Boniface III

Boniface was born in Rome, and was the son of John Catadios, who, in turn, had Greek roots.

As deacon Boniface impressed Pope Gregory I, who described him as a man of "tested faith and character" and appointed him in 603 as an apocrisiary (legate, in fact, a papal nuncio ) at the imperial court in Constantinople. This time was very significant for the whole life of Boniface and became the time of his ascension to the papal throne.

As an apocrisiary, he communicated a lot with Emperor Foca and was respected by him. This helped Boniface prove himself in carrying out the commission of Pope Gregory to petition the emperor on behalf of Bishop Alkison of Kassiope on the island of Kerkyra . Alkison discovered that his post of bishop was usurped by Bishop John Evrias of Epirus , who fled from his home with his clergy to escape from the attack of the Slavs and Avars . John, finding shelter in Korkir, was not satisfied that he was subordinate to Alkison, and set about trying to usurp bishopric authority. Usually this behavior was unacceptable, but Emperor Phocas sympathized with John and did not intend to intervene. Alkison turned to Pope Gregory, who left instructed Boniface to solve this problem. As a result of diplomatic maneuvers, Boniface was able to reconcile both sides while maintaining the emperor’s confidence.

Upon the death of Sabinian in February 606 , Boniface was elected his successor, although his return from Constantinople to Rome dragged on for almost a year. There is much controversy over why such a long "interregnum" was associated. Some historians believe that Boniface was about to complete important things in Constantinople, but the belief that there were problems with the elections was more widespread. Boniface himself is believed to have insisted on free and fair elections and may have refused to accept the tiara until he was convinced that they were such.

Boniface III made two significant changes to the papal election procedure. Firstly, he forbade to decide on the new pope during the life of the old under pain of excommunication. Secondly, such actions could no longer be undertaken within 3 days after the burial of the pope. This suggests that Boniface was serious in his desire to keep papal elections free.

His other notable action was the receipt from the Byzantine emperor Foki of recognition of the primacy of the Roman pulpit over the rest. This recognition guaranteed that the title "Ecumenical Patriarch" belongs exclusively to the Bishop of Rome and put an end to the attempts of Patriarch Cyriac of Constantinople to establish himself in this title.

Boniface III was buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on November 12, 607 .

• Boniface, popes // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• "Pope Boniface III." Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
• Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, AD 590–752. Lexington Books.