Editing Pope Vitalian

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 657 to 672}}
{{About||the bishop and saint of Capua|Vitalian of Capua|the Eastern Roman general, usurper and consul|Vitalian (consul)}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[Pope Saint]]
| name = Vitalian
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Roman Catholic Church]]
[[Western Rite Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox Church]]
| image = Bulle vitaliani 16976.jpg
| caption = [[Bulla (seal)|Bulla seal]] of Pope Vitalian
| birth_name = 
| term_start = 30 July 657
| term_end = 27 January 672
| predecessor = [[Eugene I]]
| successor = [[Adeodatus II]]
| birth_date = 21 September 600
| birth_place = [[Segni]], [[Eastern Roman Empire]]
| death_date = 27 January 672 (aged 71)
| death_place = Rome<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Vitalian |title=Saint Vitalian |author=((The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica)) |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=15 August 2016}}</ref>
| venerated = [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br>[[Roman Catholic Church]]
| feast_day = 27 January ([[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]])
}}

'''Pope Vitalian''' ({{langx|la|Vitalianus}}; died 27 January 672) was the [[bishop of Rome]] from 30 July 657 to his death in 672. His pontificate was marked by the dispute between the [[papacy]] and the imperial government in [[Constantinople]] over [[Monothelitism]], which Rome condemned. Vitalian tried to resolve the dispute and had a conciliatory relationship with Emperor [[Constans II]], who visited him in [[Rome]] and gave him gifts. Vitalian's pontificate also saw the secession of the [[Archbishopric of Ravenna]] from the papal authority.

==Election==
Vitalian was born in [[Segni]], [[Lazio]], the son of Anastasius.<ref name=miranda>{{Cite web |url=http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios655-ii.htm |title=Miranda, Salvatore. "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church", Florida International University |access-date=2013-04-07 |archive-date=2018-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102235508/http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios655-ii.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> After the death of [[Eugene I]] on 2 or 3 June 657, Vitalian was [[papal selection before 1059|elected]] to succeed him. He was [[episcopal consecration|consecrated]] as [[pope]] on 30 July, keeping his baptismal name.<ref name=miranda/>

==Pontificate==
===Monothelitism===
Like Eugene, Vitalian tried to restore the connection with [[Constantinople]] by making friendly advances to Emperor [[Constans II]] and to prepare the way for the settlement of the [[Monothelite]] controversy. He sent letters (synodica) announcing his elevation to the emperor and to [[Patriarch Peter of Constantinople]], who was inclined to Monothelitism. The emperor confirmed the privileges of the [[Holy See]] as head of the Church in the West and sent to Rome a codex of the Gospels in a cover of gold richly ornamented with precious stones as a good-will gesture.<ref name=miranda/>

Patriarch Peter also replied, although his answer was somewhat noncommittal as to Monothelitism, a belief he defended. In his letter, he gave the impression of being in accord with the pope. Thus ecclesiastical intercourse between Rome and Constantinople was restored. Peter's letter to Vitalian was later read during the thirteenth session of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (681) and served as the basis for Peter's condemnation as a Monothelite.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ekonomou |first=Andrew J. |title=Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2007 |isbn=9780739119778 |pages=162}}</ref> Vitalian's name was entered on the [[diptych]]s of the churches in Byzantium—the only name of a pope so entered between the pontificate of [[Honorius I]] (d. 638) and the [[Sixth Ecumenical Council]] of 680–81.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jeffrey Richards |title=The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages (Routledge Revivals) 476-752 |date=2014 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=9781317678175 |page=194}}</ref> 

Vitalian, alongside Peter and Constans, also played a part in the condemnation and subsequent exile of [[Maximus the Confessor]] when they issued a joint order demanding everyone to be in communion with the Church of Constantinople.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=Pauline |title=Maximus the Confessor and his Companions: Documents from Exile |last2=Neil |first2=Bronwen |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780198299912 |pages=24}}</ref>

Vitalian showed reciprocity toward Constans when the latter came to Rome in 663 to spend twelve days there during a campaign against the [[Lombards]]. On 5 July, the pope and members of the Roman clergy met the emperor at the sixth milestone and accompanied him to [[St. Peter's Basilica]], where the emperor offered gifts. The following Sunday, Constans went in state to St. Peter's, offered a pallium wrought with gold, and was present during the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] celebrated by the pope. The emperor dined with the pope on the following Saturday, attended Mass again on Sunday at St. Peter's, and after Mass took leave of the pope. On his departure Constans removed a large number of bronze artworks, including the bronze tiles from the roof of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]], which had been dedicated to Christian worship.<ref name="ce"/>

Constans then moved on to [[Sicily]], oppressed the population, and was assassinated at [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] in 668. Vitalian supported Constans' son [[Constantine IV]] against the usurper [[Mezezius]] and thus helped him attain the throne. As Constantine had no desire to maintain the Monothelite decree of his father, Vitalian made use of this inclination to take a more decided stand against Monothelitism and to win the emperor over to orthodoxy. In this latter attempt, however, he did not succeed. The Monothelite [[Patriarch Theodore I of Constantinople]] removed Vitalian's name from the diptychs. It was not until the Sixth Ecumenical Council that Monothelitism was suppressed and Vitalian's name was replaced on the diptychs of the churches in Byzantium.<ref name="ce"/>

===Western Church relations===
Pope Vitalian was successful in improving relations with England, where the [[Anglo-Saxon]] and British clergies were divided regarding various ecclesiastical customs. At the [[Synod of Whitby]], King [[Oswy]] of [[Kingdom of Northumbria|Northumbria]] accepted Roman practices regarding the keeping of Easter and the shape of the [[tonsure]].<ref>Sir [[Frank Stenton]], ''Anglo-Saxon England'', third edition (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), pp. 123, 130</ref> Vitalian sent a highly educated monk, [[Theodore of Tarsus]], who understood both [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]], to be [[archbishop of Canterbury]].<ref>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 131</ref>

The archiepiscopal [[See of Ravenna]] reported directly to Rome. Archbishop [[Maurus (archbishop of Ravenna)|Maurus]] (644–71) sought to end this dependence and make his see [[autocephalous]]. When Pope Vitalian called upon him to justify his theological views, Maurus refused to obey and declared himself independent of Rome, initiating a [[Schism (religion)|schism]]. The pope [[excommunicated]] him, but Maurus did not submit and excommunicated Vitalian in return.<ref name="ce"/> Emperor Constans II sided with the archbishop and issued an edict removing the archbishop of Ravenna from the patriarchal jurisdiction of Rome. He ordained that the former should receive the [[pallium]] from the emperor. The successor of Maurus, [[Reparatus (archbishop of Ravenna)|Reparatus]], was consecrated in 671. It was not until the pontificate of [[Pope Leo II|Leo II]] (682–83) that the independence of the See of Ravenna was suppressed.<ref name="ce"/>

===Authority over Eastern Church===
Vitalian played a role in exonerating a bishop of the Eastern Church. Bishop John of Lappa had been deposed by a synod under the presidency of Metropolitan Paul. John appealed to the pope and was imprisoned by Paul for so doing. He escaped, however, and went to Rome, where Vitalian held a synod in December 667 to investigate the matter and pronounced John guiltless. He then wrote to Paul demanding the restoration of John to his diocese and the return of the monasteries which had been unjustly taken from him. At the same time the pope directed the metropolitan to remove two deacons who had each married after consecration.

==Death and legacy==

Vitalian died on 27 January 672 and was succeeded by [[Adeodatus II]].  He is venerated as a [[saint]] in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and [[Roman Catholic Church]], with his [[feast day]] being celebrated each year on 23 July and 27 January respectively.<ref name="the Popes">{{cite web |author=Joseph Brusher S.J. |year=1959 |title=St. Vitalian |url=http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/POPEp76.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060513024148/http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/POPEp76.htm |archive-date=2006-05-13 |work=Popes Through the Ages |publisher=Christ's Faithful People}}</ref><ref name="ce">Kirsch, Johann Peter (1912). "Pope St. Vitalian" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Holy Orthodox Popes of Rome |url=http://orthodoxengland.org.uk/ortpopes.htm |access-date=2024-08-14 |website=orthodoxengland.org.uk}}</ref>  The introduction of [[Organ (music)|church organ music]] is traditionally believed to date from the time of Vitalian's papacy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=James-Griffiths |first=Paul |date=2016-08-20 |title=The earliest church organ |url=https://www.christianheritageedinburgh.org.uk/2016/08/20/the-earliest-church-organ/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Christian Heritage Edinburgh |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}

* {{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Pope St. Vitalian |short=x}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Vitalianus |short=x}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Eugene I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=657–672}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Adeodatus II]]}}
{{s-end}}

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitalian}}
[[Category:672 deaths]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Popes of the Byzantine Papacy]]
[[Category:7th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:Italian saints]]
[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:7th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:People from Segni]]
[[Category:7th-century popes]]
[[Category:580 births]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]