Saint Eugène Ier
Pape
(75 ème) de 654 à 657 (✝ 657)
Il fut élu* sur ordre de l'empereur. Comme c'était un homme de paix, il ne
put répondre aux exigences de l'empereur qui voulait combattre le patriarche de
Constantinople, saint Maxime le Confesseur. Le pontificat de saint Eugène
fut très court, à peine 3 années. Ce qui ne l'empêcha pas de combattre avec
force et habileté l'hérésie des monothélites qui ne voulaient qu'un seule
volonté en Jésus-Christ, niant sa volonté humaine. Il s'occupa activement du
soulagement des pauvres dans la Ville de Rome.
* le pape saint Martin Ier a été capturé et déporté (17 juin 653); le
10 août 654, son successeur saint Eugène a été ordonné, saint Martin n'a pas
fait d'objection. (d'après Annuario Pontifico)
À Rome, près de saint Pierre, en 657, saint Eugène Ier, pape, qui
succéda à saint Martin Ier, martyr.
Martyrologe
romain
Saint Eugène I (655-657)
Eugène
I fut élu par la volonté de l’empereur Constant II.
Avant
sa mort il dénonça les abus et les persécutions dont avait été victime son
prédécesseur.
Il
prescrit pour les prêtres la chasteté perpétuelle.
Eugène
Ier, pape
Eugène, fils de Rufinianus, naît à Rome.
Prêtre, il est élu pape le 10 août 654, par la volonté de l’empereur Constant
II, du vivant de son prédécesseur, Martin
Ier, arrêté et exilé.
Eugène ne soutient pas l’empereur dans son combat contre le patriarche de
Constantinople, Maxime le Confesseur (Maxime le Confesseur, arrêté en 653 avec
le pape Martin et déporté dans le Caucase, mourra le 13 août 662, après avoir
eu la langue et la main droite tranchées).
Eugène tente en vain un rapprochement avec les monothélites
puis combat leur hérésie laquelle, niant sa volonté humaine, ne reconnaît
qu'une seule volonté en Jésus-Christ.
Il prescrit aux prêtres la chasteté.
Il se signale surtout par sa charité envers les pauvres.
Il crée 21 évêques de différentes parties du monde.
Avant sa mort (2 juin 657), il dénonce les abus et les persécutions dont a été
victime son prédécesseur.
Saint Eugène Ier est fêté le 2 juin.
"Il fut élu sur ordre de l'empereur. Comme c'était un homme de paix, il ne
put répondre aux exigences de l'empereur qui voulait combattre le patriarche de
Constantinople, saint Maxime le Confesseur. Le pontificat de saint Eugène fut
très court, à peine 3 années. Ce qui ne l'empêcha pas de combattre avec force
et habileté l'hérésie des monothélites qui ne voulaient qu'une seule volonté en
Jésus-Christ, niant sa volonté humaine. Il s'occupa activement du soulagement
des pauvres dans la Ville de Rome."
1
654. 10 août, élection d'Eugène par la
volonté de l'empereur Constant II. 15 novembre, Bataille
de Winwaed : Penda, le maître du royaume anglais de Mercie est battu et
exécuté par Oswy, le roi de Northumbrie ; conversion de la Mercie au
christianisme.
655. Les musulmans
occupent Kaboul et Kandahar. Bataille des mâts
: victoire navale décisive des Arabes sur Byzance. En Chine, Wu Zetian (Wou
Tsö-t’ien), concubine de Tai-tsung reprise par Kao-tsong, fait accuser
l’impératrice en titre du meurtre de sa fille qu’elle a elle-même étouffée et
prend sa place aux côtés de l’empereur.
656. 17 juin, Othman (ou Osman) est tué par des émeutiers qui
donnent l’assaut à son palais (ils lui reprochent son népotisme et sa volonté
de satisfaire les populations des pays conquis) :
Ali ibn Abi Taleb ou Abu Talib, cousin germain et gendre du prophète
Mahomet, considéré par les adeptes du chiisme
comme le seul successeur légitime de Mahomet
(car désigné par lui) et le premier des imams (de "amma" : guider)
lui succède jusqu’au 24-1-661. 1er décembre, Xe
Concile de Tolède réuni à la demande du roi wisigoth Réceswinthe :
le sixième canon de ce concile porte que les enfants offerts dans les
monastères par leurs parents jusqu’à l’âge de dix ans ne pourront plus rentrer
dans la vie séculière. 9 décembre, Ali bat ses adversaires à la Bataille du Chameau nommée ainsi parce qu'Aïcha,
troisième épouse de Muhammad et adversaire d’Ali, en montait un.
657. 2 juin, mort du
pape. 26/29 juillet, à Siffîn, le gouverneur de Syrie, Muawiya
(603-680), qui refuse de reconnaître Ali comme calife tant que les meurtriers
d’Othman ne le lui sont pas livrés, prend les armes contre lui : pendant la
bataille, Muawiya a l’idée de brandir des versets du Coran au bout des lances
de ses soldats, ce qui oblige Ali à renoncer au combat et à accepter l’arbitrage
qui lui est proposé ; les kharidjites (de
kharadja = sortir), les puritains de l’islam, se sépareront de la communauté
majoritaire après être entrés en dissidence avec Ali à qui ils reprochent
d'avoir remis en cause, lors de l’Arbitrage de
Siffîn, la légitimité que lui accordait Allah par le sort des armes.
Note
Auteur : Jean-Paul Coudeyrette
Référence publication : Compilhistoire ; toute reproduction à but non lucratif est autorisée.
Date de mise à jour : 18/03/2017
Eugenius I, Pope (RM)
Died at Rome in 657. While Pope Saint Martin was still alive, the Roman priest
Eugenius was consecrated bishop of Rome on August 10, 654. How did this happen?
Saint Martin condemned Monothelitism and the emperor, Constans, happened to be
a Monothelite. Constans sent Theodore Calliopas to forcibly capture the pope
and bring him to Constantinople, where he was imprisoned and then exiled to
Kherson. Martin died within one month of Eugenius's elevation.
It is a mystery how
Eugenius became pope because the Romans refused attempts by the exarch Theodore
Calliopas to persuade them to elect another one while Martin was still alive.
As is usual during a vacancy, the Holy See was administered by the archpriest,
archdeacon, and chief notary. Eugenius may have been an antipope forced on the
reluctant Romans by the emperor, or he was chosen freely on the presumed
consent of Saint Martin to keep the emperor from forcibly planting a docile tool
on the throne of Saint Peter. It is more likely that Saint Martin requested the
election, because Eugenius continually refused to yield to imperial pressure
and Martin appears to have recognized him as his legitimate successor.
Eugenius was known for his
holiness, gentleness, and charity. He had been a cleric from his youth and held
various positions within the Church of Rome. Almost immediately after his
election, Eugenius was forced to deal with the heresy of Monothelitism, i.e.,
the Christ had only one will. Eugenius promptly sent legates to inform Constans
of his election. Unfortunately, these legates treated Patriarch Peter of
Constantinople as being in communion with the Holy See although he remained
ambiguous on the question whether Christ had one or two wills. Pope Eugenius
disavowed their action and said that they had been given authority to deal only
with the emperor. The legates returned to Rome with a synodal letter of Peter
that was so obscure that when it was read at Saint Mary Major, the people
raised an uproar. His Holiness Eugenius had to delay completing the Mass until
he assured them that the objectionable letter would not be accepted.
Eugenius continued to
refuse to recognize Peter as patriarch until he would clarify his understanding
of Christology. The emperor was furious and would have treated Eugenius as he
had Martin. He threatened to roast the pope alive if he were not otherwise
occupied with fighting the Islamics, who had captured Rhodes in 654. Their
defeat of Constans in the naval battle of Phoenix in 655 saved Eugenius from
sharing Martin's fate. Thus, Eugenius was able to end his brief pontificate in
peace. He was buried on June 2, 657, in Saint Peter's (Benedictines, Brusher,
Delaney, Encyclopedia).
Pope
St. Eugene I
Eugene I was elected 10
Aug., 654, and died at Rome, 2 June, 657. Because he would not submit to
Byzantine dictation in the matter of Monothelitism, St. Martin I was forcibly carried off from Rome (18 June, 653) and kept in exile till his
death (September, 655). What happened in Rome after his departure is not well known. For a
time the Church was governed in the manner usual in those days
during a vacancy of the Holy See, or during the absence of its occupant, viz.,
by the archpriest, the archdeacon, and the primicerius of the notaries. But
after about a year and two months a successor was given to Martin in the person of Eugene (10 Aug., 654). He was a Roman of
the first ecclesiastical region of the city, and was the son
of Rufinianus. He had been a cleric from his earliest years, and is set down by
his biographer as distinguished for his gentleness, sanctity, and generosity. With regard to the circumstances
of his election, it can only be said that if he was forcibly placed on the
Chair of Peter by the power of the emperor, in the hope that he would follow
the imperial will, these calculations miscarried; and that, if he was elected
against the will of the reigning pope in the first instance, Pope Martin
subsequently acquiesced in his election (Ep. Martini xvii in P.L., LXXXVII).
One of the first acts of
the new pope was to send legates to Constantinople with letters to the Emperor
Constans II, informing him of his election, and presenting a profession of his faith. But the legates allowed themselves to be deceived, or gained
over, and brought back a synodical letter from Peter, the new Patriarch of Constantinople (656-666), while the
emperor's envoy, who accompanied them, brought offerings for St. Peter, and a
request from the emperor that the pope would enter into communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople. Peter's letter proved to be
written in the most obscure style, and avoided making any specific declaration
as to the number of "wills or operations" in Christ. When its
contents were communicated to the clergy and people in the church of St. Mary Major, they not only rejected the
letter with indignation, but would not allow the pope to leave the basilica until he had promised
that he would not on any account accept it (656). So furious were the Byzantine
officials at this contemptuous rejection of the wishes of their emperor and
patriarch that they threatened, in their coarse phraseology, that when the
state of politics allowed it, they would roast Eugene, and all the talkers at Rome along with him, as they had roasted Pope Martin I (Disp. inter S. Maxim. et Theod. in P.L.,
CXXXIX, 654). Eugene was saved from the fate of his predecessor by the advance
of the Moslems who took Rhodes in 654, and defeated Constans
himself in the naval battle of Phoenix (655). It was almost certainly this pope who received the youthful St. Wilfrid on the occasion of his first visit to Rome (c. 654). He went thither because he was
anxious to know "the ecclesiastical and monastic rites which were in use
there". At Rome he gained the affection of Archdeacon
Boniface, a counsellor of the apostolic pope, who presented him to his master. Eugene
"placed his blessed hand on the head of the youthful servant of God, prayed for him, and blessed him" (Bede, Hist.
Eccles., V, 19; Eddius, In vit. Wilf., c. v). Nothing more is known of Eugene
except that he consecrated twenty-one bishops for different parts of the world, and that he
was buried in St. Peter's. In the Roman Martyrology he is
reckoned among the saints of that day.
Sources
Liber Pontificalis, ed. DUCHESNE,
I, 341-2; various documents in P.L., CXXIX, LXXXVII; PAPEBROCHI in Acta
SS. (1695), 1 June, 220-2 (2a. 214-6); MANN, Lives of the Early Popes,
I, pt. I, 406 sqq.
"Pope St. Eugene I." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 2 Jun. 2017
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05598a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by WGKofron. With thanks to Fr. John
Hilkert, Akron, Ohio.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur.
+John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Sant' Eugenio I Papa
m. 657
(Papa dal
10/08/654 al 02/06/657)
L'esarca Teodoro Calliopa e il cubiculario Peliuro, per ordine dell'imperatore
Costante I, la notte del 19 giugno 653 costrinsero con la violenza il papa
Martino I a lasciare Roma e a seguirli a Costantinopoli, dove giunsero il 17
settembre dell'anno successivo. Martino fu sottoposto ad un
finto processo, privato del pallio ed esiliato nel Chersoneso dove morì il 16
settembre 655. Il clero
romano gli diede un successore nella persona del romano Eugenio I, che fu
consacrato il 10 agosto 654. Figlio del romano Ruffiniano, Eugenio era persona
retta e meritevole dell'alto ufficio. Ciò apparve dall'atteggiamento assunto
verso Pirro, patriarca bizantino, e il suo successore Pietro, che nel 656 aveva
mandato al papa, secondo l'uso, una lettera con l'annuncio della sua nomina e
una professione di fede ambigua sulla questione che agitava gli animi, quella
delle due volontà ed operazioni in Cristo. Letta nella chiesa di Santa Maria ad
praesepe, venne respinta dal papa, dal clero e dal popolo. Il gesto irritò la
corte di Costantinopoli e certamente Eugenio avrebbe avuto la sorte del suo
predecessore se la morte, avvenuta il 2 giugno 657, non lo avesse impedito. Fu sepolto in San Pietro. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Eugenio = ben nato, di nobile stirpe, dal greco
Martirologio Romano: A Roma presso san Pietro, sant’Eugenio I, papa, che
succedette a san Martino martire.
L'esarca Teodoro Calliopa e il cubiculario Peliuro, in ottemperanza agli
ordini ricevuti dall'imperatore Costante I, la notte del 19 giugno 653
costrinsero con la violenza il papa Martino I a lasciare Roma e a seguirli a
Costantinopoli, dove giunsero, dopo un viaggio disagevole, il 17 settembre
dell'anno successivo. Martino fu sottoposto ad una larva di processo, privato
del pallio ed esiliato nel Chersoneso dove morì il 16 settembre 655.
Il clero
romano, che lo aveva fedelmente sostenuto al concilio convocato nella basilica
costantiniana il 5 ottobre 649, nel quale si condannarono l'Ectesi di Eraclio e
il Tipo di Costante, non esitò, prima ancora di conoscere l'esito del processo,
a dargli un successore nella persona del romano Eugenio I, che fu consacrato il
10 agosto 654.
La scelta non fu, peraltro, cattiva, poiché Eugenio, figlio del romano
Ruffiniano, era persona retta e in tutto meritevole dell'alto ufficio. Ciò
apparve dall'atteggiamento assunto verso Pirro, patriarca bizantino, e il suo
successore Pietro, che nel 656 aveva mandato al papa, secondo l'uso, una
lettera con l'annuncio della sua nomina e una professione di fede ambigua sulla
questione che agitava gli animi, quella delle due volontà ed operazioni in
Cristo. Letta nella chiesa di S. Maria ad praesepe, venne respinta dal papa,
dal clero e dal popolo. Il gesto irritò la corte di Costantinopoli e certamente
Eugenio avrebbe avuto la sorte del suo predecessore se la morte, avvenuta il 2
giugno 657, non lo avesse impedito. Fu sepolto in S. Pietro.
Ignorato dal Martirologio Geronimiano, da Usuardo e dagli antichi martirologi,
fu iscritto dal Baronio nel Martirologio Romano ed è ricordato il giorno della
morte.
Autore: Pietro
Burchi
