Saint of the Day – 27 May – St John I (Died 526) Pope and Martyr

Saint of the Day – 27 May – St John I (Died 526) Pope and Martyr, Bishop of Rome from 13 August 523-his death on 18 May 526. He died in prison as a result of the harsh treatment.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “The birthday of St John, Pope and Martyr, who was called to Ravenna by the Arian King if Italy, Theodoric and after languishing a long time in prison for the True Faith, terminated his life.”

John was a native of Siena in Tuscany in Italy, He was elected Pope while he was still an Archdeacon upon the death of Pope Hormisdas in 523.

At that time, the ruler of Italy was Theodoric, the Goth who subscribed to the Arian heresy but had tolerated and even favoured his Catholic subjects during the early part of his reign. However, about the time of St John’s accession to the Papacy, Theodoric’s policy underwent a drastic change, as a result of two events – the treasonable (in the sovereign’s view) correspondence between ranking members of the Roman Senate and Constantinople and the severe edict against heretics enacted by the Emperor Justin I, who was the first Catholic on the Byzantine throne in fifty years.

Spurred on by the appeals of Eastern Arians, Theodoric threatened to wage war against Justin but ultimately decided to negotiate with him through a delegation of five Bishops and four senators. At its head he named Pope John – much against the latter’s wishes. Little is known for certain about the nature of the message which the Pope bore and the manner in which he carried out his mission. What is known is that he succeeded in persuading the Emperor to mitigate his treatment of the Arians and thus avoid reprisals against the Catholics in Italy.

The Pope’s visit also brought about the reconciliation of the Western and Eastern Churches which had been plagued by a schism since 482 when Zeno’s Henoticon had been published. However, Theodoric had been becoming more suspicious with each passing day. While waiting for the delegation to return, he ordered the execution of the philosopher Boethius (a great friend of our Saint) and his father-in-law, Symmachus on a charge of treason and, as he got word of the friendly relations between the Pope and the Emperor, he concluded that they were plotting against him. Hence, on the delegation’s return to the capitol city of Ravenna, Pope John was imprisoned by order of Theodoric and died a short time later as a result of the treatment he experienced there.