Editing Pope Pelagius I

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 556 to 561}}

{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Pelagius I
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]
| image = 
| term_start = 16 April 556
| term_end = 3 March 561
| predecessor = [[Pope Vigilius|Vigilius]]
| successor = [[Pope John III|John III]]
| birth_date = c. 500
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]]
| death_date = 3 March 561
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Eastern Roman Empire]]
| other = Pelagius
}}

'''Pope Pelagius I''' (died 3 March 561) was the [[bishop of Rome]] from 556 to his death. A former ''[[apocrisiarius]]'' to [[Constantinople]], Pelagius I was elected [[pope]] as the candidate of Emperor [[Justinian I]], a designation not well received in the [[Western Church]]. Before his papacy, he opposed Justinian's efforts to condemn the "[[Three Chapters]]" in order to reconcile theological factions within the Church, but later adopted Justinian's position.

==Family and early career==
Pelagius was born into a noble family from [[Rome]].  His father, John, seems to have been vicar of one of the two civil districts into which Italy was then divided.<ref name="ce-pelagius">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Pope Pelagius I|volume=11|author=Mann, Horace K.}}</ref>

Pelagius accompanied [[Pope Agapetus I]] to [[Constantinople]] and was appointed ''[[papal apocrisiarius|apocrisiarius]]''. As such, Pelagius acquired great influence with Emperor [[Justinian I]]. He returned to Rome in 543.<ref name="ce-pelagius"/> In 545, when [[Pope Vigilius]] went to Constantinople on Justinian's orders, Pelagius stayed in Rome as the pope's representative. [[Totila]], king of the [[Goths]], had begun to blockade the city.  Pelagius poured out his own fortune for the benefit of the famine-stricken people, and tried to induce the king to grant a truce.  Though he failed, he afterwards induced Totila to spare the lives of the people when he captured Rome in December 546.  Totila sent Pelagius to Constantinople in order to arrange a peace with Justinian I, but the emperor sent him back to say that his general [[Belisarius]] was in command in Italy.<ref name="ce-pelagius"/>

==Papacy==
[[Pope Vigilius|Vigilius]] died on 7 June 555, and Pelagius was [[papal selection before 1059|elected]] to succeed him as [[pope]]. Pelagius was the [[Byzantine papacy|emperor's candidate]], a designation not well received by the Western clergy and laity.<ref name=Brusher>[http://www.spirituality.org/is/193/pope_60.asp Brusher, Joseph S., ''Popes Through the Ages''], 1980, San Rafael, California, Neff-Kane, {{ISBN|978-0-89-141110-9}}</ref> While before his ordination he opposed Justinian's efforts to condemn the "[[schism of the Three Chapters|Three Chapters]]" in order to reconcile theological factions in the Church, afterwards Pelagius adopted Justinian's position.

Pelagius I's pontificate was undermined by rumors that he might have somehow been complicit in the death of Vigilius, and suspicion that his conceding to Justinian indicating a support for [[monophysitism]]. To overcome this he worked to maintain public order in Rome, and correct abuses among the clergy. He also labored on behalf of the poor and the victims of famine and war. In response to a request from the garrison commander at Civitavecchia, Pelagius directed Bishop Lawrence of that town, to provide chaplains for the army.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw_RnDP6V9UC&dq=Pope+Pelagius+I&pg=PA17 Bachrach, David Steward. ''Religion and the Conduct of War, C. 300-1215''], Boydell Press, 2003, {{ISBN|9780851159447}}, p. 17</ref> He is credited with the construction of the [[Santi Apostoli, Rome]],<ref>[https://www.pnac.org/station-churches/week-1/friday-santi-xii-apostoli/ "Santi XII Apostoli", Pontifical North American College]</ref> built to celebrate the complete victory of [[Narses]] over the [[Ostrogoth]]s.

Pelagius I served five years, and upon his death on 3 March 561{{sfn|Kelly|Walsh|2015|p=176}} was buried in [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]].<ref name=Brusher/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Popes |first1=J. N. D. |last1=Kelly |first2=Michael |last2=Walsh |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 }}176
*Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. ''Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752''. Lexington Books.
*[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pelagius-I ''Pelagius I'']
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Pelagius (popes)|display=Pelagius s.v. Pelagius I.|volume=21|page=62}}
*The Popes and the Church of Rome in Late Antiquity John Moorhead - Taylor and Francis - 2014
*The Faith of the early Fathers W. Jurgens - Liturgical Press - 1970
*The Byzantine Fathers of the sixth to eighth century Georges Florovsky - Büchervertriebsanstalt - 1987


{{commons category|Pelagius I}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Vigilius|Vigilius]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=556–561}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope John III|John III]]}}
{{s-end}}

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelagius 01}}
[[Category:561 deaths]]
[[Category:6th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:Popes of the Byzantine Papacy]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Papal Apocrisiarii to Constantinople]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:6th-century popes]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]