Editing Pope John III

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 561 to 574}}
{{about|the pope of Rome|the Coptic pope of Alexandria|Pope John III of Alexandria}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = John III
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]
| image = 
| birth_name = Catelinus
| term_start = 17 July 561
| term_end = 13 July 574
| predecessor = [[Pope Pelagius I|Pelagius I]]
| successor = [[Pope Benedict I|Benedict I]]
| birth_date = 520
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]]
| death_date = 	13 July 574 (aged 53&ndash;54)
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]], [[Eastern Roman Empire]]
| other = John
}}

'''Pope John III''' ({{langx|la|Ioannes III}}; died 13 July 574), born '''Catelinus''', was the [[bishop of Rome]] from 17 July 561 to his death.<ref name="ce-john">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Pope John III|volume=8|author=Mann, Horace K.}}</ref>

==Family==
Catelinus was born in [[Rome]] to a [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|distinguished family]]. His father, Anastasius, was a ''[[vir illustris]]'', a high-ranking member of the [[Roman Senate]].<ref>{{citation | last=Martindale | first=John R. | last2=Jones | first2=A.H.M. | last3=Morris | first3=John | title=The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire – Volume III, AD 527–641 | year=1992 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-20160-5| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fBImqkpzQPsC}}, p. 61</ref> He may be identical with the subdeacon John who made a collection of extracts from the [[Greek Fathers]] and completed the translation of the ''Vitae patrum'' into Latin which [[Pope Pelagius I]] had begun.<ref>Jeffrey Richards, ''The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages'' (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979), p. 256</ref>

==Papacy==
Catelinus was [[papal selection before 1059|elected]] to succeed Pelagius I and was [[episcopal consecration|consecrated]] as [[pope]] on 17 July 561. He took the name John on his accession to the papacy.<ref>''Historia Ecclesiastica'' 5.16</ref>

John's pontificate is characterized by two major events over which he had no control. The first was the death of Emperor [[Justinian I]] in 565, after which the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] turned its attention from Rome and the rest of Italy to pressing problems in the [[Balkans]], from the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], [[Persia]]ns and the [[Arabs]].<ref>Richards, ''Popes and the Papacy'', pp. 162f</ref> The other major event was the [[Lombard invasion of Italy]], which began in 568. Much of northern Italy was overrun, as well as the central spine of the peninsula, making a shambles of the imperial administration. The Lombards threatened the survival of Rome itself, besieging it repeatedly. Their entrance reintroduced the [[Arian]] belief, which threatened the predominance of [[Trinitarian Christianity]].<ref name=Richards-164>Richards, ''Popes and the papacy'', pp. 164f</ref>

As the Lombards poured south into [[Italy]], the newly appointed governor [[Longinus (prefect)|Longinus]] sat powerless in [[Ravenna]], unable to stop them. Pope John took it upon himself to go to [[Naples]], where the former governor [[Narses]] was preparing to return to the imperial capital, [[Constantinople]], and beg him to take charge. He had been recalled by the new emperor, [[Justin II]], in response to Italian petitions over his oppressive taxation. Narses agreed to this, and returned to Rome. However, popular hatred of Narses was then extended to John for inviting him back. This unrest reached such a pitch that the pope was forced to retire from Rome and take up residence at the [[catacombs]] along the [[Via Appia]] two miles outside the city. There he carried out his duties, including the consecration of bishops.<ref name=Richards-164/>

One recorded act of Pope John involved two bishops, Salonius of Embrun and Sagittarius of Gap, who had been condemned in a synod at Lyons (c. 567). This pair succeeded in persuading King [[Guntram]] of Burgundy that they had been condemned unjustly, and appealed to the pope. Influenced by Guntram's letters, John decided that they should be restored to their sees.<ref name="ce-john"/>

John III died on 13 July 574 and was succeeded by [[Pope Benedict I|Benedict I]].

==References==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
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{{S-start}}
{{S-rel|ca}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Pelagius I]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=561–574}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Pope Benedict I|Benedict I]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:John 03}}
[[Category:574 deaths]]
[[Category:Popes of the Byzantine Papacy]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:6th-century popes]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]