Pope Adeodatus I (570 – 8 November 618), also calledDeodatus I orDeusdedit, was thebishop of Rome from 19 October 615 to his death on 8 November 618. He was the first priest to be elected pope sinceJohn II in 533. The first use of lead seals orbullae on papal documents is attributed to him. His feast day is 8 November.
Adeodatus was born inRome, the son of asubdeacon named Stephanus or Stephen. He served as apriest for 40 years before his election and was the first priest to beelected pope sinceJohn II in 533.[2]
Almost nothing is known about Adeodatus I's pontificate.[2] It represents the second wave of opposition toGregory the Great's papal reforms, the first being the pontificate ofSabinian. He reversed the practice of his predecessor,Boniface IV, of filling the papal administrative ranks with monks by recalling the clergy to such positions and by ordaining some 14 priests, the first ordinations in Rome since Gregory's pontificate.[3][2] According to tradition, Adeodatus was the first pope to use lead seals (bullae) on papal documents, which in time came to be called "papal bulls".[4] Onebulla dating from his reign is still preserved, the obverse of which represents the Good Shepherd in the midst of His sheep, with the letters Alpha and Omega underneath, while the reverse bears the inscription: Deusdedit Papæ.[5]
In August 618, an earthquake struck Rome, followed by an outbreak ofscabies. Adeodatus died 8 November 618, and was eventually succeeded byBoniface V.[2] Hisfeast day is 8 November.[5] He is also a saint in theEastern Orthodox Church as one of the pre-Schism "Orthodox Popes of Rome".[6]
^The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. (1913:760). United States: Encyclopedia Press.
^abcdAttwater, Aubrey (1939).A Dictionary of Popes: From Peter to Pius XII. Oxford University Press. p. 66.ISBN0199295816.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Jeffrey Richards,The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979), p. 262
