† Saint of the Day †
(October 25)
✠ St. Boniface I ✠
42nd Pope:
Born: ---
Rome
Died: September 4, 422
Rome
Feast: October 25
Pope Saint Boniface I was Pope from
28 December 418 to his death in 422. His election was disputed by the
supporters of Eulalius, until the dispute was settled by the Emperor. Boniface
was active maintaining church discipline and he restored certain privileges to
the metropolitical sees of Narbonne and Vienne, exempting them from any
subjection to the primacy of Arles. He was a contemporary of Saint Augustine of
Hippo, who dedicated to him some of his works.
Biography:
Boniface was the son of a presbyter
(priest) and was a presbyter himself at Rome. He was already old and frail upon
his elevation to the papacy. The Liber Pontificalis identifies his father as
Jocundus. Boniface is believed to have been ordained as a priest by Pope
Damasus I (366-384) and to have served as representative of Innocent I at
Constantinople (c. 405) when the pope attempted to intervene on behalf of the
recently-deposed bishop John Chrysostom.
Upon the death of Pope Zosimus, the
Roman Church faced the disturbing spectacle of double papal elections. Just
after Zosimus's funeral, on December 27, 418, a faction of the Roman clergy
consisting principally of deacons seized the Lateran Basilica, the traditional
place where new popes were elected and chose Archdeacon Eulalius as pope.
Little is known of the character and policies of Eulalius other than he seems
to have been a willing candidate, while Boniface was not.
A non-theological issue in the
controversy was clearly a division between the higher and lower clergy. Certain
members of the higher clergy—priests and bishops, some of who were of
nobility—tried to enter the building, but were repulsed by adherents of the
Eulalia party. On the following day, this group met in the Church of Theodora
and elected as pope, reportedly against his will, the aged Boniface, well known
for his charity, learning, and good character. On Sunday, December 29, both men
were consecrated as pope, Boniface in the Basilica of St. Marcellus, and
Eulalius in the Lateran Basilica. Boniface was supported by nine provincial
bishops and some 70 priests, while those on Eulalius' side included numerous
deacons, several priests and, significantly, the bishop of Ostia, who
traditionally ordained the pope.
Each claimant immediately proceeded
to act as pope in his own right, and Rome was thrown into tumult by the clash
of the rival factions. The Roman prefect of Rome, Symmachus, was hostile to
Boniface and reported the trouble to the (western) Emperor Honorius at Ravenna.
Eulalius thus secured imperial confirmation of his election, and Boniface was
expelled from the city. However, Boniface's supporters, including the emperor's
sister, secured a hearing from Honorius, who then called a synod of Italian
bishops at Ravenna. There, the churchmen were to meet both of the rival popes
and resolve the matter. The council convened in February and March of 419 but
was unable to reach a decision. A larger council of Italian, Gaulish, and
African bishops was called to settle the issue. This synod ordered both
claimants to leave Rome until a decision was reached and forbade their return
under penalty of condemnation.
As Easter was approaching, Bishop
Achilleus of Spoleto was deputed to conduct the paschal services in the vacant
see of Rome. On March 18, however, Eulalius boldly returned to Rome and
gathered his supporters, determined to preside over Easter services as pope.
Spurning the prefect's orders to leave the city, he seized the Lateran Basilica
on the Saturday before Easter and prepared to celebrate the resurrection of
Christ. Imperial troops were dispatched to oust him from the church, and
Achilleus ultimately conducted the services as planned.
The emperor was outraged at
Eulalius' behavior and soon recognized Boniface as a legitimate pope. Boniface
re-entered Rome on April 10 and was popularly acclaimed.
Boniface set Rome on a more stable
course in the Pelagian controversy and proved an able administrator. He gained
concessions from the eastern emperor regarding Rome's ecclesiastical
jurisdiction. He also improved relations with both the European and African
churches. After an illness, on July 1, 420 Boniface requested the emperor to
make some provision against the possible renewal of the schism in the event of
his death. Honorius enacted a law providing that, in contested papal elections,
neither claimant should be recognized and a new election should be held.
The anti-pope Eulalius himself was not
entirely discredited in the affair. He did not attempt to regain the papacy
after Boniface's death, and he has subsequently appointed a bishop under
Celestine I and died in 423. Boniface himself died on September 4, 422.
He was buried in the cemetery of
Maximus on the Via Salaria, near the tomb of his favorite, Saint Felicitas, in
whose honor he had erected an oratory over the cemetery bearing her name. The
Roman Catholic Church keeps his feast on October 25.
Boniface's papacy:
Boniface's reign was marked by great
zeal and activity in disciplinary organization and control. He reversed his
predecessor's policy of endowing certain western bishops, notably the
metropolitan bishop of Arles, with extraordinary papal powers. Zosimus had
given Bishop Patroclus of Arles extensive jurisdiction in the provinces of
Vienna and Narbonne and had made him the exclusive intermediary between these
provinces and the Roman see. Boniface diminished these rights and restored the
authority of the other chief bishops of these provinces.
Boniface inherited Pope Zosimus's
difficulties with the African churches over the question of Pelagianism.
Zosimus had reopened the Pelagian issue, which dealt with the question of the
role of free will in human salvation. Pelagius held that humans were free to
accept or reject God's grace and that Christians could perfect themselves
through moral discipline. Bishop Augustine of Hippo took the lead in combating
this view, arguing that God's grace is irresistible and that perfection in
earthly life is impossible until the second advent of Christ. Under Zosimus'
predecessor, Innocent I, it was decided that Pelagianism as heresy. Zosimus'
decision to revisit the issue outraged Augustine and other African church
leaders, who eventually forced Zozimus to uphold Innocent's original decision
by publishing his own Tractoria condemning Pelagianism.
Boniface ardently supported
Augustine in combating Pelagianism, persuading Emperor Honorius to issue an
edict requiring all western bishops to adhere to Zosimus' Trattoria. Having
received two Pelagian letters attacking Augustine, he forwarded these letters
to the future saint. In recognition of this help, Augustine dedicated to
Boniface his formal defense against the charges against him in his Contra duas
Epistolas Pelagianoruin Libri Quatuor.
In matters of church order, however,
Augustine and Boniface were not always of one accord. In 422 Boniface received
the appeal of Anthony of Fussula, who had been deposed by a provincial synod of
Numidia through the efforts of Augustine. Affirming Rome's authority to
intervene in the matter, Boniface decided that he should be restored if his
innocence is established.
In his relations with the east,
Boniface successfully maintained Roman jurisdiction over the ecclesiastical
provinces of Illyricurn, after the patriarch of Constantinople attempted to
establish his control over the area on account of their becoming a part of the
Eastern empire. The bishop of Thessalonica had been constituted papal vicar in
this territory, exercising jurisdiction over its metropolitans and lesser
bishops. Boniface watched closely over the interests of the Illyrian church and
insisted on its obedience to Rome rather than Constantinople. However, in 421,
dissatisfaction was expressed by area bishops on account of the pope's refusal
to confirm the election of a certain bishop in Corinth. The young (eastern)
Emperor Theodosius II then granted the ecclesiastical dominion of Illyricurn to
the patriarch of Constantinople (July 14, 421). Boniface prevailed upon
Honorius to urge Theodosius to rescind his enactment. By a letter of March 11,
422, Boniface forbade the consecration in Illyricum of any bishop whom his
deputy, Rufus, did not recognize.
Boniface also renewed the
legislation of Pope Soter, prohibiting women to touch the sacred linens used
during the mass or to minister at the burning of incense. He also enforced the
laws forbidding slaves to become clerics.
Legacy:
After a tumultuous beginning,
Boniface I set the papacy on a stable course during the Pelagian controversy,
affirmed Rome's leadership over the African and European churches, and resisted
the encroachment of Constantinople over Roman jurisdiction in Illyricum.
On the other hand, the best-known
event of his papacy is certainly its first 15 weeks, when an apparent class
struggle between the deacons of Rome and the higher clergy resulted in two
rival popes being duly elected and ordained. This division within the Roman
church was echoed in the struggle between Rome and Constantinople later in
Boniface's papacy. Although his short reign as pope is remembered generally as
a wise and effective one, it also served to remind the world how far the church
had strayed from Jesus' commandment that his disciples "love one
another," or saint Paul's hope that the church should be of "one
accord" (Rom. 15:6).
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