St.
John I, Pope and
Martyr (Feast day - May 18) A native of
Tuscany in Italy,
John was elected Pope while he was still an
archdeacon upon the death of Pope Hormisdas in 523. At that time, the ruler of
Italy was Theodoric the Goth who subscribed to the Arian brand of Christianity, but had tolerated and even favored his
Catholic subjects during the early part of his reign. However, about the
time of St. John's
accession to the Papacy, Theodoric's policy underwent a drastic change as a result of two events: the treasonable (in the sovereign's view) correspondence between ranking members of the Roman Senate and
Constantinople and the severe edict against
heretics enacted by the emperor Justin I, who was the first
Catholic on the Byzantine
throne in fifty years. Spurred on by the
appeals of Eastern Arians, Theodoric threatened to wage
war against Justin but ultimately decided to negotiate with him through a
delegation of five
Bishops and four senators. At its head he named Pope
John - much against the latter's wishes. Little is known for certain about the
nature of the message which the Pope bore and the manner in which he carried out his mission. What is known is that he succeeded in persuading the Emperor to mitigate his treatment of the Arians and thus avoid reprisals against the Catholics in Italy. The Pope's visit also brought about the
reconciliation of the Western and
Eastern Churches which had been plagued by a
schism since 482 when Zeno's
Henoticon had been published. However, Theodoric had been becoming more suspicious with each passing day. While waiting for the
delegation to return, he ordered the execution of the philosopher Boethius and his father-in-law Symmachus on a charge of treason; and as he got word of the friendly relations between the Pope and the emperor, he concluded that they were plotting against him. Hence, on the delegation's return to the capitol city of Ravenna, Pope
John was imprisoned by order of Theodoric and died a short
time later as a result of the treatment he experienced there.
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