Pope
Honorius I
Pope (625-12 October, 638), a Campanian, consecrated 27 October (Duchesne) or 3
November (Jaffé, Mann), in succession to Boniface V. His chief notoriety has come to him
from the fact that he was condemned as a heretic by the sixth general council (680).
This subject will be considered under the following headings:
The Letter of Sergius to Honorius
Monothelism
The Reply of Honorius
The Ecthesis of Heraclius
The Type of Constans
In What Sense was Honorius Condemned
Modern Controversies on the Subject
Character and Work of Honorius
THE LETTER OF SERGIUS TO HONORIUS
The Monothelite question was raised about 634 in a letter to this pope from the
Patriarch of Constantinople, Sergius. He related that Emperor Heraclius, when in Armenia
in 622, in refuting a Monophysite of the Severian sect, had made use of the expression
"one operation" (energy, energeia) of the Incarnate Word. Cyrus, Bishop
of the Lazi, had considered this doubtfully orthodox, and had asked advice of Sergius.
Sergius replied (he says) that he did not wish to decide the matter, but that the
expression had been used by his predecessor Mennas in a letter to Pope Vigilius. In 630
Cyrus had become Patriarch of Alexandria. He found Egypt almost entirely Monophysite, as
it had been since the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Cyrus, by the use of the expression for
which Sergius had been able to produce such good authority, had formulated a series of
propositions, which most of the Monophysites were willing to accept, and they were by this
means reunited in large numbers to the Catholic Church, "so that those who formerly
would not speak of the divine Leo and the great Council of Chalcedon now commemorated both
with a loud voice in the holy mysteries". At this juncture Sophronius, a Palestinian
monk, famed for holiness, came to Alexandria. He disapproved of the formulary of Cyrus,
and Sergius was evidently somewhat disquieted at this. The reunion of so many heretics was
indeed glorious; but the ease with which it had been accomplished must have seemed
suspicious. Sophronius was not ready at once with quotations from the Fathers to show that
"two operations" was the only orthodox expression. But Sergius was ready to drop
the expression "one operation" if Sophronius would do nothing that might destroy
the union already accomplished at Alexandria. Sophronius agreed. Sergius, however, was not
satisfied with recommending Cyrus for the future to refrain from all mention of either one
or two operations, but thought it necessary to place the whole matter before the pope.
Sergius has commonly been treated as a heretic who did his best to deceive the pope. It
seems more fair and more accurate to say that he was rather a politician than a
theologian, but that he acted in good faith. He naturally was anxious to defend an
expression which the emperor had used, and he was unaware that the letter of Mennas to
Vigilius was a Monophysite forgery. But Cyrus's large use of his formula and its
denunciation by St. Sophronius caused him to take precautionary measures. His readiness to
drop the expression shows modesty, if his wish that Sophronius's formula also be dropped
shows ignorance. Nothing could have been more proper, or more in accordance with the best
traditions of his see, than to refer the whole matter to Rome, since the Faith was in
question.
MONOTHELISM
The Monothelite heresy is not in reality distinct from that of the Monophysites. The
last few years have made us better acquainted with the writings of Timothy Ælurus,
Severus of Antioch, and other Monophysites, and it is now plain that the chief points on
which the various sections of Monophysites were agreed against Catholicism were the
assertions that there is but one Will in the Incarnate Word, and that the operations
(activities, energeiai) of Christ are not to be distinguished into two classes, the
Divine and the human, but are to be considered as being the "theandric"
(Divino-human) actions of the one Christ (see EUTYCHIANISM). Now these two formulæ,
"one Will", and "one theandric operation", are characteristic of
Monothelism. It was not perceived by the ancients that this Monothelism, when it arose,
was no new heresy, but expressed the very essence of Monophysitism. This was because the
war with the latter heresy had been a war of words. The Catholics, following St. Leo and
the Council of Chalcedon, confessed two natures, physeis, in Christ, using the word
nature to mean an essence without subject, i. e. as distinct from hypostasis;
whereas the Monophysites, following St. Cyril, spoke of "one nature",
understanding the word of a subsistent nature or subject, and as equivalent to hypostasis.
They consequently accused the Catholics of Nestorianism, and of teaching two Persons in
Christ; while the Catholics supposed the Monophysites to hold that the human nature in
Christ was so swallowed up in the Divine that it was non-existent. It does not appear that
the Monophysite leaders really went so far as this; but they did undoubtedly diminish the
completeness of the human nature of Christ, by referring both will and operation to the
one Person and not to the two distinct natures. It followed that a human free will and a
human power of action were wanting to Christ's human nature. But this real error of the
heretics was not clearly detected by many Catholic theologians, because they spent their
force in attacking the imaginary error of denying all reality to the human nature. Our new
knowledge of the Monophysite theology enables us to perceive why it was that Cyrus
succeeded so easily in uniting the Monophysites to the Church: it was because his formula
embodied their heresy, and because they had never held the error which he supposed they
were renouncing. Both he and Sergius ought to have known better. But Sergius, at the end
of his letter, gets very near to accuracy, when he says that "from one and the same
Incarnate Word proceeds indivisibly every human and Divine operation", for this does
distinguish the human operations from the Divine operations, though it refers them rightly
to a single subject; and Sergius proceeds to quote the famous words of St. Leo's dogmatic
letter to Flavian: "Agit utraque forma cum alterius communione quod proprium
est", which amount to a condemnation of "one energy".
THE REPLY OF HONORIUS
It was now for the pope to pronounce a dogmatic decision and save the situation. He did
nothing of the sort. His answer to Sergius did not decide the question, did not
authoritatively declare the faith of the Roman Church, did not claim to speak with the
voice of Peter; it condemned nothing, it defined nothing. Honorius entirely agrees with
the caution which Sergius recommends. He praises Sergius for eventually dropping the new
expression "one operation", but he unfortunately also agrees with him that it
will be well to avoid "two operations" also; for if the former sounds Eutychian,
the latter may be judged to be Nestorian. Another passage is even more difficult to
account for. Following the lead of Sergius, who had said that "two operations"
might lead people to think two contrary wills were admitted in Christ, Honorius (after
explaining the communicatio idiomatum, by which it can be said that God was
crucified, and that the Man came down from heaven) adds: "Wherefore we acknowledge
one Will of our Lord Jesus Christ, for evidently it was our nature and not the sin in it
which was assumed by the Godhead, that is to say, the nature which was created before sin,
not the nature which was vitiated by sin." Other passages in the letter are orthodox.
But it is plain that the pope simply followed Sergius, without going more deeply into the
question. The letter cannot be called a private one, for it is an official reply to a
formal consultation. It had, however, less publicity than a modern Encyclical. As the
letter does not define or condemn, and does not bind the Church to accept its teaching, it
is of course impossible to regard it as an ex cathedra utterance. But before, and even
just after, the Vatican Council such a view was sometimes urged, though almost solely by
the opponents of the dogma of Papal Infallibility. Part of a second letter of Honorius to
Sergius was read at the eighth council. It disapproves rather more strongly of the mention
of either one operation or two; but it has the merit of referring to the words of St. Leo
which Sergius had cited.
THE ECTHESIS OF HERACLIUS
Sergius, after receiving the pope's letter approving his recent cautiousness, composed
an "Ecthesis", or exposition, which was issued by the emperor towards the end of
638. In conformity with the words of Honorius it orders all the subjects of Heraclius to
confess one Will in our Lord, and to avoid the expressions "one operation" and
"two operations". Before Sergius died, in December, he assembled a great synod
at Constantinople, which accepted the Ecthesis as "truly agreeing with the Apostolic
preaching"; the letter from the Apostolic See was evidently the surety for this.
Honorius was already dead, and had no opportunity of approving or disapproving the
imperial document which had been based upon his letter. St. Sophronius, who had become
Patriarch of Jerusalem even before Sergius wrote to the pope, also died before the end of
the year, but not before he had collected a large number of testimonies of the Fathers to
the "two operations", and had sent to all metropolitans of the world a
remarkable disquisition, which admirably defines the Catholic doctrine. He also solemnly
commissioned Stephen, Bishop of Doza, the senior bishop of his patriarchate, to go to Rome
and obtain a final condemnation of the new error. The Roman envoys who came to
Constantinople in 640 to obtain the emperor's confirmation of the new pope, Severinus,
refused to accept the Ecthesis, on the ground that Rome was above all synodical law.
Severinus only reigned two months, but condemned the Ecthesis, and so did his successor,
John IV. Emperor Heraclius then wrote to the pope, laying the blame on Sergius, and
disowning the Ecthesis. He died shortly afterwards (February, 641). To his elder son John
IV addressed a letter known as the "Apology for Pope Honorius". He explains
quite truly that both Sergius and Honorius asserted one Will only because they would not
admit contrary wills; yet he shows by his argument that they were wrong in using so
misleading an expression. St. Maximus of Constantinople, a monk and formerly secretary of
Heraclius, now becomes the protagonist of orthodoxy and of submission to Rome. His defence
of Honorius is based upon the statements of a certain abbot, John Symponus, the composer
of the letter of Honorius, to the effect that the pope only meant to deny that Christ had
not two contrary human wills, such as are found in our fallen nature. It is true that the
words of Honorius are inconclusively though not necessarily, heretical. Unfortunately the
Monophysites habitually argued in just the same inconclusive way, from the fact that
Christ could have no rebellious lower will, to prove that His Divine and human will were
not distinct faculties. No doubt Honorius did not really intend to deny that there is in
Christ a human will, the higher faculty; but he used words which could be interpreted in
the sense of that heresy, and he did not recognize that the question was not about the
unity of the Person Who wills, nor about the entire agreement of the Divine Will with the
human faculty, but about the distinct existence of the human faculty as an integrant part
of the Humanity of Christ.
THE TYPE OF CONSTANS
Pyrrhus, the successor of Sergius, was condemned at Rome for refusing to withdraw the
Ecthesis. Emperor Constans deposed him for political reasons, and set up a new patriarch,
Paul. Pyrrhus recanted at Rome. Paul, on his appointment, sent the customary confession of
faith to the pope. As it did not confess two wills, it was condemned by Pope Theodore.
Paul first showed anger, but then prevailed on Constans to withdraw the Ecthesis, for
which was substituted a Typos, or "Type", in which it was again forbidden
to speak of one or two operations, but "one Will" was no longer taught; instead
it was said that neither one nor two wills were to be spoken of, but no blame was to
attach to any one who had used either expression in the past. The penalties for
disobedience were to be: deposition for bishops and clergy, excommunication, loss of goods
or perpetual exile for others. This edict was based upon a misinterpretation of the
Apology of John IV, who had shown that "one Will" was an improper expression,
but had declared that Honorius and Sergius had used it in an orthodox sense. But John IV
had neither defended nor blamed Honorius and Sergius for wishing the expression "two
operations" to be avoided. It was consequently assumed that Honorius was right in
this, and it was quite logical to assimilate the question of one or two wills to that of
one or two operations. The penalties were severe; but both patriarch and emperor declared
that they forced no man's conscience. The Type, unlike the Ecthesis, was not an exposition
of faith, but a mere prohibition of the use of certain words, for the avoidance of
wrangling. The edict was issued about the first half of 649. Pope Theodore died in May,
and was succeeded by St. Martin I, who in the great Lateran Council of 649 solemnly
condemned the Ecthesis and the Type as heretical, together with Cyrus, Sergius, Pyrrhus
(who had fallen back), and Paul. The emperor was furious. He had the pope dragged to
Constantinople, loaded with chains, and exiled him to the Crimea, where he died a martyr
for the Faith in 655. St. Maximus also suffered for his devotion to orthodoxy and his
loyalty to the Holy See. The decrees of the Lateran Council which were sent to all bishops
by St. Martin as papal dogmatic decisions, mark a new stage in the Honorius controversy.
Honorius and Sergius must stand or fall together. John IV defended both. St. Martin
condemns Sergius and Cyrus, and not a word is said in favour of Honorius. It was evidently
felt that he could not be defended, if the Type was to be condemned as heretical because
it forbade the orthodox expressions "two operations" and "two Wills",
since in this it was simply following Honorius. But be it carefully noted that the Type of
Constans is not Monothelite. Its "heresy" consists in forbidding the use of
orthodox expressions together with their heretical contraries. A study of the Acts of the
Lateran Council will show that the question was not as to the toleration of Monothelite
expressions, for they were forbidden by the Type, but the prohibition of the orthodox
formulæ. No doubt it was still held at Rome that Honorius had not intended to teach
"one Will", and was, therefore, not a positive heretic. But no one would deny
that he recommended the negative course which the Type enforced under savage penalties,
and that he objectively deserved the same condemnation.
IN WHAT SENSE HONORIUS WAS CONDEMNED
Constans was murdered in 668. His successor, Constantine Pogonatus, probably did not
trouble to enforce the Type, but East and West remained divided until his wars against the
Saracens were over in 678, and he began to think of reunion. By his desire Pope St. Agatho
sent legates to preside at a general council which met at Constantinople on 7 Nov., 680.
They brought with them a long dogmatic letter in which the pope defined the faith with
authority as the successor of St. Peter. He emphatically declares, remembering Honorius,
that the Apostolic Church of St. Peter has never fallen into error. He condemns the
Ecthesis and Type, with Cyrus, Sergius, Theodore of Pharan, Pyrrhus, Paul, and his
successor Peter. He leaves no power of deliberation to the council. The Easterns are to
have the privilege of reunion by simply accepting his letter. He sent a book of
testimonies from the Fathers, which were carefully verified. The Monothelite Patriarch of
Antioch, Macarius, had been allowed to present other testimonies, which were examined and
found to be incorrect. The Patriarch of Constantinople, George, and all the council
accepted the papal letter, and Macarius was condemned and deposed for not accepting it.
Honorius, so far, had been thrice appealed to by Macarius, but had been mentioned by no
one else. In the twelfth session, 12 March, 681, a packet was produced which Macarius had
sent to the emperor, but which the latter had not opened. It proved to contain the letter
of Sergius to Cyrus and to Honorius, the forged letter of Mennas to Vigilius, and the
letter of Honorius to Sergius. In the thirteenth session, 28 March, the two letters of
Sergius were condemned, and the council added: "Those whose impious dogmas we
execrate, we judge that their names also shall be cast out of the holy Church of
God", that is, Sergius, Cyrus, Pyrrhus, Peter, Paul, Theodore, all which names were
mentioned by the holy Pope Agatho in his letter to the pious and great emperor, "and
were cast out by him, as holding views contrary to our orthodox faith; and these we define
to be subject to anathema. And in addition to these we decide that Honorius also, who was
pope of elder Rome, be with them cast out of the holy Church of God, and be anathematized
with them, because we have found by his letter to Sergius that he followed his opinion in
all things, and confirmed his wicked dogmas". These last words are true enough, and
if Sergius was to be condemned Honorius could not be rescued. The legates made no
objection to his condemnation. The question had indeed arisen unexpectedly out of the
reading of Macarius's packet; but the legates must have had instructions from the pope how
to act under the circumstances.
Some other writings of the condemned heretics were further read, including part of a
second letter of Honorius, and these were all condemned to be burnt. On 9 Aug., in the
last session, George of Constantinople petitioned "that the persons be not
anathematized by name", that is, Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, and Peter. He only mentions
his own predecessors; but Theodore of Pharan, Cyrus, and Honorius would evidently have
been spared also, had the legates supported the suggestion. But there was no attempt to
save the reputation of Honorius, and the petition of George was negatived by the synod. In
the final acclamations, anathema to Honorius, among the other heretics, was shouted. The
solemn dogmatic decree, signed by the legates, all the bishops, and the emperor, condemns
the heretics mentioned by St. Agatho "and also Honorius who was pope of elder
Rome", while it enthusiastically accepts the letter of St. Agatho. The council,
according to custom, presented an address of congratulation to the emperor, which was
signed by all the bishops. In it they have much to say of the victory which Agatho,
speaking with the voice of Peter, gained over heresy. They anathematize the heretics by
name, Theodore, Sergius, Paul, Pyrrhus, Peter, Cyrus, "and with them Honorius, who
was Prelate of Rome, as having followed them in all things", and Macarius with his
followers. The letter to the pope, also signed by all, gives the same list of heretics,
and congratulates Agatho on his letter "which we recognize as pronounced by the
chiefest head of the Apostles". The modern notion that the council was antagonistic
to the pope receives no support form the Acts. On the contrary all the Easterns, except
the heretic Macarius, were evidently delighted with the possibility of reunion. They had
never been Monothelites, and had no reason to approve the policy of silence enforced under
savage penalties by the Type. They praise with enthusiasm the letter of St. Agatho, in
which the authority and inerrancy of the papacy are extolled. They themselves say no less;
they affirm that the pope has indeed spoken, according to his claim, with the voice of
Peter. The emperor's official letter to the pope is particularly explicit on these points.
It should be noted that he calls Honorius "the confirmer of the heresy and
contradictor of himself", again showing that Honorius was not condemned by the
council as a Monothelite, but for approving Sergius's contradictory policy of placing
orthodox and heretical expressions under the same ban. It was in this sense that Paul and
his Type were condemned; and the council was certainly well acquainted with the history of
the Type, and with the Apology of John IV for Sergius and Honorius, and the defences by
St. Maximus. It is clear, then, that the council did not think that it stultified itself
by asserting that Honorius was a heretic (in the above sense) and in the same breath
accepting the letter of Agatho as being what it claimed to be, an authoritative exposition
of the infallible faith of the Roman See. The fault of Honorius lay precisely in the fact
that he had not authoritatively published that unchanging faith of his Church, in modern
language, that he had not issued a definition ex cathedra.
St. Agatho died before the conclusion of the council. The new pope, Leo II, had
naturally no difficulty in giving to the decrees of the council the formal confirmation
which the council asked from him, according to custom. The words about Honorius in his
letter of confirmation, by which the council gets its ecumenical rank, are necessarily
more important than the decree of the council itself: "We anathematize the inventors
of the new error, that is, Theodore, Sergius,...and also Honorius, who did not attempt to
sanctify this Apostolic Church with the teaching of Apostolic tradition, but by profane
treachery permitted its purity to be polluted." This appears to express exactly the
mind of the council, only that the council avoided suggesting that Honorius disgraced the
Roman Church. The last words of the quotation are given above as in the Greek of the
letter, because great importance has been attached to them by a large number of Catholic
apologists. Pennacchi, followed by Grisar, taught that by these words Leo II explicitly
abrogated the condemnation for heresy by the council, and substituted a condemnation for
negligence. Nothing, however, could be less explicit. Hefele, with many others before and
after him, held that Leo II by the same words explained the sense in which the sentence of
Honorius was to be understood. Such a distinction between the pope's view and the
council's view is not justified by close examination of the facts. At best such a system
of defence was exceedingly precarious, for the milder reading of the Latin is just as
likely to be original: "but by profane treachery attempted to pollute its
purity". In this form Honorius is certainly not exculpated, yet the pope declares
that he did not actually succeed in polluting the immaculate Roman Church. However, in his
letter to the Spanish King Erwig, he has: "And with them Honorius, who allowed the
unspotted rule of Apostolic tradition, which he received from his predecessors, to be
tarnished." To the Spanish bishops he explains his meaning: "With Honorius, who
did not, as became the Apostolic authority, extinguish the flame of heretical teaching in
its first beginning, but fostered it by his negligence." That is , he did not insist
on the "two operations", but agreed with Sergius that the whole matter should be
hushed up. Pope Honorius was subsequently included in the lists of heretics anathematized
by the Trullan Synod, and by the seventh and eighth ecumenical councils without special
remark; also in the oath taken by every new pope from the eighth century to the eleventh
in the following words: "Together with Honorius, who added fuel to their wicked
assertions" (Liber diurnus, ii, 9). It is clear that n Catholic has the right to
defend Pope Honorius. He was a heretic, not in intention, but in fact; and he is to be
considered to have been condemned in the sense in which Origen and Theodore of Mopsuestia,
who died in Catholic communion, never having resisted the Church, have been condemned. But
he was not condemned as a Monothelite, nor was Sergius. And it would be harsh to regard
him as a "private heretic", for he admittedly had excellent intentions.
MODERN CONTROVERSIES ON THE SUBJECT
The condemnation of Pope Honorius was retained in the lessons of the Breviary for 28
June (St. Leo II) until the eighteenth century. Difficulties made themselves felt when,
after the Great Western Schism, papal infallibility began to be doubted. Protestantism and
Gallicanism made vigorous attacks on the unfortunate pope, and at the time of the Vatican
Council Honorius figured in every pamphlet and every speech on ecclesiastical subjects.
The question has not only been debated in numerous monographs, but is treated by the
historians and the theologians, as well as by the professed controversialists. Only a few
typical views need here be mentioned.
Bellarmine and Baronius followed Pighius in denying that Honorius was condemned at all.
Baronius argued that the Acts of the Council were falsified by Theodore, a Patriarch of
Constantinople, who had been deposed by the emperor, but was restored at a later date; we
are to presume that the council condemned him, but that he substituted
"Honorius" for "Theodorus" in the Acts. This theory has frequently
been shown to be untenable.
The more famous Gallicans, such as Bossuet, Dupin, Richer, and later ones as Cardinal
de la Luzerne and (at the time of the Vatican Council) Maret, Gratry, and many others,
usually held with all Protestant writers that Honorius had formally defined heresy, and
was condemned for so doing. They added, of course, that such a failure on the part of an
individual pope did not compromise the general and habitual orthodoxy of the Roman See.
On the other hand the chief advocates of papal infallibility, for instance, such great
men as Melchior Canus in the sixteenth century, Thomassinus in the seventeenth, Pietro
Ballerini in the eighteenth, Cardinal Perrone in the nineteenth, have been careful to
point out that Honorius did not define anything ex cathedra. But they were not content
with this amply sufficient defence. Some followed Baronius, but most, if not all, showed
themselves anxious to prove that the letters of Honorius were entirely orthodox. There was
indeed no difficulty in showing that Honorius was probably not a Monothelite. It would
have been only just to extend the same kindly interpretation to the words of Sergius. The
learned Jesuit Garnier saw clearly, however, that it was not as a Monothelite that
Honorius was condemned. he was coupled with Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, the Ecthesis, and the
Type. It is by no means clear that Sergius, Pyrrhus, and the Ecthesis are to be accounted
as Monothelite, since they forbade the mention of "one operation"; it is quite
certain that Paul and the Type were anti-Monothelite, for they prohibited "one
Will" also. Garnier pointed out that the council condemned Honorius for approving
Sergius and for "fomenting" the dogmas of Pyrrhus and Paul. This view was
followed by many great writers, including Pagi.
A theory put forward by Pennacchi at the time of the Vatican Council attracted an
unnecessary amount of attention. He agreed with the Protestants and Gallicans in
proclaiming that the letter of Honorius was a definition ex cathedra; that the pope was
anathematized by the council as a heretic in the strict sense; but the council, not being
infallible apart from papal confirmation, fell in this case into error about a dogmatic
fact (in this point Pennacchi was preceded by Turrecremata, Bellarmine, Assemani, and many
others), since the letter of Honorius was not worthy of censure. Leo II, in confirming the
council, expressly abrogated the censure, according to this view, and substituted a
condemnation for negligence only (so also Grisar--see above). There is evidently no ground
whatever for any of these assertions.
Bishop Hefele before 1870 took the view that Honorius's letter was not strictly
heretical but was gravely incorrect, and that its condemnation by an ecumenical council
was a serious difficulty against the "personal" infallibility of the popes.
After his hesitating acceptance of the Vatican decrees he modified his view; he now taught
that Honorius's letter was a definition ex cathedra, that it was incorrectly worded, but
that the thought of the writer was orthodox (true enough; but, in a definition of faith,
surely the words are of primary importance); the council judged Honorius by his words, and
condemned him simply as a Monothelite; Leo II accepted and confirmed the condemnation by
the council, but, in doing so, he carefully defined in what sense the condemnation was to
be understood. These views of Hefele's, which he put forth with edifying modesty and
submission as the best explanation he could give of what had previously seemed to him a
formidable difficulty, have had a surprisingly wide influence, and have been adopted by
many Catholic writers, save only his mistaken notion that a letter like that of Honorius
can be supposed to fulfil the conditions laid down by the Vatican Council for an ex
cathedra judgment (so Jungmann and many controversialists).
CHARACTER AND WORK OF HONORIUS
Pope Honorius was much respected and died with an untarnished reputation. Few popes did
more for the restoration and beautifying of churches of Rome, and he has left us his
portrait in the apsidal mosaic of Sant Agnese fueri le mura. He cared also for the
temporal needs of the Romans by repairing the aqueduct of Trajan. His extant letters show
him engaged in much business. He supported the Lombard King Adalwald, who had been set
aside as mad by an Arian rival. He succeeded, to some extent, with the emperor's
assistance, in reuniting the schismatic metropolitan See of Aquileia to the Roman Church.
He wrote to stir up the zeal of the bishops of Spain, and St. Braulio of Saragossa
replied. His connexion with the British Isles is of interest. He sent St. Birinus to
convert the West Saxons. In 634 he gave the pallium to St. Paulinus of York, as well as to
Honorius of Canterbury, and he wrote a letter to King Edwin of Northumbria, which Bede has
preserved. In 630 he urged the Irish bishops to keep Easter with the rest of Christendom,
in consequence of which the Council of Magh Lene (Old Leighlin) was held; the Irish
testified to their traditional devotion to the See of Peter, and sent a deputation to Rome
"as children to their mother". On the return of these envoys, all Southern
Ireland adopted the Roman use (633).
PIGHIUS, Diatriba de Actibus VI et VII Conc.; BARONIUS, Ann. Eccl., ad
ann. 626 and 681, with PAGI's notes on 681; BELLARMINE, De Rom. Pont., iv, II;
THOMASSINUS, Dissert. in Concilia, XX; GARNIER, Introd. to Liber Diurnus (P. L.,
CV); P. BALLERINI, De vi ac ratione primatus; DAMBERGER, Synchronistische
Geschichte der Kirche, (15 vols., Ratisbon, 1850-63, II; BOTTEMANNE, De Honorii
papæ epistolarum corruptione (The Hague, 1870); DÖLLINGER, Papstfabeln des
Mittelalters (1863); SCHNEEMANN, Studien über die Honoriusfrage (Freiburg im
Br., 1864); HEFELE, Causa Honorii papæ (Naples, 1870), a treatise presented to the
Vatican Council; IDEM, Honorius und das sechste allgemeine Concil (Tübingen,
1870); IDEM, Conciliengeschichte, III and IV (written about 1860, altered in 2nd
ed., 1873; th. Edinburgh, 1896); LE PAGE RENOUF, The Condemnation of Pope Honorius
(London, 1868), against the definition; BOTALLA, Pope Honorius before the tribune of
reason and history (London, 1868; IDEM in Dublin Review, XIX-XX (1872);
PENNACCHI, De Honorii Romani Pontificis causâ (Ratisbon and Rome, 1870); GRATRY, Lettres
(Paris, 1870); WILLIS, Pope Honorius and the Roman Dogma (London, 1879), the
principal Protestant attack in English; JUNGMANN, Dissertationes selectæ in Historiam
eccl., II (Ratisbon and New York, 1881); BARMBY in Dict. Christ. Biog., s. v.;
GRISAR in Kirchenlex., s. v.; CHAPMAN, The Condemnation of Pope Honorius,
reprinted form Dublin Rev., CXXXIX-XL, 1906 (London, 1907); HERGENRÖTHER, Handbuch
der allgem. Kirchengesch., I, gives a good summary of opinions. Minor works are
enumerated it CHEVALIER, Bio-bibl., s. v. Honorius.--On the general history
of Pope Honorius, see the Liber Pontificalis, ed. DUCHESNE; and MANN, The Lives
of the Popes, I (1902), pt. I.
JOHN CHAPMAN
Transcribed by Thomas J. Bress
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VII
Copyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight
Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
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