Editing Pope Felix IV

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 526 to 530}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[Pope Saint]]
| name = Felix IV
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| image =Mosaic of Felix IV (III) in Santi Cosma e Damiano, Rome, Italy (527–530) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Detail of a heavily restored contemporary mosaic depicting Felix
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 12 July 526
| term_end = 22 September 530
| predecessor = [[Pope John I|John I]]
| successor = [[Pope Boniface II|Boniface II]]
| birth_date = c. 489–490
| birth_place = [[Samnium]], [[Kingdom of Odoacer|Odoacer's Kingdom of Italy]]
| death_date = 22 September 530 (aged 40)
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]]
| other = Felix
| feast_day = 30 January
}}
'''Pope Felix IV''' (489/490 – 22 September 530) was the [[bishop of Rome]] from 12 July 526 to his death. He was the chosen candidate of [[Ostrogoth]] King [[Theodoric the Great]], who had imprisoned Felix's predecessor, [[Pope John I|John I]].

==Rise==
Felix came from [[Samnium]], the son of Castorius. He was elected after a gap of nearly two months after the death of John I, who had died in prison in Ravenna, having completed a diplomatic mission to Constantinople on behalf of the [[Ostrogoth]] King [[Theodoric the Great]]. The papal electors acceded to the king's demands and chose Felix as pope. Felix's favor in the eyes of the king allowed him to press for greater benefits for the church.<ref name="ce">{{CathEncy|wstitle= Pope St. Felix IV|author=Kirsch, Johann Peter}}</ref> However, Theodoric died later that year, allowing Felix to pursue his own policies in peace.<ref name="Coulombe p. 93">Coulombe, Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes, MJF Books, p. 93</ref>

== Pontificate ==
[[File:Pope Felix presents church to Cosmas and Damian.jpg|thumb|Painting showing Felix IV presenting [[Santi Cosma e Damiano, Rome|their church]] to [[Cosmas and Damian]].]]
Felix built the [[Santi Cosma e Damiano, Rome|Santi Cosma e Damiano]] in the [[Imperial forums]] on land donated by Queen [[Amalasuntha]],<ref name="ce"/>
and consecrated no fewer than thirty-nine bishops, during his short tenure of four years.<ref>[https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-felix-iv/ Monks of Ramsgate. “Felix IV”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 12 August 2018]{{PD-notice}}</ref> During Felix's pontificate, an imperial edict was passed granting that cases against clergy should be dealt with by the pope or a designated ecclesiastical court. Violation of this ruling would result in a fine, the proceeds of which were designated for the poor. Felix also defined church teaching on grace and free will in response to a request of [[Faustus of Riez]], in [[Gaul]], on opposing [[Semi-Pelagianism]]. As such, Felix approved the teachings of the [[Council of Orange (529)|Council of Orange]] in 529, which also explained [[original sin]].<ref name="Coulombe p. 93"/>

Felix attempted to designate his own successor: [[Pope Boniface II]]. The reaction of the Senate was to forbid the discussion of a pope's successor during his lifetime or to accept such a nomination. The majority of the clergy reacted to Felix's activity by nominating [[Antipope Dioscorus|Dioscorus]] as Pope. Only a minority supported Boniface. His feast day is celebrated on 30 January.<ref name="ce"/> He remains the most recent pope to bear the [[pontifical name]] "Felix".{{efn|The last [[antipope]], [[Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy|Felix V]], took the name "Felix" in 1439.}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Felix IV}}
{{wikisource author}}
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_0526-0530-_Felix_IV,_Sanctus.html Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes] {{inlang|la}}
*[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/liberpontificalis.html Fontes Latinae de papis usque ad annum 530] {{inlang|la}}
*[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/liberpontificalis1.html#XLIII. Liber pontificalis] {{inlang|la}}
*{{cite web|title=FELICE|url=https://webdept.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios515.htm#Felice|access-date=7 February 2019|archive-date=13 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613065216/http://webdept.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios515.htm#Felice|url-status=dead}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope John I|John I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=526&ndash;530}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Boniface II|Boniface II]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholic saints}} 
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Felix 04}}
[[Category:530 deaths]]
[[Category:6th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Ostrogothic Papacy]]
[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:Samnite people]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:6th-century popes]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]