Saint Benoît II
Pape (81 ème) de 683 à 685
(✝ 685)
Son pontificat fut
très bref, un an à peine. Il appartenait à la "schola cantorum" de
Rome et il sut faire respecter sa ville. Il aimait les pauvres et eut un
gouvernement favorable au petit peuple, distribuant même, sans le contrôle des
agents impériaux, des sommes importantes pour la diaconie. Il eut quelque
difficulté avec les Églises nationales d'Espagne et d'Angleterre. Il favorisa
l'unité de la foi et de la connaissance du Fils de Dieu contre l'hérésie
monothélite.
À Rome, en 685, saint Benoît II, pape, ami de la pauvreté, humble, doux,
remarquable par sa patience et ses aumônes.
Martyrologe
romain
Saint Benoît II (684-685)
Né à
Rome.
Il sut
convaincre l’empereur Constantin de permettre que l’Église et le peuple de Rome
puissent élire le pape sans être obligés d’en demander l’aval impérial.
Pendant
son pontificat se déroula le 14e concile de Tolède, qui dura du 14
au 20 novembre 684.
Benoît II
683-685
Benedictus
était romain de naissance, et attaché à l’Eglise dès l’enfance, appliqué à
l’étude de l’Ecriture et du chant ecclésiastique, qu’il considérait comme
l’apprentissage de ce que font les saints au paradis.
Élu au siège
apostolique en 683, il succédait à saint Léon II comme quatre-vingt-unième
pape, connu pour sa piété, son humilité, sa douceur, sa patience, son amour des
pauvres.
Un
“incident” marqua son élection, car à cette époque on devait attendre la
confirmation de l’élection par l’empereur avant d’introniser le nouveau pape.
Cette attente dura près d’un an dans le cas de Benoît II. C’est d’ailleurs ce
dernier qui, d’entente avec l’empereur Constantin Pogonat, décida qu’il ne
serait plus nécessaire d’attendre cette confirmation.
L’empereur
était justement bien disposé envers le pape : il lui fit adopter ses deux fils,
Iustinianus et Heraclius.
Benoît II
s’employa à faire recevoir partout les décrets du concile de Constantinople
contre le monothélisme. Entre autres, il demanda à l’épiscopat espagnol de
s’exprimer plus clairement à ce sujet.
Le pape chercha
à ramener le patriarche d’Antioche, Makarios, à la sainte union, car il avait
été déposé un moment pour hérésie. Il se montra favorable à la cause de
l’archevêque d’York, saint Wilfrid, pour le faire réintégrer sur son siège.
Le
pontificat de Benoît II fut très bref, mais intense en œuvres diverses :
réparation d’édifices, souci des pauvres, conversion des hérétiques.
Benoît II mourut le 8 mai 685, et eut pour successeur Jean V.
Pope
St. Benedict II
Date of birth
unknown; died 8 May, 685; was a Roman, and the son of John. Sent when young to
the schola cantorum, he distinguished himself by his knowledge of the Scriptures and by his singing, and as a priest was remarkable for his humility, love of the poor, and generosity. He became pope 26 June, 684, after an interval of over eleven
months. To abridge the vacancies of the Holy See which followed the deaths of the popes, he obtained from the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus a decree which either abolished imperial confirmations
altogether or made them obtainable from the exarch in Italy [cf. "Liber Diurnus RR. PP.", ed. Sickel (Vienna, 1889), and Duchesne's criticism,
"Le Liber Diurnus" (Paris, 1891)]. He adopted Constantine's two sons
by receiving locks of their hair sent him by the emperor. To help to suppress Monothelitism, he endeavoured to secure the subscriptions of the Spanish bishops to the decrees of the Sixth General Council (see ep. in P.L., XCVI, 423), and to bring about the
submission to them of Macarius, ex-Bishop of Antioch. He was one of the popes who favoured the cause of St. Wilfred of York
(Eddius, "Vita Wilfridi", ed. Raine in "Historians of
York", I, 62 sqq. Cf. Raine, "Lives of the Archbishops of York",
I, 55 sqq.). Many of the churches of Rome were restored by him; and its clergy, its deaconries for the care of the poor, and its lay sacristans all benefited by his liberality. He
was buried in St. Peter's.
Sources
The most important source for the history of the first nine popes who
bore the name of Benedict is the biographies in the Liber Pontificalis, of which the most useful edition is that of
Duchesne, Le Liber Pontificalis
(Paris, 1886-92), and the latest that of Mommsen, Gesta Pontif. Roman. (to the end of the reign of Constantine only,
Berlin, 1898). Jaffé, Regesta Pont. Rom.
(2d ed., Leipzig, 1885), gives a summary of the letters of each pope and tells
where they may be read at length. Modern accounts of these popes will be found
in any large Church history, or history of the City of Rome. The fullest
account in English of most of them is to be read in Mann, Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages (London, 1902, passim).
Mann, Horace. "Pope St. Benedict II." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 6 May 2015
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02427d.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Kryspin J. Turczynski.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New
York.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02427d.htm
Benedict II, Pope (RM)
Born in Rome, Italy; died March 8, 685. Not much is known of Saint Benedict's youth except that he was active in Church affairs. He became a Scripture scholar and an expert in sacred chants. Elected to succeed Leo II in 683, his consecration was delayed almost a year until June 26, 684, awaiting the emperor's confirmation. During his term, he amended the process to speed approval of papal elections by having the exarch of Ravenna confirm the election, rather than the emperor, thus eliminating long delays.
Benedict II, Pope (RM)
Born in Rome, Italy; died March 8, 685. Not much is known of Saint Benedict's youth except that he was active in Church affairs. He became a Scripture scholar and an expert in sacred chants. Elected to succeed Leo II in 683, his consecration was delayed almost a year until June 26, 684, awaiting the emperor's confirmation. During his term, he amended the process to speed approval of papal elections by having the exarch of Ravenna confirm the election, rather than the emperor, thus eliminating long delays.
Benedict
was greatly respected by Emperor Constantine the Bearded, who sent him locks of
his sons' hair, making them the pope's spiritual sons. Benedict brought back to
orthodoxy Macarius, the ex-patriarch of Antioch, from his Monothelitism, and
restored several Roman churches. He upheld the cause of Saint Wilfred of York,
who sought the return of his see from which he had been deposed by Saint
Theodore. Benedict ruled for only 11 months. He is the patron saint of Europe
(Benedictines, Delaney, White).
May 7
St.
Benedict II., Pope and Confessor
HE was a native
of Rome, and having been brought up from his infancy in the service of the
church, was well skilled in the holy scriptures, and in the ecclesiastical
chanting, or church music, of which he was a devout admirer. To sing
assiduously the divine praises on earth is a kind of novitiate to the state of
the blessed in heaven, and an employment the most sweet and comfortable to a
soul that truly loves God. 1 Benedict was always humble, meek, patient, mortified,
a lover of poverty, and most generous to the poor. Being ordained priest, he
had a share in the government of the Roman Church under the pontificates of
Agatho and Leo II. Benedict was chosen pope upon the death of the latter, in
683, but to obtain the emperor’s consent, it was necessary to wait almost a
year, till the return of messengers sent to Constantinople. On which account
the see remained vacant all that time, and Benedict was only ordained on the
26th of June, 684. The emperor Constans II., grandson to Heraclius, had
endeavoured to establish in the East the Monothelite heresy during an uneasy
reign of twenty-six years: but being slain by an Armenian servant at Syracusa
in Sicily, in 668, his son Constantine Pogonatus, or the Bearded, ascended the
throne, and put to death the man who had murdered his father, and who had been
saluted emperor by the army in Sicily. Constantine was a most religious and
orthodox prince, and reigned seventeen years with great glory. He concurred
with Pope Agatho in assembling the sixth general council at Constantinople, in
680. Pope Leo II. sent the decrees of the synod into Spain. After his decease
Benedict II. pursued the same affair, and the Spanish bishops in a council at
Toledo, approved and received the definition of faith published by the sixth
general council. They despatched to the pope a copy of their decree and
confession of faith with their subscriptions annexed, wherein they acknowledge
two wills in Christ. Pope Benedict, however, observed in their confession
certain obscure expressions, of which he desired a clearer explanation. For
this purpose the fifteenth council of Toledo was held, in which they were
expounded in a sense entirely orthodox. The bishops of Rome were anciently
chosen by the clergy and people of Rome, according to the discipline of those times;
the Christian emperors were the head of the people, on which account their
consent was required. But whilst they resided in the East, this condition
produced often long delays and considerable inconveniences. Pope Benedict
represented this to Constantine, and that pious prince readily passed a law
addressed to the clergy, the people, and the army at Rome, allowing that the
person by them elected should be forthwith ordained, as Anastasius relates:
nevertheless, some emperors still required to be consulted. Such was the
veneration of this good prince for the holy Pope Benedict, that he sent to him
a lock of the hair of his two sons, Justinian and Heraclius, as a token of
their adoption by him, according to the custom of those times. This religious
emperor overcame the Saracens in a war of seven years’ continuance both by sea
and land; he recovered from them several provinces, and obliged them to pay him
an annual tribute. He died in peace, in 685. Pope Benedict laboured much for
the conversion of heretics, and in repairing and adorning churches. He did not
complete eleven months in the pontificate; but filled this short term with good
works. He died on the 7th of May, 686, and was buried in St. Peter’s church. See
his letter, and Anastasius Biblioth. t. 6 Concil.
Note 1. The Cistercian Breviary calls this the principal end
and function of that holy Order; from an affectionate regard to which several
monasteries take their name, as that of Laude, or De Laude Dei, &c. In the
cathedral of Tours there is this epitaph of Ouvrande, a pious master of music:
Laus divina mihi semper fuit unica cura:
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume V:
May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/072.html
Romano, durante il suo pontificato l'imperatore rinunciò al privilegio di confermare l'elezione del pontefice.
Benedetto II aspetta dal luglio 683 fino al giugno 684, governando tuttavia la Chiesa da subito. Ma questa usanza ormai è avviata al declino. L’imperatore d’Oriente, Costantino IV detto Pogonato (“barbuto”), manda la conferma, decidendo però che d’ora in poi non si ricorrerà più a Costantinopoli: l’assenso imperiale sarà comunicato semplicemente dal governatore dell’Italia bizantina, l’esarca che risiede a Ravenna.
Il breve pontificato di Benedetto II è importante anche perché vede migliorare i rapporti tra Papato e Costantinopoli: l’impero d’Oriente, rudemente minacciato dall’espansionismo arabo, comincia a riaccostarsi alla Sede romana (almeno momentaneamente) e a riconoscerne meglio l’autorità. Anzi, Costantino IV manda al neo-eletto Pontefice alcune ciocche di capelli dei suoi figli, Giustiniano ed Eraclio: e con quel gesto simbolico li dichiara figli adottivi di Benedetto II.
Durante questo breve pontificato viene attuata un’importante riforma nella struttura ecclesiastica dell’Urbe. Le “diaconìe” cittadine, ossia le sette circoscrizioni ecclesiastiche romane, stabilite già nel III secolo, diventano per un certo periodo una struttura organizzata secondo il modello dei ministeri, per assicurare in modo permanente l’assistenza ai poveri e ai più deboli. E prendono infatti il nome di monasteria diaconiae, ricevendo dal Papa le forti donazioni necessarie alla loro attività.
Durante questo pontificato si inizia a Roma anche la costruzione di nuove chiese: Benedetto II si impegna in particolare per i necessari restauri nella basilica di San Pietro, che era stata fatta costruire dall’imperatore Costantino sul colle Vaticano. E in essa il Pontefice verrà sepolto, dopo aver governato la Chiesa per meno di due anni, morendo l’8 maggio 685.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
San Benedetto II Papa
m. 685
(Papa dal
26/06/684 al 8/05/685)
Romano, durante il suo pontificato l'imperatore rinunciò al privilegio di confermare l'elezione del pontefice.
Martirologio
Romano: Sempre a Roma, san Benedetto II, papa, che fu amante della povertà,
umile e mansueto e rifulse per la pazienza e per le elemosine.
E' un
prete di famiglia romana, conosciuto come profondo studioso della Sacra
Scrittura e cultore del canto sacro. Viene eletto al soglio pontificio
succedendo a Leone II, greco di origine ma nato in Sicilia, che ha governato la
Chiesa per soli undici mesi. L’elezione di Benedetto, fatta secondo l’uso del
tempo dai tre corpi elettori (clero, esercito e popolo romano), deve poi
ottenere la conferma da parte dell’imperatore di Costantinopoli, che è sovrano
di Roma e di una parte d’Italia. Ricevuto l’assenso, l’eletto viene consacrato
dai tre vescovi suburbani di Porto, Ostia e Velletri. E la pratica per la
ratifica dell’elezione, data la lentezza delle comunicazioni del tempo, dura
sempre molto a lungo: può persino accadere che il riconoscimento imperiale arrivi
quando il nuovo Pontefice è già morto.
Benedetto II aspetta dal luglio 683 fino al giugno 684, governando tuttavia la Chiesa da subito. Ma questa usanza ormai è avviata al declino. L’imperatore d’Oriente, Costantino IV detto Pogonato (“barbuto”), manda la conferma, decidendo però che d’ora in poi non si ricorrerà più a Costantinopoli: l’assenso imperiale sarà comunicato semplicemente dal governatore dell’Italia bizantina, l’esarca che risiede a Ravenna.
Il breve pontificato di Benedetto II è importante anche perché vede migliorare i rapporti tra Papato e Costantinopoli: l’impero d’Oriente, rudemente minacciato dall’espansionismo arabo, comincia a riaccostarsi alla Sede romana (almeno momentaneamente) e a riconoscerne meglio l’autorità. Anzi, Costantino IV manda al neo-eletto Pontefice alcune ciocche di capelli dei suoi figli, Giustiniano ed Eraclio: e con quel gesto simbolico li dichiara figli adottivi di Benedetto II.
Durante questo breve pontificato viene attuata un’importante riforma nella struttura ecclesiastica dell’Urbe. Le “diaconìe” cittadine, ossia le sette circoscrizioni ecclesiastiche romane, stabilite già nel III secolo, diventano per un certo periodo una struttura organizzata secondo il modello dei ministeri, per assicurare in modo permanente l’assistenza ai poveri e ai più deboli. E prendono infatti il nome di monasteria diaconiae, ricevendo dal Papa le forti donazioni necessarie alla loro attività.
Durante questo pontificato si inizia a Roma anche la costruzione di nuove chiese: Benedetto II si impegna in particolare per i necessari restauri nella basilica di San Pietro, che era stata fatta costruire dall’imperatore Costantino sul colle Vaticano. E in essa il Pontefice verrà sepolto, dopo aver governato la Chiesa per meno di due anni, morendo l’8 maggio 685.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
