SEVERINUS, Pope. - A Roman, son of Abienus, he succeeded Honorius (d. in Oct. 638), but could be consecrated only on 28 May 640.

The delay was due to the fact that the emperor Heraclius demanded from the apocrisiaries sent to Constantinople to obtain ratification of Severinus's election the subscription of the Ἐκθεσις, published in Sept.-Oct. 638; naturally the legates could not promise the Pope's adherence and were therefore detained in the East for about a year and a half.

During the wait, however, the chartularius Maurice, with the connivance of the exarch Isaac, incited the Roman army to seize the goods amassed by Honorius in the Lateran, saying that the portion destined for them as pay was kept there. The episcopium was invaded and seals were placed on it; then, when Isaac came, after exiling the dignitaries of the clergy to eliminate all resistance, all the goods were carried off and divided among the soldiers, the exarch and the Emperor. Only then could Severinus be consecrated, and in his brief pontificate, lasting barely 2 months, he showed himself to all as gentle, benign, generous, and a lover of the poor. He died on 2 Aug. and was buried in St. Peter's.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: Lib. Pont., I, p. 328 ff.; Mansi, X, coll. 675-80; O. Bertolini, Roma di fronte a Bisanzio e ai Longobardi, Bologna [1941], pp. 317-25; Fliche-Martin-Frutz, V, pp. 141 ff. and 417.

Agostino Amore

@incollection{ec11_severino_papa, author = {Amore, Agostino}, title = {Severino, papa}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {464}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/severino-papa} }

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Severinus, Pope

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