History of the Catholic Church - Pope Gregory I - Essay Example

Pope Gregory I Introduction Pope Gregory I was born in 540 AD in Rome during a politically unstable period whereby Rome's leadership changed hands four times within a span of six years, between 546 and 552 AD. Within this period also, the Justinian plague brought about famine throughout Italy and this caused rioting among the Roman citizens. Gregory’s father, Gordianus, was a wealthy Patrician who had big estates in Sicily. Little is known about his mother although she appears to have been well born and has since been honored as a saint. Although not much has been written about Gregory's education, Gregory of Tours reported that in grammar, rhetoric and dialect, his skills could not be compared with any others in Rome. The religious atmosphere of Gregory's home played a big role in his education. His devotion to God started while he was a youth and spent much of his time on the scriptures as well as listening to the elder's advice. The strong character of Gregory pushed him up a public career such that at the age of thirty years, he had assumed the position of the prefect of the city, the highest civil position in the city. However, around 574 AD, Gregory left his prestigious position and decided to become a monk. His decision was so firm that he converted his Silician estates and home into monasteries after the death of his father and dedicated them to the apostle St. Andrew. For three years, Gregory led a solitary life in the monastery until he was ordained as a deacon of Rome. Around this time, the Lombards were fast advancing towards Rome, thereby posing a safety threat. This prompted Pope Pelagius II to seek help from Emperor Tiberius by setting up an embassy at Byzantium. The pope sent Gregory to the court of Byzantium as his apocrisiarius (which is Latin word for a permanent ambassador) where he served for six years. While at Byzantium’s court, Gregory faced the challenge of interacting with a worldly atmosphere, which would have even been greater were it not for brethren who had accompanied him from St. Andrews and with whom he prayed and studied scripture at Constantinople. It is during this period that Gregory composed a series of lectures on “morals” with permission from St. Leander of Seville. Concerning the resurrection of the dead, Gregory believed that the elect’s body after resurrection will not be impalpable, as had been propounded by a Patriarch of Constantinople by the name Eutychius. The dispute between Gregory and Eutychius was so heated that it called for the intervention of the emperor who listened to their views in a private session. The emperor gave a verdict that Gregory was right and ordered that a book on the subject matter which had been written by Eutychius to be burned. Although Gregory’s mission to Constantinople was generally a failure with regard to obtaining help for Rome, he acquired important skills which he was later to employ when he became a pope. “This was the important fact that no help was any longer to be looked for from Byzantium, with the corollary that, if Rome and Italy were to be saved at all, it could only be by vigorous independent action of the powers on the spot. Humanly speaking, it is to the fact that Gregory had acquired this conviction that his later line of action with all its momentous consequences is due” (Huddleston 3). Gregory became abbot soon after he was recalled back to Rome and devoted himself to teaching his monks the Holy Scripture. He was also given to mission work throughout his lifetime. At one point, Gregory met with English youths in a forum and desired to convert them. He therefore obtained permission from the Pope, Pelagius II to go to Britain together with his fellow monks for mission work. The Pope granted him permission and the Romans got displeased by the Pope and demanded that Gregory be recalled back to Rome only three days after their departure. This was because of the important position Gregory was holding in Rome. “He was in fact the chief adviser and assistant of Pelagius II, towards whom he seems to have acted very much in the capacity of secretary” (Huddleston 4). While serving as an assistant to the Pope, Gregory wrote a famous letter which carried a message to the schismatical bishops of Istria who had distanced themselves with the church, although the letter did not result in the desirable outcome that Gregory expected. He used all means to end heretics, schimatics and pagan from peaceful means to use of force. “In his treatment of heretics, schismatics, and pagans his method was to try every means — persuasions, exhortations, threats — before resorting to force; but, if gentler treatment failed, he had no hesitation in accordance with the ideas of his age, in resorting to compulsion, and invoking the aid of the secular arm therein. It is curious, therefore, to find him acting as a champion and protector of the Jews. In Epistle 1.14, he expressly deprecates the compulsory baptism of Jews, and many instances appear in which he insists on their right to liberty of action, so far as the law permitted, both in civil affairs and in the worship of the synagogue” (Huddleston 15). Gregory was elected to succeed the Pope following the death of Pelagius II in the year 590. He served as the Pope for fourteen years. During this period, Pope Gregory suffered constant ill – health especially due to indigestion and slow fever but never rested from papacy. As the Pope, Gregory led a very simple life. He did away with all the lay attendants and instead made use of clerics. However, since there was no magister militum who lived in Rome, military matters were controlled by the pope. Part of the military responsibility was to distribute food to the refugees who resulted from the Lombards invasion. Pope Gregory exceeded this responsibility by providing on spiritual needs of the people. He led celebration of the mass and gave sermons to the clergy and people at “stations,” which were churches previously agreed upon. He had a great mastery of the Holy Scripture and quoted the bible without ceasing. Pope Gregory held his first synod in 595 and consisted of bishops and priests. It is here that some six decrees touching on discipline were passed. “Much controversy still exists as to the exact extent of Gregory's reforms of the Roman Liturgy. All admit that he did make the following modifications in the pre-existing practice: In the Canon of the Mass he inserted the words "diesque nostros in tua pace disponas, atque ab aeterna damnatione nos eripi, et in electorum tuorum jubeas grege numerari"; he ordered the Pater Noster to be recited in the Canon before the breaking of the Host; he provided that the Alleluia should be chanted after the Gradual out of paschal time, to which period, apparently, the Roman use had previously confined it; he prohibited the use of the chasuble by subdeacons assisting at Mass; he forbade deacons to perform any of the musical portions of the Mass other than singing the Gospel” (Huddleston 7). The estate of the church increased vastly with estimates varying from 1300 to 1800 square miles with an annual income of above 1.5 million dollars and spread in many area including Africa and Sicily. With such a huge area to administrate, Pope Gregory exercised high level skill in financial and estate management. In the management work, he was assisted by officials called the reactor or defensors of the patrimony. Since the Pope had ensured that the reactors were ecclesiastics, they could also take many extra duties including “filling up of vacant sees, holding of local synods, taking action against heretics, providing for the maintenance of churches and monasteries, rectifying abuses in the churches of their district, with the enforcing of ecclesiastical discipline and even the reproof and correction of local bishops” (Huddleston 8). Although he had delegated the management of the patrimony to the reactors, the Pope never lost touch with happenings on the ground. He realized that he was the trustee of God and the reactors had to demonstrate this by conduct. This made the estate of the church to increase in value and the contented tenants paid revenue regularly. It has however been recorded that his generosity often emptied the coffers for he felt that enough could never be done with regard of the poor and needy. The jurisdiction of the pope for the suburbicarian Churches extended beyond the Western churches and over to the churches of Italy and the adjacent isles. In the mainland where the territory was in the hands of Lombards Pope Gregory provided for the needs of the faithful and united them to neighboring diocese since their number did not warrant need for a bishop. He maintained the system that existed in the islands, Sicily being the most important. In this system, a vicar was appointed by the metropolitan of the province and his role was to exercise general supervision of the church and was supposed to ensure local synods were held. Pope Gregory had a keen eye on the affairs of the dioceses with a typical example being “in the case of Sardinia, where the behavior of Januarius the half-witted, aged Metropolitan of Cagliari, had reduced the church to a state of semi-chaos” (Huddleston 8). He was very careful over election of a new bishop and would reject any bishop who did not appear to be fit for the task. With regard to the other churches, Pope Gregory acted in a way to suggest that all were subject to the jurisdiction of the Roman See. He not only exercised the powers similar to his predecessors, he exceeded and did everything to ensure that he maintained and extended what he regarded as the responsibilities of the papacy. Although he respected the other churches, he disapproved of any unnecessary interference in the sphere of jurisdiction. The Pope claimed for “Apostolic See” over “Church Universal” as he stated in one of his epistles. “As successor of St. Peter, the pope had received from God a primacy over all Churches (Epistle 2.46; 3.30; 5.37; 7.37). His approval it was which gave force to the decrees of councils or synods (Epistle 9.156), and his authority could annul them (Epistles 5.39, 5.41, 5.44). To him appeals might be made even against other patriarchs, and by him bishops were judged and corrected if need were (Epistles 2.50; 3.52; 3.63; 9.26; 9.27)” (Huddleston 10). Pope Gregory could not permit the use of the title Ecumenical Bishop which was used by the Patriarch of Constantinople. However, the Pope maintained a cordial relation with Oriental Patriarchs according to his epistles. Progression of historical conflicts When Gregory was consecrated as Pope, there were political changes that took place among the Lombards following the death of their king, Authari. Theodelinde the queen then got married to Agilulf, the Duke of Turin who was hostile and full of energy. Agilulf together with Ariulf and Arichis the Dukes of Spoleto and Benevento respectively posed a challenge to the Pope who felt that his position was threatened. During the summer of 592 when there was no bishop or any high ranking officer, Ariulf the Duke of Spoleto sent a threatening letter to the Pope. Arichis also advanced threateningly. This forced Gregory to make urgent appointment for a tribune to take command of the city. His dealings with Lombard were influenced by a strong determination that despite the state of the state authority, Rome should never be taken over by the Lombards, whom Gregory considered half civilized. He believed that if that happened, Rome would sink into insignificance and decay. In his endeavor to liberate Rome, Gregory went ahead and made a conclusive peace deal with the Lombards which became a positive step towards complete independence. However, Romanus the exarch was roused by Popes action and with his troupes he attacked Perugia which had been taken up by Lombards in total disregard of the Pope’s peace deal. The exarch’s move rubbed the Northern Lombards the wrong way prompting King Agilulf to match against Rome the next spring and staged a siege. The King met with Gregory in person and was moved by the Pope’s prayers and wisdom and he broke up the siege of the city. It is believed that Gregory used monetary inducement to raise the siege. Synthesis of resolutions Although Gregory managed to convince the Lombards to break up the siege, there was need for a permanent solution to the conflict between Rome and the Lompards. Gregory was determined to go an extra mile to ensure his peace agenda bears fruit. He was often seen interacting with the imperial government to seek intervention and was willing to take extraordinary measures. “His independent action in appointing governors to cities, providing munitions of war, giving instructions to generals, sending ambassadors to the Lombard king, and even negotiating a peace without theexarch's aid Whatever the theory may have been, there is no doubt about the fact that, besides his spiritual jurisdiction, Gregory actually exercised no small amount of temporal power” (Huddleston 13). The Pope decided to enlist the support of the imperial authority to forge a lasting peace with the Lombards. On the other side, Gregory hoped benefit from the friendship he had with the Queen Theodelinde who was also a Catholic. The exarch however did not support the Pope’s efforts to forge peace. Gregory hinted of his intensions to make peace with Agilulf without the consent of Romanus the exarch and the Emperor Maurice got wind of it. The emperor accused the Pope of being both a traitor and a fool. The Pope realized that he could not secure peace through independent action. The relationship between Gregory and Romanus continued to worsen until the exarch died. Callinicus took over as the exarch and his relationship with the Pope was warm. Through him, Rome negotiated with the Lombards and a peace deal was signed in 599 and lasted for two years when Callinicus became aggressive towards Lombards resulting to war. Later when Callinicus was recalled, his successor signed a peace deal which endured until after Gregory’s death. The Pope Gregory believed in a strong link between the Church and State to make a complete whole. He believed that a secular ruler who is the state had the responsibility to protect the church. He was therefore constantly seen seeking the support of the secular arm not only to suppress bad faith but also to instill discipline among the monks and clergy. “Gregory was undoubtedly influenced by his deep reverence for the emperor, whom he regarded as the representative of God in all things secular, and must still be treated with all possible respect, even when he encroached on the borders of the papal authority”(Huddleston 8). Although Gregory was easily influenced by the state, he had a degree of independence which enabled him to stand his ground before the emperor when there was need for it. Pope Gregory had challenging days towards the end of his life. He had bodily pains that were increasing and intensifying. The only thing that consoled him is the knowledge that death would come quickly. Gregory died in March 604 and buried the same day in front of the Sacristy in the portico of St. Peter’s Basilica (Huddleston 17). Reference Huddleston, Gilbert (1909). "Pope St. Gregory I ("the Great")". Catholic Encyclopedia 6. New York, Robert Appleton Company Read More