SAINT AGATHO

A Sicilian cleric, Pope/St. Agatho was born c. 577 and was elected to the Roman see in 678. He had been a monk before his election and was well-versed in Latin and Greek. Although the exarch of Ravenna, Theodore, desired independence from Rome, he eventually submitted to Agatho’s rule. In 678, Bishop Wilfrid of York, claiming he had been unjustly deposed, appealed to the pope, who ruled that Bishop Wilfrid should be returned immediately to his see. Concerned about the condition of the English church, Agatho sent an envoy to teach the Britons about chant and to report to him on the state of the church. The Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681) accepted Agatho’s definitions of the two wills of Christ, although the pope did not attend the council. Agatho died during a plague in 681.

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