Vigilius

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Vigilius (* around 500; † June 7, 555 ) was a Roman bishop ( Pope ) from 537 until his death. Of the 14 popes of the 6th century, he was the longest-serving head of the church.

Origin and ascent to Pope

Vigilius was born around the year 500 and came from an important urban Roman family. His father Johannes was consul , and he and his brother Reparatus were senators . In 531, in the year of his ordination as a deacon , the Roman clergy approved a papal decree determining the succession, which was to apply to himself for the first time: he was designated as his successor by Boniface II , but because of strong opposition to the new rule discarded again. Under the new Pope Agapitus I , Vigilius went to Constantinople as Nuncio , where he apparently began to sympathize with Monophysitism , which the Western Church actually strictly rejected, but had many followers in the East. That is why Augusta Theodora , wife of the Emperor Justinian , favored him as his successor after the death of Agapitus in April 536, and the Emperor sent him back to Rome . With regard to the restoration of the Roman empire aimed at by Justinian , it was apparently hoped that as the new pope he would move closer to the Monophysitism condemned at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 in order to end the schism and unite the Christians in the Roman Empire.

Vigilius and the Monophysites

From 535 war raged between the emperor and the Ostrogoths , who had controlled Italy since 493, and Rome was not captured by imperial troops until December 536. When Vigilius arrived in the city, Silverius , who was still enforced by the Ostrogoth Theodahad , officiated as bishop. Vigilius was elevated to the position of counter-bishop on March 29, 537 under pressure from the East and, after Silverius' early death, gained general recognition in exile.

Contrary to the likely expectations of Theodora, Vigilius stood strictly against Monophysitism in the following years and thus adapted himself to the dominant position in the Western Church. Finally, in order to win over the Monophysites, Emperor Justinian condemned the writings of three theologians, who particularly bothered the Monophysites, as supposedly Nestorian ( three chapter dispute ) in several edicts . These edicts were rejected by Vigilius and the Western Church as an alleged attack on the decisions of the Chalcedonian Council in a letter to Justinian from the year 540 and condemned the pro-Monophysite patriarchs, including the Anthimus, as heretics.

The powerful emperor, who continued to strive for a dogmatic unification of the Christians in his empire, then had Vigilius seized by guards soldiers ( excubitores ) in 546 and brought to Constantinople , where he initially gave in to pressure in 547 and finally in public in 553 - to the horror of many Western bishops agreed to the condemnation of the "three chapters" by the Second Council of Constantinople . Vigilius had declined the offer to chair the council and was not personally present at the meeting, but accepted all of its resolutions after his secret concessions of 547 had been made public. The council thus gained ecumenical validity (and still has it today); At the same time, Vigilius damaged the authority of the Roman patriarchate for centuries. Several Italian bishops initially did not accept the resolutions, resulting in a schism with Rome that lasted for several decades. Vigilius himself died on June 7, 555 in Syracuse , Sicily , on his way home .

Due to his behavior in this situation, Vigilius achieved great importance again 1300 years later - in the 19th century - in the dispute over papal infallibility , he was cited by opponents of this dogma alongside Honorius I as a negative example. Today this is again emphasized by the supporters of Lefebvre , but Vigilius' maintenance of the resolutions of the first four ecumenical councils is also emphasized in his defense .

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Commons : Vigilius  - collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Silverius Pope
537-555 		Pelagius I.
personal data
SURNAME Vigilius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vigilius (Pope)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pope (from 537 to June 7, 555)
DATE OF BIRTH around 500
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 555
Place of death Syracuse