (674–678)|Muslim siege of Constantinople in 678]], he immediately set his sights on restoring communion with Rome: he wrote to [[Pope Donus]] suggesting a conference on the matter. When the letter reached Rome, Donus had died. Still, his successor, [[Pope Agatho]], agreed to the Emperor's suggestion and ordered councils held throughout the West so that legates could present the tradition of the Western Church.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCoy {{!}} 02/01/2019 |first=Debra Booton |title=POPE DONUS |url=https://www.catholic365.com/article/9829/pope-donus.html |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Catholic365 |language=en}}</ref> There was a synod in Milan under Archbishop Mausuetus;<ref>{{cite book |last=Hefele |first=Charles Joseph |url=https://media.sabda.org/alkitab-8/LIBRARY/HEF_HCC5.PDF |title=A History of the Councils of the Church: From the Original Documents |publisher=AGES Software |year=1997 |volume=5 |location=Albany, OR |page=124}}</ref> [[Council of Hatfield|another synod]] was held in 680 at Hatfield, over which [[Theodore of Tarsus|Theodore]], Archbishop of Canterbury presided.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rhodes |first=M. J. |url=https://forgottenbooks.com/de/download/VisibleUnityoftheCatholicChurch_10162557.pdf |title=The Visible Unity of the Catholic Church Maintained Against Opposite Theories |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |year=1870 |volume=2 |location=London |page=180}}</ref> Pope Agatho then convened a synod at Rome at Easter 680, with representatives from the regional synods.<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE - Exposition of Faith {{!}} EWTN |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/council-of-constantinople---exposition-of-faith-1457 |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network |language=en}}</ref>

Then he sent a delegation to meet the Easterners at Constantinople.<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 delegates set out bearing two letters, one from Pope Agatho to the Emperor and the other from the bishops of the Rome synod to those gathered in Constantinople.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jNNEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR1 Hefele, Karl Joseph von. ''A History of the Councils of the Church'', T. & T. Clark, 1896, §313]</ref>

In the meantime, Constantine summoned [[Patriarch George I of Constantinople]] and all bishops of his jurisdiction of [[Constantinople]] to a council. He also summoned [[Macarius I of Antioch|Patriarch Macarius of Antioch]], a Byzantine appointee permanently resident in Constantinople because of the Muslim occupation of his see.<ref>{{cite book |last=DelCogliano |first=Mark |title=Acts of the Third Council of Constantinople (680–681): Selected Proceedings and the Synodal Definition |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |isbn=9781009057103 |chapter=Session I |quote=And on his right were seated likewise the most holy archbishop George of Constantinople, New Rome; the most sacred archbishop Macarius of Antioch, the City of God.}}</ref>