Pope St. Agatho
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Pope Agatho (died January 681) served as the bishop of Rome from 678 until his death. Shortly after Agatho became pope, Bishop Wilfrid of York arrived in Rome to invoke the authority of the Holy See on his behalf. Wilfrid had been deposed from his see by Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury, who had carved up Wilfrid’s diocese and appointed three bishops to govern the new sees. At a synod which Pope Agatho convoked in the Lateran to investigate the affair, it was decided that Wilfrid’s diocese should indeed be divided, but that Wilfrid himself should name the bishops.
The major event of his pontificate was the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680–681), following the end of the Muslim Siege of Constantinople. The council began when Emperor Constantine IV, wanting to heal the schism that separated Monothelitism from Orthodox teaching, wrote to Pope Donus suggesting a conference on the matter, but Donus was dead by the time the letter arrived. Agatho was quick to seize the olive branch offered by the Emperor. He ordered councils held throughout the West so that legates could present the universal tradition of the Western Church. Then he sent a large delegation to meet the Easterners at Constantinople. At the Council of Constantinople, a letter of Pope Agatho was read that explained the traditional belief of the Church that Christ was of two wills, divine and human. Patriarch George of Constantinople accepted Agatho’s letter, as did most of the bishops present. The council proclaimed the existence of the two wills in Christ and condemned Monothelitism. Pope Agatho is venerated as a saint by both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.
Writings:
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Quotes and Excerpts:
On Apostolic Tradition:
“To these same commissioners we also have given the witness of some of the holy Fathers, whom this Apostolic Church of Christ receives, together with their books, so that, having obtained from the power of your most benign Christianity the privilege of suggesting, they might out of these endeavour to give satisfaction, (when your imperial Meekness shall have so commanded) as to what this Apostolic Church of Christ, their spiritual mother and the mother of your God-sprung empire, believes and preaches, not in words of worldly eloquence… but that they set forth this tradition of the Apostolic See in all sincerity as it has been taught by the apostolic pontiffs, who were our predecessors.” The Letter of Agatho, Pope of Old Rome, to the Emperor Constantine IV, and the Letter of Agatho and of 125 Bishops of the Roman Synod, Addressed to the Sixth Council
On Apostolic Succession:
“Let your tranquil Clemency therefore consider, since it is the Lord and Saviour of all, whose faith it is, that promised that Peter’s faith should not fail and exhorted him to strengthen his brethren, how it is known to all that the Apostolic pontiffs, the predecessors of my littleness, have always confidently done this very thing: of whom also our littleness, since I have received this ministry by divine designation, wishes to be the follower, although unequal to them and the least of all.” –The Letter of Agatho, Pope of Old Rome, to the Emperor Constantine IV, and the Letter of Agatho and of 125 Bishops of the Roman Synod, Addressed to the Sixth Council
On the Primacy of Peter & Papal Authority:
“Because the true confession thereof for which Peter was pronounced blessed by the Lord of all things, was revealed by the Father of heaven, for he received from the Redeemer of all himself, by three commendations, the duty of feeding the spiritual sheep of the Church; under whose protecting shield, this Apostolic Church of his has never turned away from the path of truth in any direction of error, whose authority, as that of the Prince of all the Apostles, the whole Catholic Church, and the Ecumenical Synods have faithfully embraced, and followed in all things; and all the venerable Fathers have embraced its Apostolic doctrine, through which they as the most approved luminaries of the Church of Christ have shone; and the holy orthodox doctors have venerated and followed it, while the heretics have pursued it with false criminations and with derogatory hatred.” – The Letter of Agatho, Pope of Old Rome, to the Emperor Constantine IV, and the Letter of Agatho and of 125 Bishops of the Roman Synod, Addressed to the Sixth Council
“Therefore the Holy Church of God, the mother of your most Christian power, should be delivered and liberated with all your might (through the help of God) from the errors of such teachers, and the evangelical and apostolic uprightness of the orthodox faith, which has been established upon the firm rock of this Church of blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, which by his grace and guardianship remains free from all error, [that faith I say] the whole number of rulers and priests, of the clergy and of the people, unanimously should confess and preach with us as the true declaration of the Apostolic tradition, in order to please God and to save their own souls.” –The Letter of Agatho, Pope of Old Rome, to the Emperor Constantine IV, and the Letter of Agatho and of 125 Bishops of the Roman Synod, Addressed to the Sixth Council
On Papal Infallibility:
“Resting on Peter’s protection, this Apostolic Church of his has never turned aside from the way of truth to any part of error, and her authority has always been faithfully followed and embraced as that of the prince of the Apostles by the whole Catholic Church and all Councils, and by all the venerable Fathers who embraced her doctrine.” –The Letter of Agatho, Pope of Old Rome, to the Emperor Constantine IV, and the Letter of Agatho and of 125 Bishops of the Roman Synod, Addressed to the Sixth Council
“and she [the Apostolic church], by the grace of almighty God, will be proved never to have wandered from the path of apostolic tradition, nor to have succumbed to the novelties of heretics; but even as in the beginning of the Christian faith she received it from her founders, the princes of the Apostles of Christ, so she remains unspotted to the end, according to the divine promise of our Lord and Savior Himself.” –The Letter of Agatho, Pope of Old Rome, to the Emperor Constantine IV, and the Letter of Agatho and of 125 Bishops of the Roman Synod, Addressed to the Sixth Council
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