Pope Innocent I

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Date of birth unknown; died 12 March, 417. Before his elevation to the Chair of Peter, very little is known concerning the life of this energeticpope, sozealous for the welfare of the whole Church. According to the"Liber Pontificalis" he was a native ofAlbano; hisfather was called Innocentius. He grew up among the Romanclergy and in the service of theRoman Church. After the death of Anastasius (Dec., 401) he was unanimously chosenBishop of Rome by theclergy and people. Not much has come down to us concerning hisecclesiastical activities inRome. Nevertheless one or two instances of hiszeal for the purity of theCatholicFaith and for church discipline are well attested. He took several churches inRome from theNovatians (Socrates,Church History VII.2) and caused thePhotinian Marcus to be banished from the city. A drasticdecree, which theEmperor Honorius issued fromRome (22 Feb., 407) against theManicheans, theMontanists, and the Priscillianists (Codex Theodosianus, XVI, 5, 40), was very probably not issued without his concurrence. Through the munificence of Vestina, a rich Roman matron, Innocent was enabled to build and richly endow a church dedicated toSts. Gervasius and Protasius; this was theold Titulus Vestinæ which still stands under the name of San Vitale. The siege and capture ofRome by theGoths under Alaric (408-10) occurred in his pontificate. When, at the time of the first siege, the barbarian leader had declared that he would withdraw only on condition that the Romans should arrange a peace favourable to him, an embassy of the Romans went toHonorius, atRavenna, to try, if possible, to make peace between him and theGoths. Pope Innocent also joined this embassy. But all his endeavours to bring about peace failed. TheGoths then recommenced the siege ofRome, so that thepope and the envoys were not able to return to the city, which was taken and sacked in 410. From the beginning of his pontificate, Innocent often acted as head of the whole Church, both East and West.

In his letter to Archbishop Anysius ofThessalonica, in which he informed the latter of his own election to theSee of Rome, he also confirmed the privileges which had been bestowed upon thearchbishop by previouspopes. When EasternIllyria fell to the Eastern Empire (379)Pope Damasus had asserted and preserved the ancientrights of thepapacy in those parts, and his successor Siricius had bestowed on theArchbishop ofThessalonica the privilege of confirming and consecrating thebishops of EasternIllyria. These prerogatives were renewed by Innocent (Ep. i), and by a later letter (Ep. xiii, 17 June, 412) thepope entrusted the supreme administration of thedioceses of EasternIllyria to Archbishop Rufus ofThessalonica, as representative of theHoly See. By this means thepapal vicariate ofIllyria was put on a sound basis, and thearchbishops ofThessalonica became vicars of thepopes. On 15 Feb., 404, Innocent sent an importantdecretal to Bishop Victricius ofRouen (Ep. ii), who had laid before thepope a list of disciplinary matters for decision. The points at issue concerned theconsecration ofbishops, admissions into the ranks of theclergy, the disputes ofclerics, whereby important matters (causæ majores) were to be brought from the episcopal tribunal to theApostolic See, also the ordinations of theclergy,celibacy, the reception of convertedNovatians orDonatists into theChurch,monks, andnuns. In general, thepope indicated the discipline of theRoman Church as being the norm for the otherbishops to follow. Innocent directed a similardecretal to theSpanishbishops (Ep. iii) among whom difficulties had arisen, especially regarding the Priscillianistbishops. Thepope regulated this matter and at the same time settled other questions ofecclesiastical discipline.

Similar letters, disciplinary in content, or decisions of important cases, were sent to Bishop Exuperius ofToulouse (Ep. vi), to thebishops ofMacedonia (Ep. xvii), to Decentius,Bishop ofGubbio (Ep. xxv), to Felix,Bishop ofNocera (Ep. xxxviii). Innocent also addressed shorter letters to several otherbishops, among them a letter to two Britishbishops, Maximus and Severus, in which he decided that thosepriests who, whilepriests, had begotten children should be dismissed from their sacred office (Ep. xxxix). Envoys were sent by theSynod of Carthage (404) to theBishop of Rome, or thebishop of the city where the emperor was staying, in order to provide for severer treatment of theMontanists. The envoys came toRome, and Pope Innocent obtained from theEmperor Honorius a strongdecree against those African sectaries, by which many adherents ofMontanism were induced to be reconciled with theChurch. TheChristian East also claimed a share of thepope's energy.St. John Chrysostom,Bishop of Constantinople, who waspersecuted by the Empress Eudoxia and the Alexandrian patriarch Theophilus, threw himself on the protection of Innocent. Theophilus had already informed the latter of the deposition of John, following on the illegal Synod of the Oak (ad quercum). But thepope did not recognize the sentence of the synod, summoned Theophilus to a new synod atRome, consoled the exiledPatriarch of Byzantium, and wrote a letter to theclergy and people of Constantinople in which he animadverted severely on their conduct towards theirbishop (John), and announced his intention of calling a general synod, at which the matter would be sifted and decided. Thessalonica was suggested as the place of assembly. Thepope informedHonorius, Emperor of the West, of these proceedings, whereupon the latter wrote three letters to his brother, the Eastern Emperor Arcadius, and besought Arcadius to summon the Easternbishops to a synod atThessalonica, before which the Patriarch Theophilus was to appear. The messengers who brought these three letters were ill received, Arcadius being quite favourable to Theophilus. In spite of the efforts of thepope and the Western emperor, the synod never took place. Innocent remained in correspondence with the exiled John; when, from his place of banishment the latter thanked him for his kind solicitude, thepope answered with another comforting letter, which the exiledbishop received only a short time before his death (407) (Epp. xi, xii). Thepope did not recognize Arsacius and Atticus, who had been raised to theSee of Constantinople instead of the unlawfully deposed John.

After John's death, Innocent desired that the name of the deceased patriarch should be restored to thediptychs, but it was not until after Theophilus was dead (412) that Atticus yielded. Thepope obtained from many other Easternbishops a similar recognition of the wrong done toSt. John Chrysostom. Theschism atAntioch, dating from theArian conflicts, was finally settled in Innocent's time. Alexander,Patriarch ofAntioch, succeeded, about 413-15, in gaining over to his cause the adherents of the former Bishop Eustathius; he also received into the ranks of hisclergy the followers of Paulinus, who had fled toItaly and had beenordained there. Innocent informed Alexander of these proceedings, and as Alexander restored the name of John Chrysostom to thediptychs, thepope entered into communion with the Antiochene patriarch, and wrote him two letters, one in the name of a Roman synod of twentyItalianbishops, and one in his own name (Epp. xix and xx). Acacius,Bishop of Beræa, one of the mostzealous opponents of Chrysostom, had sought to obtain re-admittance to communion with theRoman Church through the aforesaid Alexander of Antioch. Thepope informed him, though Alexander, of the conditions under which he would resume communion with him (Ep. xxi). In a later letter Innocent decided several questions of church discipline (Ep. xxiv).

Thepope also informed the Macedonianbishop Maximian and thepriest Bonifatius, who had interceded with him for the recognition of Atticus,Patriarch of Constantinople, of the conditions, which were similar to those required of the above-mentionedPatriarch ofAntioch (Epp. xxii and xxiii). In theOrigenist andPelagian controversies, also, thepope's authority was invoked from several quarters.St. Jerome and thenuns of Bethlehem were attacked in theirconvents by brutal followers ofPelagius, adeacon was killed, and a part of the buildings was set on fire. John,Bishop ofJerusalem, who was on bad terms with Jerome, owing to theOrigenist controversy, did nothing to prevent these outrages. Through Aurelius,Bishop ofCarthage, Innocent sentSt. Jerome a letter of condolence, in which he informed him that he would employ the influence of theHoly See to repress such crimes; and if Jerome would give the names of the guilty ones, he would proceed further in the matter. Thepope at once wrote an earnest letter of exhortation to theBishop ofJerusalem, and reproached him with negligence of his pastoralduty. Thepope was also compelled to take part in thePelagian controversy. In 415, on the proposal of Orosius, the Synod ofJerusalem brought the matter of theorthodoxy ofPelagius before theHoly See. The synod of Easternbishops held at Diospolis (Dec., 415), which had been deceived byPelagius with regard to his actual teaching and had acquitted him, approached Innocent on behalf of theheretic. On the report of Orosius concerning the proceedings at Diospolis, the Africanbishops assembled in synod atCarthage, in 416, and confirmed the condemnation which had been pronounced in 411 against Cælestius, who shared the views ofPelagius. Thebishops of Numidia did likewise in the same year in the Synod ofMileve. Bothsynods reported their transactions to thepope and asked him to confirm their decisions. Soon after this, five Africanbishops, among themSt. Augustine, wrote a personal letter to Innocent regarding their own position in the matter ofPelagianism. Innocent in his reply praised the Africanbishops, because, mindful of the authority of theApostolic See, they had appealed to the Chair of Peter; he rejected the teachings ofPelagius and confirmed the decisions drawn up by the African Synods (Epp. xxvii-xxxiii). The decisions of the Synod of Diospolis were rejected by thepope.Pelagius now sent a confession offaith to Innocent, which, however, was only delivered to his successor, for Innocent died before the document reached theHoly See. He wasburied in abasilica above thecatacomb of Pontianus, and wasvenerated as a saint. He was a very energetic and active man, and a highly gifted ruler, who fulfilled admirably theduties of his office.

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