BONIFACIO II, PAPA

BONIFACE II, POPE. — Of Germanic stock but born in Rome, consecrated on 22 September 530, died on 17 October 532. Before his death, Felix IV, to avoid struggles and schisms, designated, with the approval of Amalasuntha, part of the clergy and the Roman senators, the archdeacon B. as his successor to the papacy. However, the majority of the clergy, after Felix’s death, acclaimed the deacon Dioscorus; both were consecrated. The schism lasted barely a month, since Dioscorus died and his followers recognized and accepted B., even subscribing to a public retraction. B. himself had wished to designate his successor in the person of Vigilius, but faced with public opposition, he burned the decree of nomination. He approved the decrees of the Second Council of Orange, held in 529; he also intervened in the affairs of Illyricum, supporting the election of Stephen of Larissa, contested by Epiphanius of Constantinople.