Hinweise zur Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope St. Eugene I
Eugene I was elected 10 Aug., 654, and died at Rome, 2 June, 657. Because he would not submit to Byzantine dictation in the matter of Monothelitism, St. Martin I was forcibly carried off from Rome (18 June, 653) and kept in exile till his death (September, 655). What happened in Rome after his departure is not well known. For a time the Church was governed in the manner usual in those days during a vacancy of the Holy See, or during the absence of its occupant, viz., by the archpriest, the archdeacon, and the primicerius of the notaries. But after about a year and two months a successor was given to Martin in the person of Eugene (10 Aug., 654). He was a Roman of the first ecclesiastical region of the city, and was the son of Rufinianus. He had been a cleric from his earliest years, and is set down by his biographer as distinguished for his gentleness, sanctity, and generosity. With regard to the circumstances of his election, it can only be said that if he was forcibly placed on the Chair of Peter by the power of the emperor, in the hope that he would follow the imperial will, these calculations miscarried; and that, if he was elected against the will of the reigning pope in the first instance, Pope Martin subsequently acquiesced in his election (Ep. Martini xvii in P.L., LXXXVII).
One of the first acts of the new pope was to send legates to Constantinople
with letters to the Emperor Constans II, informing him of his election, and
presenting a profession of his faith. But the legates allowed themselves to be
deceived, or gained over, and brought back a synodical letter from Peter, the
new Patriarch of Constantinople (656-666), while the emperor's envoy, who
accompanied them, brought offerings for St. Peter, and a request from the
emperor that the pope would enter into communion with the Patriarch of
Constantinople. Peter's letter proved to be written in the most obscure style,
and avoided making any specific declaration as to the number of wills or
operations
in Christ. When its contents were communicated to the clergy and
people in the church of St. Mary Major, they not only rejected the letter with
indignation, but would not allow the pope to leave the basilica until he had
promised that he would not on any account accept it (656). So furious were the
Byzantine officials at this contemptuous rejection of the wishes of their
emperor and patriarch that they threatened, in their coarse phraseology, that
when the state of politics allowed it, they would roast Eugene, and all the
talkers at Rome along with him, as they had roasted Pope Martin I (Disp. inter S.
Maxim. et Theod. in P.L., CXXXIX, 654). Eugene was saved from the fate of his
predecessor by the advance of the Moslems who took Rhodes in 654, and defeated
Constans himself in the naval battle of Phoenix (655). It was almost certainly
this pope who received the youthful St. Wilfrid on the occasion of his first
visit to Rome (c. 654). He went thither because he was anxious to know the
ecclesiastical and monastic rites which were in use there
. At Rome he gained
the affection of Archdeacon Boniface, a counsellor of the apostolic pope, who
presented him to his master. Eugene placed his blessed hand on the head of the
youthful servant of God, prayed for him, and blessed him
(Bede, Hist. Eccles.,
V, 19; Eddius, In vit. Wilf., c. v). Nothing more is known of Eugene except that
he consecrated twenty-one bishops for different parts of the world, and that he
was buried in St. Peter's. In the Roman Martyrology he is reckoned among the
saints of that day.
Liber Pontificalis, ed. DUCHESNE, I, 341-2; various documents in P.L., CXXIX, LXXXVII; PAPEBROCH in Acta SS. (1695), 1 June, 220-2 (2a. 214-6); MANN, Lives of the Early Popes, I, pt. I, 406 sqq.
Heiligenlexikon als USB-Stick oder als DVD
Unterstützung für das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon
Artikel kommentieren / Fehler melden
Suchen bei amazon: Bücher über Catholic Encyclopedia - Pope St. Eugene I
Wikipedia: Artikel über Catholic Encyclopedia - Pope St. Eugene I
Fragen? - unsere FAQs antworten!
Impressum - Datenschutzerklärung
korrekt zitieren: Artikel
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über https://d-nb.info/1175439177 und https://d-nb.info/969828497 abrufbar.