Saint Leo II

Pope († 683)

Feast July 3

Odoacer, leader of mercenaries (known as foederati) from the Eastern Germanic tribes of the Middle Danube, deposed Emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476 AD and declared himself rex Italiae (King of Italy), resulting in the final dissolution of the Western Roman Empire in Italy.  Although Odoacer officially recognized the nominal suzerainty of the Eastern Empire, he raided the Empire’s coastal cities, threatened key commercial sea routes and his growing influence made him a threat to Constantinople.

To provide a buffer, the Ostrogoths, another Germanic people from the Lower Danube and west of the Dniester River, were allowed to settle in the western Balkans as foederati (allies) of the Eastern Empire.  They turned out to be troublemakers more than allies. After years of dealing with tribal leaders Emperor Zeno finally persuaded king Theodoric the Great to cross the Julian Alps and, as the representative of the Empire, to remove Odoacer. In August 489 his army arrived in Italy, and after a long military campaign Odoacer was slain on the 15th of March, 493. In the arrangement between Theodoric and Zeno, the land and its people were regarded as part of the Empire. Civil administration and legislation remained in the hands of the emperor and King Theodoric became magister militum, the head of the military.

This gave beginning to The Byzantine Papacy, a period when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for episcopal consecration. For this reason, many popes were chosen from inhabitants of Byzantine-ruled Greece, Syria, or Sicily. This ended the Acacian schism between the Eastern and Western Churches. Due to this policy, when Pope Agatho died on the 10th of January, 681, and Leo II was elected within days, he was not consecrated until 17 August 682.

St. Leo II was a Sicilian, born in 611, the son of a man named Paul. Initially St. Leo became a Canon Regular, (ecclesiastical dignitary who resided in his bishop’s palace charged with recitation of the Office in the cathedral) and was relied upon to serve as the auxiliary of the Ordinary. He was a devout student of Holy Scripture and was well versed in Greek and Latin. During the Caliphate’s attacks on Sicily, he escaped to Rome with many other Sicilian clergymen.

In Rome he was quickly noted as a just, learned, charitable, and eloquent preacher who was also a talented composer of hymns. Among them are several sacred hymns for the Divine Office still maintained by the Church. He took special care of widows, orphans and the poor in general, relieving their sufferings, and becoming an icon of apostolic charity. On the 5th of December, 680, Pope Agatho made him cardinal.

Soon thereafter, St. Leo II became Pope. During his ten-month pontificate he accomplished numerous good works which have caused his name to be blessed by all succeeding generations.

 

St. Leo built three churches in Rome, to honor Saint Paul the Apostle, Saint Sebastian, and Saint George. Highly gifted in the domain of music, for the glory of God he reformed Gregorian Chant.

Representatives from the Emperor of Constantinople tried to influence the bishop of Ravenna, who later attempted to break free of Papal oversight and become autonomous. In response, St. Leo published a decree ordering that in the future no bishop of Ravenna could enter function before being consecrated for that office at Rome by the Roman Pontiff.

St. Leo confirmed the Acts of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, which his predecessor had convoked at Constantinople against the Monothelite heresy, and translated its acts into Latin for the benefit of the Catholics in the west. Monothelitism had emerged from earlier Christological controversies, that were related to monophysitism as formulated by Eutyches of Constantinople.

Eutyches (c. 380 – c. 456) was a presbyter and archimandrite who first came to notice in 431 at the First Council of Ephesus. He came out with a doctrine that claimed Jesus the “is fully divine and fully human, in one nature” and “a fusion of human and divine elements.” He was condemned at the 448 Synod of Constantinople and later at the 451 Council of Chalcedon which clarified that Jesus is one “person” with two “natures,” a divine nature and a human nature. Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople ensured the doctrine of Monothelitism persisted, teaching that Christ has only one energy and one will, contrary to the teachings of Catholic Church that He has two energies and two wills, both human and divine.

Pope Honorius in 635 in the name of unity of Eastern and Western Church endorsed the view that all discussions over energies should cease and agreed that Jesus does not have two conflicting wills, but one will.

Monothelism was condemned by the successors of Pope Honorius. Pope Severinus (640-640) formally condemned it, while Pope John IV (640-642) and Pope Theodore I (642-649) excommunicated Pyrrhus, patriarch of Constantinople, for defending the same error. Pope Martinus (649-655) was imprisoned by the Emperor Constans II, and died a martyr because he did not accept Monothelism. Pope Eugenius I (654-657) also rejected Monothelism. Pope Vitalian (657–672) declared the validity of the doctrine of the two wills of Christ.

During Pope Agatho’s Pontificate, Emperor Constantine IV (668- 685) decided to let the Monothelite question be decided entirely by a church council and asked if the Pope would send delegates to an ecumenical council to be held at Constantinople to end the rift in doctrines. Pope Agatho agreed.

The Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (680-681) condemned Monoenergism and Monothelism as heretical, condemning Pope Honorius who adhered to it, and defining Jesus Christ as having two energies and two wills.

Pope St. Leo II approved the documents of the Sixth Ecumenical Council convened by Pope St. Agatho, his predecessor. Then he notified the emperor that the decrees of the council had been confirmed and made them known to the people of the West in letters written to the Visigothic king, bishops, and nobles and called upon the bishops to subscribe to its decrees.

The Sixth Ecumenical Council clarified that Jesus is one “person” in two “natures”, a divine nature, and a human nature, and that His human nature is subject to His divine nature. Pope Honorius had declared the absence of Christ’s human will, which is a direct attack on our Lord. Hence why Pope St. Leo II wrote the following: “Honorius who did not attempt to sanctify this Apostolic Church with the teaching of Apostolic tradition, but by profane treachery permitted its purity to be polluted”

During Vatican II on July 3, 1965, prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira made this commentary; There is no possible peaceful coexistence, no normal living together between good and evil, truth and error. This is not possible anywhere, moreover, within the Catholic Church, which is par excellence the sacred mountain of truth and goodness. She cannot bear within herself one who defends error and evil…             If some of you live in similar times, you should study the situation and ask St. Leo II to give you the intense fidelity to the Church and to the papacy that he had. It was this fidelity that made him, a saint and a Pope, deem he had the duty and the right to use the words he did against Pope Honorius.

When Pope St. Leo II died in July of 683, his death was deeply mourned by all the faithful.

References and Excerpts:

[1]          “Carissimi: Today’s Mass; S. Leo II of Rome, Confessor,” The Brighton Oratory, Jul. 03, 2020. https://brightonoratory.org/2020/07/03/carissimi-todays-mass-s-leo-ii-of-rome-confessor/ (accessed Aug. 04, 2023).

[2]          “Saint Leo II, Pope.” https://sanctoral.com/en/saints/saint_leo_ii.html (accessed Aug. 04, 2023).

[3]          “Pope St. Leo II, saint of June 3.” https://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j080sdLeoII_6-3.htm (accessed Aug. 04, 2023).

[4]          “Pope Leo II,” Wikipedia. Jun. 29, 2023. Accessed: Aug. 04, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pope_Leo_II&oldid=1162562540