Theodore I, Pope

TEODORO I, PAPA. - Elected pontiff on 24 Nov. 642, he immediately took an open stand against the Ekthesis, an imperial edict in which the emperor Eraclio had professed Monothelitism (Mansi, X, cols. 702-705).

He endeavoured to obtain from Paolo, promoted to patriarch of Costantinopoli in 641, although his predecessor Pirro had not been canonically deposed, the institution of a regular trial and the latter’s own repudiation of the Ekthesis. Paolo refused; T. then deposed him and favourably received Pirro at Rome, where he solemnly abjured Monothelitism. But Pirro’s abjuration was merely a pretence; indeed, he retracted it when he lost all hope of recovering his patriarchal see; therefore a synod assembled at Rome condemned him to deposition. T. died on 14 May 640 without having been able to pacify the disputes between the Holy See and Costantinopoli.

BIBL.: Lib. Pont., I, pp. 331-35; L. Duchesne, L'Eglise au VIe siècle, Parigi 1925, p. 434 ff.; E. Caspar, Geschichte das Papsttums, II, Tubinga 1933; Fliche-Martin-Frutsz, V, pp. 170-74, 418.
Cite this article

“TEODORO I, PAPA.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XI (1953), p. 1167. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/teodoro-i-papa.