Editing Pope Leo II

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 682 to 683}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[Pope Saint]]
| name = Leo II
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| image = 
| term_start = 17 August 682
| term_end = 28 June 683
| predecessor = [[Pope Agatho|Agatho]]
| successor = [[Pope Benedict II|Benedict II]]
| cardinal = 5 December 680
| created_cardinal_by = Agatho
| birth_date = 	1 January 611
| birth_place = [[Sicily]], [[Byzantine Empire]]
| death_date = 28 June 683 (aged 72)
| death_place = [[Rome]], Byzantine Empire
| parents = Paul
| other = Leo
| feast_day = 28 June (3 July, pre-1970 calendar)
}}

'''Pope Leo II''' ({{circa|01 January 611}} – 28 June 683) was the [[Bishop of Rome]] from 17 August 682 to his death. One of the popes of the [[Byzantine Papacy]], he is described by a contemporary biographer as both just and learned. He is commemorated as a [[saint]] in the [[Roman Martyrology]].<ref name=catholic/>

==Early career==
Leo was a [[Sicily|Sicilian]] by birth,<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Leo (popes)/Leo II |display=Leo II |volume=16 |page=432}}</ref> the son of a man named Paul. He may have ended up being among the many Sicilian clergymen in Rome due to the attacks of the [[Caliphate]] on Sicily in the mid-7th century.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jeffrey Richards|title=The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages: 476–752|date=1 May 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317678175|page=270}}</ref> Leo was known as an eloquent preacher who was interested in music, and noted for his charity to the poor.<ref>[https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-leo-ii/ Monks of Ramsgate. “Leo II”. ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 4 November 2014]</ref>

==Papacy==
[[Pope Agatho]] died on 10 January 681, and although Leo was [[papal selection before 1059|elected]] within days, he was not [[episcopal consecration|consecrated]] until 17 August 682.<ref name="ce"/> The reason may have been due to Agatho's negotiations with Emperor [[Constantine IV]] regarding [[Byzantine Papacy|imperial control of papal elections]]. Constantine IV had already promised Agatho to abolish or reduce the tax that the Popes had been paying to the imperial treasury at the time of their consecration, an imperial policy that had been in force for about a century.<ref name=catholic/>

Leo's short-lived pontificate did not allow him to accomplish much. Notably, he confirmed the acts of the [[Sixth Ecumenical Council]] (680–681) against [[Monothelitism]]. After Leo had notified the emperor that the decrees of the council had been confirmed, he made them known to the people of the West. In letters written to the [[Visigothic king]], bishops, and nobles, he explained what the council had effected, and he called upon the bishops to subscribe to its decrees.<ref name=catholic/> During this council, [[Pope Honorius I]] was [[anathema]]tized for tolerating Monothelism. Leo took great pains to make it clear that in condemning Honorius, he did so not because Honorius taught heresy, but because he was not active enough in opposing it.<ref>[https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-leo-ii-pope-and-confessor/ Butler, Alban. “Saint Leo II, Pope and Confessor”. Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints, 1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 26 June 2013]</ref> In accordance with the papal mandate, a synod was held at Toledo (684) in which the [[Third Council of Constantinople]] was accepted.<ref name=catholic>{{catholic|wstitle=Pope St. Leo II |first=Horace Kinder |last=Mann |volume=9|inline=1}}</ref>

Leo put an end to the attempts of [[Archbishops of Ravenna]] to break from the control of the Bishop of Rome, but also abolished the tax it had been customary for them to pay when they received the [[pallium]].<ref name="popes">[http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/POPEp80.htm Popes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206113041/http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/POPEp80.htm |date=6 February 2006 }}</ref> In apparent response to [[Lombards|Lombard]] raids, Leo transferred the relics of some martyrs from the [[Catacombs of Rome|catacombs]] to churches inside the city walls. He dedicated two churches, St. Paul's and Sts. Sebastian and George.<ref name="popes"/> Leo also reformed [[Gregorian chant|Gregorian Chant]] and composed several sacred hymns for the [[Liturgy of the Hours|Divine Office]].

==Death==
[[File:Villanova del Sillaro - frazione Bargano - chiesa.jpg|thumb|Church dedicated to Pope St Leo II in [[Villanova del Sillaro]], Lombardy.]]
Leo died on 28 June 683, and was succeeded by [[Pope Benedict II|Benedict II]].<ref name="ce">{{catholic|wstitle=Pope St. Leo II |first=Horace Kinder |last=Mann |volume=9 |inline=1 |prescript=}}</ref> He was originally buried in his own monument; however, some years after his death, his remains were put into a tomb that contained the first four of his papal namesakes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Reardon|first=Wendy|title=The deaths of the Popes|year=2004|publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers |isbn=9780786415274|url=https://archive.org/details/deathsofpopes00wend|url-access=registration}}</ref>

==References==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Agatho|Agatho]]}}
{{s-ttl|title= [[Pope]] |years=682–683}}
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{{Popes}}
{{Catholic saints}} 
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo 02}}
[[Category:611 births]]
[[Category:683 deaths]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Sicilian popes]]
[[Category:Greek popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:Popes of the Byzantine Papacy]]
[[Category:7th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:7th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:7th-century popes]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]