Pope Saint Innocent I

Life story

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Innocent I was a native of Albano and the son of a man named Innocentius. He grew up among the Roman clergy and was chosen bishop of Rome by clergy and people after Pope Anastasius died in December 401. He often acted as the authority for the whole Church, East and West, and defended the rights of the Roman See with energy.

His pontificate coincided with the Gothic siege under Alaric. He joined a Roman embassy to Emperor Honorius at Ravenna to negotiate peace, but it failed. The Goths resumed the siege, so he and the envoys could not return, and Rome was taken and sacked in 410. In the case of John Chrysostom, the bishop of Constantinople who was deposed after the Synod of the Oak and appealed to him, Innocent refused to recognise the deposition, summoned Theophilus of Alexandria to a synod in Rome, and wrote to the clergy and people of Constantinople. He proposed a general council at Thessalonica, which never met. John died in exile in 407.

On Pelagianism, Innocent rejected the decisions of the Synod of Diospolis (December 415). In 416 African synods at Carthage and Mileve condemned Pelagian teaching; he praised the African bishops and confirmed their decisions. Pelagius's profession of faith reached Rome only after Innocent had died. He died on 12 March 417 and was buried in a basilica above the catacomb of Pontian.

Works and witness

• Elected bishop of Rome in December 401
• Joined an embassy to Honorius at Ravenna during the Gothic siege; it failed
• Refused to recognise the deposition of John Chrysostom
• Rejected Pelagian teaching and confirmed the African synods of 416
• Died on 12 March 417

Saints from the same country

Saint Agnes, Saint Lawrence, Saint Cecilia, Saint Sebastian

References

• New Advent, Catholic Encyclopedia (1910), 'Pope Innocent I', newadvent.org/cathen/08011a.htm

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.