Pope Gelasius I

Pope Saint

Gelasius I
Bishop of Rome
ChurchCatholic Church
Papacy began1 March 492
Papacy ended19 November 496
PredecessorFelix III
SuccessorAnastasius II
Personal details
Born
Roman Africa or Rome[1]
Died(496-11-19)19 November 496
Rome, Ostrogothic Kingdom
Sainthood
Feast day21 November[2]
Other popes named Gelasius

Pope Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome from 1 March 492 to his death on 19 November 496.[2] Gelasius was a prolific author whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.[3] Some scholars have argued that his predecessor Felix III may have employed him to draft papal documents,[4] although this is not certain.[5][6]

During his pontificate he called for strict Catholic orthodoxy, more assertively demanded obedience to papal authority, and, consequently, increased the tension between the Western and Eastern Churches. Surprisingly, he also had cordial relations with the Ostrogoths, who were Arians (i.e. Non-trinitarian Christians), and therefore perceived as heretics from the perspective of Nicene Christians.[7]

  1. ^ Browne, M. (1998). "The Three African Popes". The Western Journal of Black Studies. 22 (1): 57–8.
  2. ^ a b Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope St. Gelasius I" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  3. ^ The title of his biography by Walter Ullmann expresses this:Gelasius I. (492–496): Das Papsttum an der Wende der Spätantike zum Mittelalter (Stuttgart) 1981.
  4. ^ Ullmann, Walter (1981). Gelasius I. (492-496) : das Papsttum an der Wende der Spätantike zum Mittelalter. Hiersemann. pp. 135–141. ISBN 3-7772-8135-2. OCLC 781406544.
  5. ^ Salzman, Michele Renee (2019). "Lay Aristocrats and Ecclesiastical Politics: A New View of the Papacy of Felix III (483–492 C.E.) and the Acacian Schism". Journal of Early Christian Studies. 27 (3): 482, n. 73. doi:10.1353/earl.2019.0040. ISSN 1086-3184. S2CID 204419785.
  6. ^ Cohen, Samuel (2019). ""You have made common cause with their persecutors": Gelasius, the language of persecution, and the Acacian Schism". In Fournier, Éric; Mayer, Wendy (eds.). Heirs of Roman persecution: studies on a Christian and para-Christian discourse in late antiquity. Routledge. pp. 176, n. 16. ISBN 978-0-8153-7512-8. OCLC 1114273480.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).