Editing Pope John II

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 533 to 535}}
{{For multi|the Coptic pope from 505 to 516|Pope John II (III) of Alexandria|the Catholic pope from 1978 to 2005|Pope John Paul II}}
{{Infobox Christian leader 
|type=Pope
|honorific-prefix= [[List of popes|Pope]]
|name=John II
|title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
|church = [[Catholic Church]]
|image =
|birth_name= Mercurius
|term_start=2 January 533
|term_end=8 May 535
|predecessor=[[Pope Boniface II|Boniface II]]
|successor=[[Pope Agapetus I|Agapetus I]]
|birth_date= {{circa}} 475
|birth_place=[[Rome]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]], [[Western Roman Empire]]
|death_date=8 May 535 (aged 59&ndash;60)
|death_place=[[Rome]], [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]]
|buried=[[Papal tombs in old St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's Basilica]]
|other=John
}}

'''Pope John II''' ({{langx|la|Ioannes II}}; {{circa}} 475 – 8 May 535), born '''Mercurius''', was the [[Bishop of Rome]] from 2 January 533 to his death. As a priest at [[Basilica di San Clemente|St. Clement's Basilica]], he endowed that church with gifts and commissioned stone carvings for it. Mercurius became the first pope to adopt a new [[papal name]] upon his elevation to the office. During his pontificate, John II notably removed Bishop [[Contumeliosus of Riez]] from his office, convened a council on the readmission of Arian clergy, and approved an edict of emperor [[Justinian]], promulgating doctrine opposed by his predecessor, [[Pope Hormisdas]].

== Early life ==
[[File:Roma San Clemente Chorschranken.jpg|thumb|A monogram of John II on a marble slab in St. Clement's Basilica]]
Mercurius was born in [[Rome]], son of Praeiectus. He became a priest at [[Basilica di San Clemente|St. Clement's Basilica]] on the [[Caelian Hill]],<ref name="ce-john" /> and even before becoming pope he had commissioned work for the basilica and made generous donations.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAJCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA167 |page=167 |title=The Roman Martyrs: Introduction, Translations, and Commentary |series=Oxford Early Christian Studies |first=Michael |last=Lapidge |author-link=Michael Lapidge |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-253935-9}}</ref> The basilica still retains memorials of "Johannes surnamed Mercurius";<ref name="ce-john" /> he donated sculpted balustrades  (''[[Pluteus (sculpture)|plutei]]'') and carved marble ''[[Latticework|transennae]]'', grates or screens that partitioned the space without blocking light.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dNMuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA232 |pages=224–36 |chapter=Sixth-Century Art and Architecture in 'Old Rome': End or Beginning? |first=Joan Barclay |last=Lloyd |title=The Sixth Century: End or Beginning? |series=Byzantina Australiensia |editor1-first=Pauline |editor1-last=Allen |editor2-first=Elizabeth |editor2-last=Jeffreys |publisher=Brill |year=2017 |isbn=978-90-04-34470-9}}</ref> A reference to "[[Presbyter]] Mercurius" appears on a fragment of an ancient [[ciborium (container)|ciborium]], and his [[monogram]], in the style of the sixth century, is found on several marble slabs that enclose the ''schola cantorum''.<ref name="ce-john" />

==Pontificate==
Mercurius was [[papal selection before 1059|elected pope]] on 2 January 533, apparently the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy, perhaps because he had been named after [[Mercury (mythology)|a pagan god]].<ref name="ce-john">{{Catholic|wstitle=Pope John II|first=Horace K.|last=Mann|volume=8|inline=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What we can learn from the new pope's choice of name |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/what-we-can-learn-from-the-new-popes-choice-of-name |access-date=8 May 2025 |publisher=[[PBS News]] |date=6 May 2025 |language=en-us}}</ref>

The notoriously adulterous behavior of Bishop [[Contumeliosus of Riez]] caused John to order the bishops of Gaul to confine him in a [[monastery]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZVeZnUXMiAC&pg=PA202 |last=De Jong |first=Mayke |chapter=Transformations of Penance |title=Rituals of Power |editor1-first=Frans |editor1-last=Theuws |editor2-first=Janet Laughland |editor2-last=Nelson |publisher=Brill |year=2000 |page=202 |isbn=978-90-04-10902-5}}</ref><ref name="Mace">{{Cite DCBL|wstitle=Joannes II. Mercurius, bishop of Rome}}</ref> Until a new bishop could be appointed, he bade the clergy of Riez to obey the [[Bishop of Arles]].<ref name="ce-john" />

Stemming from [[Pope Hormisdas]]' suppression of the statement "one of the Trinity suffered in the flesh" in Scythian monastic liturgies, the [[Acoemetae]], or Sleepless Monks, began to support [[Nestorianism]], the belief that Jesus is neither human nor divine. Emperor [[Justinian I]] and patriarch [[Epiphanius of Constantinople]] opposed this ideology and sent a deputation to Rome which prompted John II to assemble a synod, excommunicate the Acoemetae, and to issue statements approving the doctrine of the emperor.<ref name="Mace"/>

=== Arianism ===
In 535, 217 bishops assembled in a council at [[Carthage]] submitted to John II a decision about whether bishops who had lapsed into [[Arianism]] should, on repentance, keep their rank or be admitted only to [[lay communion]]. The question of re-admittance to the lapsed troubled North Africa for centuries (see [[Novatianism]] and [[Donatism]]). The answer to their question was given by [[Pope Agapetus I|Agapetus I]], as John II died on 8 May 535. He was buried in [[St Peter's Basilica]].<ref name="ce-john" />

==See also==
* [[List of popes]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Boniface II|Boniface II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=533&ndash;535}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Agapetus I|Agapetus I]]}}
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{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}
{{Authority control}}

{{subject bar |portal1= Biography|portal2=Christianity|portal3=History |commons=y |commons-search= Ioannes II}}

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[[Category:470 births]]
[[Category:535 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]
[[Category:Date of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Ostrogothic Papacy]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:6th-century popes]]