Agapetus II, Pope
Agapetus II, Pope
Reigned from 946 to 956 . Born in Rome. Elected to the papacy, 946 , he labored to restore ecclesiastical discipline, and supported Otto the Great in evangelization of the North, urging him with other nobles to invade Italy for the purpose of restoring order. He reigned well during a difficult period.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Agapetus II, Pope
A Roman by birth, elected to the papacy 10 May, 946; he reigned, not ingloriously, for ten years, during what has been termed the period of deepest humiliation for the papacy. He proved that the true spiritual dignity of the papacy can be successfully upheld by a saintly and resolute pontiff amid the most untoward surroundings. The temporal power had practically vanished and Rome was ruled by the vigorous Princeps and Senator Albericht, who was the prototype of the later Italian tyrants. Nevertheless, the name and virtues of Agapetus were respected throughout the entire Christian world. He labored incessantly to restore the decadent discipline in churches and cloisters. He succeeded eventually in quieting the disturbances in the metropolitan see of Reims. He supported the Emperor Otto the Great in his plans for the evangelization of the heathens of the North. Seeing no other way of putting an end to anarchy in Italy, he joined with other Italian nobles in persuading the Emperor to make his first expedition into the peninsula. During his lifetime, his successor was virtually appointed in the person of Albericht’s notorious son Octavian, later John XII, whose father forced the Romans to swear that they would elect him as their temporal and spiritual lord upon the demise of Agapetus. The Pope died in August, 956, leaving an unsullied name, and was buried in St. John Lateran.
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Liber Pontificalis (ed. DUCHESNE), II, 245. For his correspondence see JAFF , Regesta RR. PP., 2d ed., I, 459-463; ARTAUD DE MONTOR, History of the Popes (New York, 1867), 250-251.
JAMES F. LOUGHLIN
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York