Pope Zachary

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"Pope Zacharias" redirects here. For the Coptic Orthodox pope, see Pope Zacharias of Alexandria.
Eastern Roman Empire
Died15 March 752(752-03-15) (aged 72–73)
Rome, Kingdom of the Lombards
Sainthood
Feast day15 March
Venerated inCatholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church

Pope Zachary (

bishop of Rome from 28 November 741[1] to his death. He was the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy. Zachary built the original church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, forbade the traffic of slaves in Rome, negotiated peace with the Lombards, and sanctioned Pepin the Short's usurpation of the Frankish throne from Childeric III
. Zachary is regarded as a capable administrator and a skillful and subtle diplomat in a dangerous time.

Early career

Zachary was born into a family of Greek origin,[1] in the Calabrian town of Santa Severina. He was most probably a deacon of the Roman Church and as such signed the decrees of the Roman council of 732. He was selected to succeed Gregory III as pope on 3 December[2] or 5 December 741.[3]

Pontificate

Gregory III's alliance with the

Liber pontificalis) dwells chiefly on Zachary's personal influence with Liutprand, and with his successor Ratchis.[5] At the request of the Exarchate of Ravenna, Zachary persuaded Liutprand to abandon a planned attack on Ravenna and to restore territory seized from the city.[3]

Zachary corresponded with Archbishop

mayors of the Palace. In a later letter Zachary confirmed the metropolitans appointed by Boniface to Rouen, Reims, and Sens. In 745 Zachary convened a synod in Rome to discourage a tendency toward the worship of angels.[7]

Zachary corresponded with temporal rulers as well. Answering a question from the Frankish Mayor of the Palace

iconoclastic policies.[5][3]

Zachary built the original church of

San Giorgio al Velabro. After Venetian merchants bought many slaves in Rome to sell to the Muslims of Africa, Zachary forbade such traffic and then paid the merchants their price, giving the slaves their freedom.[4][8][9]

Death and legacy

Pope Zachary died around 15 March 752 (it may also have been the 12th or 14th)[2] and was buried in St. Peter's Basilica. His elected successor, Stephen, died within days, and Zachary was finally succeeded by Stephen II. The letters and decrees of Zachary are published in Jacques Paul Migne, Patrolog. lat. lxxxix. p. 917–960.[5]

Church historian Johann Peter Kirsch said of Zachary: "In a troubled era Zachary proved himself to be an excellent, capable, vigorous, and charitable successor of Peter."[3] Peter Partner called Zachary a skilled diplomat, "perhaps the most subtle and able of all the Roman pontiffs, in this dark corridor in which the Roman See hovered just inside the doors of the Byzantine world."[10]

References

  1. ^ a b Cormenin, Louis-Marie de Lahaye vicomte de (1851). A Complete History of the Popes of Rome, from Saint Peter, the First Bishop, to Pius the Ninth, the Present Pope. J. & J. L. Gihon. p. 185. ...the priest Zachary, a Greek by descent, who was ordained sovereign pontiff on the 28th of November, 741.
  2. ^ a b Miranda, Salvador. "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church". Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d Kirsch, Johann Peter (1912). "Pope St. Zachary" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  4. ^ a b Butler, Alban (1866). "Zachary, Pope and Confessor". The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints. Vol. III. Dublin: James Duffy.
  5. ^ a b c d e Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Zacharias, St" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 950.
  6. ISBN 9780567082954
  7. ^ "Assigning Names to Angels – ZENIT – English". zenit.org. September 2015. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  8. ISBN 9780191009235
    .
  9. ^ Annali d'Italia: Dall'anno 601 dell'era volare fino all'anno 840, by Lodovico Antonio Muratori, Giuseppe Catalani, Monaco (1742); page 298.
  10. ISBN 9780520021815

Further reading
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Zachary
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Pope
741 – 752 		Succeeded by
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