Editing Pope Gregory I (section)

{{short description|64th Bishop of Rome; head of the Roman Catholic Church from AD 590 to 604}}
{{Redirect|Saint Gregory}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific_prefix = [[Pope Saint]]
| name = Gregory I
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| image = Gregory the Great with the Holy Spirit.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = Miniature of Gregory the Great writing, in a 12th-century copy of his Dialogues, [[British Library]], [[London]]
| church = [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]
| term_start = 3 September 590
| term_end = 12 March 604
| predecessor = [[Pope Pelagius II|Pelagius II]]
| successor = [[Pope Sabinian|Sabinian]]
| consecration = 3 September 590
| birth_name = Gregorius Anicius
| birth_date = {{circa|540}}
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]], [[Eastern Roman Empire]]
| death_date = 12 March 604 (aged 63–64)
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Exarchate of Italy|Italy]], [[Eastern Roman Empire]]
| buried = [[St. Peter's Basilica]] (1606)
| parents = Gordianus<br>[[Saint Silvia|Silvia]]
| religion = 
| residence = Rome
<!---------- Sainthood ---------->| feast_day = {{unbulleted list|3 September ([[Latin Church]])|12 March ([[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Latin Church]] pre-1969, [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Churches]], [[Anglicanism]], [[Lutheranism]])}}
| venerated = {{unbulleted list|[[Catholic Church]]|[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]|[[Anglicanism]]|[[Lutheranism]]}}
| saint_title = 
| beatified_date = 
| beatified_place = 
| beatified_by = 
| canonized_date = 12 March 604
| canonized_place = 
| canonized_by = 
| attributes = {{ublist|[[Papal tiara]]|[[Papal vestments]]|[[Papal cross]]|[[book]]|[[quill]]}}
| patronage = Musicians, singers, students, and teachers
| shrine = 
| suppressed_date = 
| other = Gregory
}}
'''Pope Gregory I''' ({{langx|la|Gregorius I}}; {{lang|it|Gregorio I}}; {{circa|540}} – 12 March 604), commonly known as '''Saint Gregory the Great''' ({{langx|la|Sanctus Gregorius Magnus}}; {{langx|it|Santo Gregorio Magno}}), was the 64th [[Bishop of Rome]] from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604.{{sfn|Huddleston|1909}}{{efn|name=TheGreat}} He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the [[Gregorian mission]], to convert the then largely [[pagan]] Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.{{sfn|Flechner|2015|p= 47}} Gregory is also well known for his writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors as pope.<ref>Ekonomou, 2007, p. 22.</ref> The epithet '''Saint Gregory the Dialogist''' has been attached to him in [[Eastern Christianity]] because of his ''[[Dialogues (Pope Gregory I)|Dialogues]]''. English translations of Eastern texts sometimes list him as Gregory "Dialogos" from the Greek {{lang|el|διάλογος}} (''dialogos'', conversation), or the Anglo-Latinate equivalent "Dialogus".<ref name="OCA">{{Cite web|url=https://oca.org/saints/lives/0216/03/12/100789-st-gregory-dialogus-the-pope-of-rome|title=St. Gregory Dialogus, the Pope of Rome|website=oca.org, [[Orthodox Church in America]]|language=en|access-date=20 April 2018}}</ref> He is the second of the three [[Pope]]s listed in the ''[[Annuario Pontificio]]'' with the title "the Great",<ref>{{Cite book |last= |title=Annuario Pontificio |publisher=Holy See}}</ref> alongside Popes [[Pope Leo I|Leo I]] and [[Pope Nicholas I|Nicholas I]].

A [[Roman senator]]'s son and himself the [[prefect of Rome]] at 30, Gregory lived in a [[monastery]] that he established on his family estate before becoming a papal ambassador and then pope. Before becoming Pope, he challenged the theological views of [[Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople]] before the emperor [[Tiberius II]]. Although he was the first pope from a [[monastic]] background, his prior political experiences may have helped him to be a talented administrator. During his papacy, his administration greatly surpassed that of the emperors [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]] and [[Theodosius (son of Maurice)|Theodosius]] in improving the welfare of the people of Rome. Gregory regained papal authority in [[Catholic Church in Spain|Spain]] and [[Catholic Church in France|France]] and sent missionaries to [[Catholic Church in England|England]], including [[Augustine of Canterbury]] and [[Paulinus of York]]. The realignment of barbarian allegiance to Rome from their [[Arianism|Arian]] Christian alliances shaped medieval Europe. Gregory saw [[Franks]], [[Lombards]], and [[Visigoths]] align with Rome in religion. He also combated the [[Donatist]] heresy, popular particularly in North Africa at the time.<ref name=OCA />

Throughout the Middle Ages, he was known as "the Father of Christian Worship" because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day.{{sfn|Ellard|1933|p=122}} His contributions to the development of the [[Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts]], still in use in the [[Byzantine Rite]], were so significant that he is generally recognized as its ''de facto'' author.

Gregory is honored, along with [[Augustine]], [[Jerome]] and [[Ambrose]], as one of the four Great Latin [[Church Fathers]],<ref>{{cite book|author=William Dool Killen|title=The Old Catholic: Or the History, Doctrine, Worship, and Polity of the Christians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bQuV3kJWKAsC&dq=four+great+fathers++Augustine++Jerome++Gregory&pg=PA90|year=1871|publisher=T T Clark Edinburgh|page=90}}</ref> and is a [[Doctor of the Church]].{{sfn|Livingstone|1997|p=415}} He is considered a [[saint]] in the [[Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Anglican Communion]], various [[Lutheran]] denominations, and other [[Protestant]] denominations. Immediately after his death, Gregory was canonized by popular acclaim.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=710}} The Protestant reformer [[John Calvin]] admired Gregory greatly and declared in his [[Institutes of the Christian Religion|''Institutes'']] that Gregory was the last good pope.{{sfn|Calvin|1845|p=125|loc=Bk IV, Ch. 7}}{{sfn|Little|1963|pp=145–157}} He is the [[patron saint]] of musicians and teachers.<ref name=scborromeo.org />