POPE SAINT AGATHO, THE WONDERWORKER

Pope Agatho was most likely the oldest of all the popes. It has been said that he was already 100 when he was consecrated.

Agathon, his given name, was most likely born around Palermo, Sicily, sometime in the late 500s. He was well educated and became a businessman. He also became a husband, but whether he had children is unknown.  According to tradition, he grew more holy with the years and eventually asked permission to become a Benedictine monk at St. Hermes in Palermo. Permission was granted, as long as his wife went to a convent. Apparently, she did.

The creation of the Moslem caliphate and its expansion altered Agathon’s life. As the soldiers tried to overtake Sicily, Agathon, and many other clerics, fled to Rome. By the 670s, he was firmly ensconced in the city and had become, probably due to his business acumen, the treasurer of the city churches. In March, 676, Pope Adeodatus appointed him a cardinal. In April, 678, Pope Donus died. And within two and a half months, Agatho was consecrated the successor.

One of Agatho’s first difficulties arrived shortly from England. The monk and bishop, Wilfrid of Northumbria, was ousted from his see by the king, Ecgfrith.  Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury reinstated him. A few years later, embroiled with arguments by the king, Theodore’s argument was that the diocese was too large. This diocese was divided into three and parsed out to others. Ecgrith kicked Wilfrid out again and the bishop had nowhere to go but Rome. This was the first time English dioceses acknowledged Rome as having decision making ability over them. Agatho convoked a synod at the Lateran to in vestigate. The result was that the division of one diocese into three was acceptable. But Wilfrid should choose the bishops. Unfortunately, the other players in this scene were not willing to obey and Wilfrid ended up with a new diocese, in the southernmost part of England, far from home.  At this time, a newly elected pope was obligated to pay a tax after being consecrated. Due to poor education of clerics, most of these men did not have the money to support themselves and pay the exorbitant taxes. Agatho wrote to the emperor to negotiate and Constantine IV did agree to reduce or, eve, abolish, the tax.

Following the footsteps of his predecessors, Agatho wrote to Constantine another letter, proclaiming papal infallibility. To soften the blow, he at the same time praised Constantine’s toleration of the Monothelites. Perhaps, he was happy that the emperor did not kill off the many who were supporting the heresy at the time.

The Moslem siege of Constantinople was over and monothelism was suppressed. The Emperor, Constantine IV wrote to Pope Donus asking for a conference. The letter was sent in August of 678. Agatho had already ascended the throne. It was his place to respond and he welcomed the opportunity. In preparation for this conference, Agatho ordered councils to take place in Milan, England, Gaul and Rome. At Eastertime, 680, 125 bishops, mostly Italian, met to sign acts and appoint legates to the meeting in Constantinople. The sixth Ecumenical Council met Nov 7, 680 to September 681. First, the monothelite bishops explained why Jesus had only one will.  Then, the letter from Agatho, explaining, in detail, the tradition of the teaching of Jesus’ wills, was read. It was accepted by the new Patriarch, George, the controller of all theology in the East. The Council ended both the heresy and the schism at the same time. The Emperor again wrote to a pope, only to be received by another, due to death.

Agatho died in June of 681, in a summer of plague, never learning of his letter’s effect on the Council. He was remembered as charitable, benevolent, and of profound humility and learning. So many miracles occurred that he is remembered as Agatho, the Wonderworker.