Editing Pope Eugene I

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 654 to 657}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
|type=Pope
|honorific-prefix= [[Pope Saint]]
|name=Eugene I
|title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
|church = [[Catholic Church]]
|image =
|term_start=10 August 654
|term_end=2 June 657
|predecessor=[[Pope Martin I|Martin I]]
|successor=[[Pope Vitalian|Vitalian]]
|birth_date=
|birth_place= [[Rome]], [[Byzantine Empire]]
|death_date=2 June 657
|death_place= [[Rome]], [[Byzantine Empire]]
|feast_day=2 June
|other=Eugene}}

'''Pope Eugene I''' ({{langx|la|Eugenius I}}; died 2 June 657) was the [[bishop of Rome]] from 10 August 654 to his death on 2 June 657. He was chosen to become [[Pope]] after the deposition and banishment of [[Pope Martin I|Martin I]] by Emperor [[Constans II]] over the dispute about [[Monothelitism]].

==Unusual election==
Eugene was a Roman from the Aventine, son of Rufinianus. He was brought up in the Church's ministry, and was already an elderly priest when a dispute flared up between the [[papacy]] in Rome, which opposed the [[monothelite]] teachings, and the imperial government in [[Constantinople]], which supported it. As a result, [[Pope Martin I]] was deposed by Emperor [[Constans II]] and carried off from Rome on 18 June 653, eventually ending up banished to [[Cherson (theme)|Cherson]].{{sfn|Attwater|1939|p=72}} Little is known about what happened in Rome after Martin's departure, but it was typical in those days for the [[Holy See]] to be governed by the [[archpriest]] and [[archdeacon]].{{sfn|Mann|1909}} Martin hoped that a successor would not be [[papal selection before 1059|elected]] while he lived, but the imperial court [[Byzantine Papacy|exerted pressure]] on Rome through the [[exarch of Ravenna]]. On 10 August 654, Eugene was appointed the new pope, to which Martin acceded.{{sfn|Mann|1909}} The imperial government believed that Eugene would be cooperative and ratified his election.{{sfn|Attwater|1939|p=72}}

==Pontificate==
As pope, Eugene consecrated twenty-one bishops for different parts of the world and received the youthful [[Wilfrid]] on the occasion of his first visit to Rome (c. 654).{{sfn|Mann|1909}}

Eugene I showed greater deference than his predecessor to the emperor's wishes and made no public stand against the [[Monothelitism]] of the [[patriarchs of Constantinople]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} One of the first acts of the new pope was to send [[papal legate|legates]] to Constantinople with letters to Emperor Constans II informing him of his election and professing his faith. The legates were deceived, or bribed, and brought back a synodical letter from [[Patriarch Peter of Constantinople]] (656–666), while the emperor's envoy, who accompanied them, brought offerings for [[Saint Peter]] and a request from the emperor that the pope would enter into communion with the patriarch of Constantinople. Peter's letter proved to be written in a difficult and obscure style and avoided making any specific declaration as to the number of "wills or operations" in [[Christ]]. When its contents were read to the clergy and people in the church of [[St. Mary Major]] in 656, they not only rejected the letter with indignation, but would not allow the pope to leave the basilica until he had promised that he would not on any account accept it.{{sfn|Mann|1909}}

The imperial officials were furious at this harsh rejection of the wishes of the emperor and patriarch.{{sfn|Mann|1909}} Constans threatened to dispose of Eugene just as he had disposed of Martin,{{sfn|Attwater|1939|p=72}} but was preoccupied by defending the empire from the [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]].{{sfn|Mann|1909}}

==Death and legacy==
Eugene I died on 2 June 657,{{sfn|Attwater|1939|pp=72–73}} before Constans II could act against him. He was buried in [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]].{{sfn|Mann|1909}} He was acclaimed a saint, his [[Calendar of saints|day]] being 2 June.{{sfn|Attwater|1939|p=72}} He is commemorated as the patron and namesake of the [[Cathedral of Saint Eugene]] in the [[Diocese of Santa Rosa in California]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*[[List of popes]]
*[[List of Catholic saints]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Eugenius |volume=9}}
* {{CE1913 |last=Mann |first=Horace Kinder|wstitle=Pope St. Eugene I |volume=5}}
* {{cite book|first=Aubrey|last=Attwater|title=A Dictionary of Popes: From Peter to Pius XII|year=1939}}

==External links==
*[http://saints.sqpn.com/pope-saint-eugene-i/ Saints.SQPN: Pope Eugene I]
*[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=273 Catholic Online: Pope Eugene I]

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Martin I|Martin I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=654–657}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Vitalian|Vitalian]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholic saints}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eugene 01}}
[[Category:657 deaths]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Popes of the Byzantine Papacy]]
[[Category:7th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:Italian Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:7th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:7th-century popes]]