ONORIO I, PAPA. – He was consecrated eight days after the death of his predecessor Bonifacio V, on 3 November 625, without awaiting the confirmation of the emperor Eraclius. The most notable event of his pontificate was the Monothelite controversy.
In the hope of bringing the Monophysites back to the Church, the patriarch Sergio of Constantinople sought to persuade them to admit that the twofold nature of Christ was moved, in its activity, by a single operation (μία ἐνάργεια). Deceived by Sergio’s cunning and concerned solely with Christian unity, O. accepted the equivocal formula of Christ’s single will. The attempt was destined to fail. Mocked by the Monophysites and opposed by the patriarch of Jerusalem, Sofronio, it was compromised by the emperor Eraclius who, desirous of political unity, wished to impose it by an edict known as the Ecthesis. O. meanwhile died, and his successor Severino repudiated the document.
In the West, the Lombard problem remained foremost. O. was unable to prevent the accession to the throne of the Arian princes Arialdo and Rotari, nor to curb the plundering they carried out to the detriment of the Churches; but, thanks to the influence of the Catholic queen Gundperca, successively the wife of both kings, he was at least able to safeguard the authority of the bishops of the Lombard Kingdom.
Moreover, he had occasion to exercise the papal magisterium in matters of discipline with many bishops of Italy, Epirus, and Sardinia. In Rome, following the example of s. Gregorio Magno, he carried out an extensive programme of building works and was generous with gifts (S. Pietro, S. Agnese fuori le mura, S. Apollinare, S. Adriano al Foro, the monastery of the Tre Fontane, etc.); under him the administration of the Patrimony developed;
he entrusted the government of Napoli to a notary and a magister militum.
Guglielmo Mollat
#### ONORIO II, ANTIPAPA: V. SCANDALO.