Today the Church commemorates Leo Pope of Rome II, the Confessor. There is practically no information about St. Leo’s life before his election to the Papal throne. We only know from the biographies of popes Liber Pontificalis that the name of his father was Paul. It is known that Pope Leo came from the island of Sicily and knew the Greek language. It is likely that he, like his predecessor at the Roman See, St. Agathon (678-681), was a Sicilian Greek. Among Pope Leo’s advantages, the biographer names theological education, the gift of teaching, asceticism, and the ability for church singing (in the literature there is an assumption that Pope Leo was the head of the singing school [schola cantorum] at the Lateran Basilica, but in the sources, there is no information about this). St. Leo was elected to the Roman see shortly after the death of St. Agathon (January 10, 681), an active participant in theological discussions about the wills in Christ. Emperor St. Constantine IV (668-685) convened the Sixth Ecumenical Council (also known as the Third Council of Constantinople) on November 7, 680, the purpose of which was to resolve the dispute between the Monothelites and Dyothelites, the former being heretics and the latter Orthodox. The Orthodox Church maintained that the Lord Jesus Christ has two wills, divine and human. Pope Agathon was a supporter of the doctrine of the two wills in Christ. At the Council he was actively defended by papal legates - presbyters Theodore and George and the deacon. John. When the election of St. Leo to the Papal throne became known in Constantinople (March 10, 681) the main defenders of Monothelitism (Patriarch Macarius I of Antioch and his disciple Monk Stephen) were already condemned. On December 13, 681, Emperor Constantine IV sent a message to St. Leo recognizing his election to the Roman See. In the message, the emperor informed the pontiff about the conciliar decisions, noting the special role of St. Agathon in the organization of the Council. In addition, Emperor Constantine IV mentioned the message of the pope, which contained the doctrine of two wills and two actions in Christ, and the Council was convened by him in Rome. According to the emperor, having compared the text with the definitions of other councils and with the patristic evidence, participants of the Sixth Ecumenical Council found the message in agreement with the Orthodox Tradition. Emperor Constantine IV asked Pope Leo to eradicate the heresy of the Monothelites by making a final decision regarding Patriarch Macarius and his supporters, and also to send to Constaninople his apocrisiarius, who was supposed to express the opinion of the pontiff on dogmatic and canonical issues. The papal legates returned to Rome in May or June of 682. Pope Leo’s consecration as bishop took place on August 17. In the reply message from Emperor Constantine IV, the pope approved the council decisions and anathematized the Monophylite Patriarchs of Constantinople: Sergius I, Pyrrhus, Paul and Peter, Patriarch Cyrus of Alexandria, Patriarch Macarius I of Antioch, Monk Stefan, Archimandrite Polychronius and Pope Honorius I (625-638), who was a supporter of the formula “one will of the Lord.” In 682, Leo addressed a message to the bishops of Spain, to which were attached the acts of the Sixth Ecumenical Council in Greek and Latin languages with a request to consider these documents and convene a general Spanish Council for their approval. Under St. Leo the conflict with the See of Ravenna was resolved. Its autocephaly was approved in Constantinople in 666 by Emperor Constans II Pogonatum (641-668). The Archbishop of Ravenna (Byzantine Fort post in Italy) was ordained by suffragan bishops without the participation of the Pope. At the Roman Council of 680, Archbishop of Ravenna Theodore accepted the jurisdiction of the Pope. Under St. Leo, the final terms of the agreement were worked out: the archbishop received consecration in Rome and signed a number of documents, including the indiculum (oath of allegiance to the pope as the successor of Apostle Peter), but he was required to stay in the city for more than eight days and then in person to appear in Rome like other suffragan bishops. The archbishop had the right to send to Rome on St. Apostle Peter’s feast his representative in the rank of presbyter. On February 22, 683 St. Leo consecrated in Rome the church to St. Apostle Paul near the church of St. Viviana (Santa Bibiana), where the relics of Roman martyrs were transferred: martyrs Simplicius, Faustin and Beatrice. On June 27, 683, St. Leo ordained 23 bishops, 9 presbyters and 3 deacons. On July 3, 683 St. Leo passed away. He is buried in the Vatican Basilica. Source: E.A.Zabolotnyi, D.V.Zaitsev, Lev II, Pravoslavnaia Entsiklopedia. |
