Pope Honorius I

Lore & Background

Honorius I was a wealthy aristocrat born in Campania, the son of Petronius, who held the honorary title of consul. Little is known of his life before his election as pope on 27 October 625, two days after the death of his predecessor Boniface V. The short vacancy was likely due to the presence in Rome of Isaac the Armenian, the imperial exarch of Italy, who could confirm the election. He also worked to persuade Irish and British churches to adopt the Roman Easter computus, though with limited success. He intervened in the Monoenergism controversy after Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople wrote to him, asking him to endorse a policy of silence.

Reader's Guide

Honorius I's legacy is dominated by his posthumous condemnation. Pope Leo II confirmed this condemnation, charging Honorius with failing to extinguish the heresy. The anathema was reiterated by subsequent councils and included in the Roman Breviary until the eighteenth century. Defenders of Honorius, including his successor Pope John IV and St. Maximus the Confessor, argued that he spoke only of the human will, not the divine. Later historians, such as J. B. Bury, suggested that Honorius did not fully understand the theological issue and was condemned for imprudent silence. Louis Nazaire Bégin argued that Honorius was only a material heretic, guilty of negligence rather than formal heresy, and could be exonerated. The controversy remains unresolved.

Did You Know?

• Honorius I was born in Campania, the son of Petronius, who held the honorary title of consul.
• He sent Saint Birinus to convert the West Saxons and bestowed the pallium on the archbishops of York and Canterbury.