Pope Vigilius

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

Reigned 537-55,date of birth unknown; died atSyracuse, 7 June 555. He belonged to a distinguished Romanfamily; hisfather Johannes is calledconsul in theLiber pontificalis (ed. Duchesne, I, 298), having received that title from the emperor. Reparatus, a brother of Vigilius, was a senator (Procopius,De bello gothico, I, 26). Vigilius entered the service of theRoman Church and was adeacon in 531, in which year the Romanclergy agreed to aDecree empowering thepope to determine the succession to the Papal See. Vigilius was chosen byBoniface II as his successor, and presented to theclergy assembled inSt. Peter's. The opposition to such a procedure ledBoniface in the following year to withdraw his designation of a successor and to burn theDecree respecting it. The second successor ofBoniface, Agapetus I (535-36), appointed Vigiliuspapal representative (Apocrisiary) at Constantinople; Vigilius thus came to the Eastern capital. Empress Theodora sought to win him as a confederate, to revenge the deposition of theMonophysite Patriarch Anthimus of Constantinople by Agapetus and also to gain aid for her efforts in behalf of theMonophysites. Vigilius is said to have agreed to the plans of the intriguing empress who promised him the Papal See and a large sum of money (700 pounds of gold). After Agapetus's death on 22 April, 536, Vigilius returned toRome equipped with letters from the imperial Court and with money. Meanwhile Silverius had been madepope through the influence of the King of theGoths. Soon after this the Byzantine commander Belisarius garrisoned the city ofRome, which was, however, besieged again by theGoths. Vigilius gave Belisarius the letters from the Court of Constantinople, which recommended Vigilius himself for the Papal See. False accusations now led Belisarius to depose Silverius. Owing to the pressure exerted by the Byzantine commander, Vigilius was electedpope in place of Silverius andconsecrated andenthroned on 29 March, 537. Vigilius brought it about that theunjustly deposed Silverius was put into his keeping where the latepope soon died from the harsh treatment he received. After the death of this predecessor Vigilius was recognized aspope by all the Romanclergy. Much in these accusations against Vigilius appears to be exaggerated, but the manner of his elevation to theSee of Rome was not regular. Empress Theodora, however, saw that she had been deceived. For after the latter had attained the object of hisambition and been madepope he maintained the same position as his predecessor against theMonophysites and the deposed Anthimus. It istrue that there is an alleged letter from thepope to the deposedMonophysitepatriarchs, Anthimus, Severus, and Theodosius, in which thepope agrees with the views of theMonophysites. This letter, however, is not regarded as genuine by most investigators and bears all the marks offorgery (cf. Duchesne inRevue des quest. histor. (1884), II, 373; Chamard, ibid., I (1885), 557; Grisar inAnalecta romana, I, 55 sqq.; Savio inCivilta Catt., II (1910), 413-422]. Thepope did not restore Anthimus to his office.

It was not until the year 540 that Vigilius felt himselfobliged to take a stand in regard toMonophysitism which he did in two letters sent to Constantinople. One of the letters is addressed to Emperor Justinian, the other to the Patriarch Menas. In both letters thepope supports positively the Synods of Ephesus and Chalcedon, also the decisions of his predecessorLeo I, and throughout approves of the deposition of the Patriarch Anthimus. Several other letters written by thepope in the first years of his pontificate, that have been preserved, give information respecting his interposition in theecclesiastical affairs of various countries. On 6 March, 538, he wrote to BishopCaesarius of Arles concerning the penance of the Austrasian King Theodobert on account of his marriage with his brother'swidow. On 29 June, 538, adecretal was sent to Bishop Profuturus ofBraga containing decisions on various questions of church discipline. Bishop Auxanius and his successor, Aurelian of Arles, entered into communication with thepope respecting the granting of thepallium as a mark of the dignity and powers of apapal legate for Gaul; thepope sent suitable letters to the twobishops. In the meantime new dogmatic difficulties had been developing at Constantinople that were to give thepope many hours of bitterness. In 543 Emperor Justinian issued adecree which condemned the variousheresies ofOrigen; thisdecree was sent for signature both to the Orientalpatriarchs and to Vigilius (cf.ORIGEN AND ORIGENISM).

In order to draw Justinian's thoughts fromOrigenism, Theodore Askidas,Bishop ofCaesarea in Cappadocia, called his attention to the fact that the condemnation of various representatives of the Antiocheneschool, who had championedNestorianism, would make union with theMonophysites much easier. The emperor, who laid much stress upon winning over theMonophysites, agreed to this, and in 543 or 44 he issued a new edict condemning theThree Chapters (see COUNCILS OF CONSTANTINOPLE). The Orientalpatriarchs andbishops signed the condemnation of theseThree Chapters. In WesternEurope, however, the procedure was considered unjustifiable and dangerous, because it was feared that it would detract from the importance of theCouncil of Chalcedon. Vigilius refused to acknowledge the imperial edict and was called to Constantinople byJustinian, in order to settle the matter there with a synod. According to theLiber pontificalis on 20 November, while thepope was celebrating the feast ofSt. Cecilia in the Church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, and before the service was fully ended, he was ordered by the imperial official Anthimus to start at once on the journey to Constantinople. Thepope was taken immediately to a ship that waited in the Tiber, in order to be carried to the eastern capital, while a part of the populace cursed thepope and threw stones at the ship.Rome was now besieged by theGoths under Totila and the inhabitants fell into the greatest misery. Vigilius sent ships with grain toRome but these were captured by the enemy. If the story related by theLiber pontificalis is essentially correct, thepope probably leftRome on 22 November, 545. He remained for a long time inSicily, and reached Constantinople about the end of 546 or in January, 547.

Vigilius sought to persuade the emperor to send aid to the inhabitants ofRome andItaly who were so hard pressed by theGoths. Justinian's chief interest, however, was in the matter of theThree Chapters, and as Vigilius was not ready to make concessions of this point and wavered frequently in his measures, he had much to suffer. The change in his position is to be explained by the fact that the condemnation of the writings mentioned was justifiable essentially, yet appeared inopportune and would lead to disastrous controversies with WesternEurope. Finally, Vigilius acknowledged in a letter of 8 Dec., 553, to thePatriarch Eutychius the decisions of the Synod of Constantinople and declared his judgment in detail in a Constitution of 26 February, 554. Thus at the end of a sorrowful residence of eight years at Constantinople thepope was able, after coming to an understanding with the emperor, to start on his return toRome in the spring of 555. While on the journey he died atSyracuse. His body was brought toRome and buried in the Basilica of Sylvester over theCatacomb of Priscilla on the Via Salaria.

CONTACT US |ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT