Christian Saints Podcast

Pope Saint Innocent I

March 11, 2023 Darren C. Ong Season 3 Episode 26
Christian Saints Podcast
Pope Saint Innocent I
Show Notes Transcript

Saint Innocent I was pope in the years 405-417, and is known for proactively and successfully acting against various heresies that threatened the Christian church. He was also a staunch ally of Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, and advocated for him when Saint John was exiled by his powerful enemies. 


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 God is glorious in his Saints! 
 

Welcome to the Christian Saints Podcast. My name is dr Darren Ong, recording from Malaysia. In this podcast, we explore the lives of the Christian saints, from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions.
 
 Today, we commemorate Pope Saint Innocent I, a Pope of the Christian church from the years 401-417. This was a time when the Roman Empire had only recently became Christian, following periods of intense persecution in the earliest centuries of the church. Various heresies were emerging, many false teachers who were trying to re-define the Christian faith. In Saint Innocent’s time, a powerful heresy emerged in the Western part of the church known as Pelagianism. This doctrine denied the role of grace in Christian salvation, and asserted that we could be saved by our own efforts, by good works or ascetic practice. In part through Saint Innocent’s efforts the church was able to defeat this heresy.
 
 In the East, the great saint John Chrysostom was Archbishop of Constantinople, but had made many powerful enemies. Pope Saint Innocent was a staunch ally of St John Chrysostom, advocating tirelessly for him when he was exiled by the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.
 
 Let us read an account of Pope Saint Innocent’s life, from this entry of the Catholic Encyclopedia written by J.P. Kirsch:
 
 Innocent I, POPE; date of birth unknown; d. March 12, 417. Before his elevation to the Chair of Peter, very little is known concerning the life of this energetic pope, so zealous for the welfare of the whole Church. According to the “Liber Pontificalis” he was a native of Albano; his father was called Innocentius. He grew up among the Roman clergy and in the service of the Roman Church. After the death of Anastasius (December, 401) he was unanimously chosen Bishop of Rome by the clergy and people. Not much has come down to us concerning his ecclesiastical activities in Rome. Nevertheless one or two instances of his zeal for the purity of the Catholic Faith and for church discipline are well attested. He took several churches in Rome from the Novatians (Socrates, Hist. Eccl., VII, ii) and caused the Photinian Marcus to be banished from the city. A drastic decree, which the Emperor Honorius issued from Rome (February 22, 407) against the Manicheans, the Montanists, and the Priscillianists (Codex Theodosianus, XVI, 5, 40), was very probably not issued without his concurrence. Through the munificence of Vestina, a rich Roman matron, Innocent was enabled to build and richly endow a church dedicated to Sts. Gervasius and Protasius; this was the old Titulus Vestincs which still stands under the name of San Vitale. The siege and capture of Rome by the Goths under Alaric (408-10) occurred in his pontificate. When, at the time of the first siege, the barbarian leader had declared that he would withdraw only on condition that the Romans should arrange a peace favorable to him, an embassy of the Romans went to Honorius, at Ravenna, to try, if possible, to make peace between him and the Goths. Pope Innocent also joined this embassy. But all his endeavors to bring about peace failed. The Goths then recommenced the siege of Rome, so that the pope and the envoys were not able to return to the city, which was taken and sacked in 410. From the beginning of his pontificate, Innocent often acted as head of the whole Church, both East and West. 

In his letter to Archbishop Anysius of Thessalonica, in which he informed the latter of his own election to the See of Rome, he also confirmed the privileges which had been bestowed upon the archbishop by previous popes. When Eastern Illyria fell to the Eastern Empire (379) Pope Damasus had asserted and preserved the ancient rights of the papacy in those parts, and his successor Siricius had bestowed on the Archbishop of Thessalonica the privilege of confirming and consecrating the bishops of Eastern Illyria. These prerogatives were renewed by Innocent (Ep. i), and by a later letter (Ep. xiii, June 17, 412) the pope entrusted the supreme administration of the dioceses of Eastern Illyria to Archbishop Rufus of Thessalonica, as representative of the Holy See. By this means the papal vicariate of Illyria was put on a sound basis, and the archbishops of Thessalonica became vicars of the popes. On February 15, 404, Innocent sent an important decretal to Bishop Victricius of Rouen (Ep. ii), who had laid before the pope a list of disciplinary matters for decision. The points at issue concerned the consecration of bishops, admissions into the ranks of the clergy, the disputes of clerics, whereby important matters (causce majores) were to be brought from the episcopal tribunal to the Apostolic See, also the ordinations of the clergy, celibacy, the reception of converted Novatians or Donatists into the Church, monks, and nuns. In general, the pope indicated the discipline of the Roman Church as being the norm for the other bishops to follow. Innocent directed a similar decretal to the Spanish bishops (Ep. iii) among whom difficulties had arisen, especially regarding the Priscillianist bishops. The pope regulated this matter and at the same time settled other questions of ecclesiastical discipline. 

Similar letters, disciplinary in content, or decisions of important cases, were sent to Bishop Exuperius of Toulouse (Ep. vi), to the bishops of Macedonia (Ep. xvii), to Decentius, Bishop of Gubbio (Ep. xxv), to Felix, Bishop of Nocera (Ep. xxxviii). Innocent also addressed shorter letters to several other bishops, among them a letter to two British bishops, Maximus and Severus, in which he decided that those priests who, while priests, had begotten children should be dismissed from their sacred office (Ep. xxxix). Envoys were sent by the Synod of Carthage (404) to the Bishop of Rome, or the bishop of the city where the emperor was staying, in order to provide for severer treatment of the Montanists. The envoys came to Rome, and Pope Innocent obtained from the Emperor Honorius a strong decree against those African sectaries, by which many adherents of Montanism were induced to be reconciled with the Church. The Christian East also claimed a share of the pope’s energy. St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, who was persecuted by the Empress Eudoxia and the Alexandrian patriarch Theophilus, threw himself on the protection of Innocent. Theophilus had already informed the latter of the deposition of John, following on the illegal Synod of the Oak (ad quercum). But the pope did not recognize the sentence of the synod, summoned Theophilus to a new synod at Rome, consoled the exiled Patriarch of Byzantium, and wrote a letter to the clergy and people of Constantinople in which he animadverted severely on their conduct towards their bishop (John), and announced his intention of calling a general synod, at which the matter would be sifted and decided. Thessalonica was suggested as the place of assembly. The pope informed Honorius, Emperor of the West, of these proceedings, whereupon the latter wrote three letters to his brother, the Eastern Emperor Arcadius, and besought Arcadius to summon the Eastern bishops to a synod at Thessalonica, before which the Patriarch Theophilus was to appear. The messengers who brought these three letters were ill received, Arcadius being quite favorable to Theophilus. In spite of the efforts of the pope and the Western emperor, the synod never took place. Innocent remained in correspondence with the exiled John; when, from his place of banishment the latter thanked him for his kind solicitude, the pope answered with another comforting letter, which the exiled bishop received only a short time before his death (407) (Epp. xi, xii). The pope did not recognize Arsacius and Atticus, who had been raised to the See of Constantinople instead of the unlawfully deposed John. 

After John’s death, Innocent desired that the name of the deceased patriarch should be restored to the diptychs, but it was not until after Theophilus was dead (412) that Atticus yielded. The pope obtained from many other Eastern bishops a similar recognition of the wrong done to St. John Chrysostom. The schism at Antioch, dating from the Arian conflicts, was finally settled in Innocent’s time. Alexander, Patriarch of Antioch, succeeded, about 413-15, in gaining over to his cause the adherents of the former Bishop Eustathius; he also received into the ranks of his clergy the followers of Paulinus, who had fled to Italy and had been ordained there. Innocent informed Alexander of these proceedings, and as Alexander restored the name of John Chrysostom to the diptychs, the pope entered into communion with the Antiochene patriarch, and wrote him two letters, one in the name of a Roman synod of twenty Italian bishops, and one in his own name (Epp. xix and xx). Acacius, Bishop of Beroea, one of the most zealous opponents of Chrysostom, had sought to obtain readmittance to communion with the Roman Church through the aforesaid Alexander of Antioch. The pope informed him, through Alexander, of the conditions under which he would resume communion with him (Ep. xxi). In a later letter Innocent decided several questions of church discipline (Ep. xxiv). 

The pope also informed the Macedonian bishop Maximian and the priest Bonifatius, who had interceded with him for the recognition of Atticus, Patriarch of Constantinople, of the conditions, which were similar to those required of the above-mentioned Patriarch of Antioch (Epp. xxii and xxiii). In the Origenist and Pelagian controversies, also, the pope’s authority was invoked from several quarters. St. Jerome and the nuns of Bethlehem were attacked in their convents by brutal followers of Pelagius, a deacon was killed, and a part of the buildings was set on fire. John, Bishop of Jerusalem, who was on bad terms with Jerome, owing to the Origenist controversy, did nothing to prevent these outrages. Through Aurelius, Bishop of Carthage, Innocent sent St. Jerome a letter of condolence, in which he informed him that he would employ the influence of the Holy See to repress such crimes; and if Jerome would give the names of the guilty ones, he would proceed further in the matter. The pope at once wrote an earnest letter of exhortation to the Bishop of Jerusalem, and reproached him with negligence of his pastoral duty. The pope was also compelled to take part in the Pelagian controversy. In 415, on the proposal of Orosius, the Synod of Jerusalem brought the matter of the orthodoxy of Pelagius before the Holy See. The synod of Eastern bishops held at Diospolis (December, 415), which had been deceived by Pelagius with regard to his actual teaching and had acquitted him, approached Innocent on behalf of the heretic. On the report of Orosius concerning the proceedings at Diospolis, the African bishops assembled in synod at Carthage, in 416, and confirmed the condemnation which had been pronounced in 411 against Coelestius, who shared the views of Pelagius. The bishops of Numidia did likewise in the same year in the Synod of Mileve. Both synods reported their transactions to the pope and asked him to confirm their decisions. Soon after this, five African bishops, among them St. Augustine, wrote a personal letter to Innocent regarding their own position in the matter of Pelagianism. Innocent in his reply praised the African bishops, because, mindful of the authority of the Apostolic See, they had appealed to the Chair of Peter; he rejected the teachings of Pelagius and confirmed the decisions drawn up by the African Synods (Epp. xxvii—xxxiii). The decisions of the Synod of Diospolis were rejected by the pope. Pelagius now sent a confession of faith to Innocent, which, however, was only delivered to his successor, for Innocent died before the document reached the Holy See. He was buried in a basilica above the catacomb of Pontianus, and was venerated as a saint. He was a very energetic and active man, and a highly gifted ruler, who fulfilled admirably the duties of his office. 



Pope Saint Innocent I is best known for preserving the unity of the Christian faith, when disagreements emerged in both the west and east. He was proactive and forceful in condemning heretics and showed good judgment in healing these rifts. His actions helped shape the role of the papacy in the western church, setting the precedent of a Pope mediating when conflicts emerge.
 
 
 Let us read this excerpt, from the introduction in an Oxford University PhD Thesis by Malcolm Green about Pope Innocent I, that discusses this aspect of Pope Saint Innocent I’s legacy:



The framework of this study is formed by Innocent's letters. 

These, though presenting few personal traits and no biographical 

details, are yet sufficiently varied to enable the student to gauge 

from them the relationship of the church of Rome to the rest of 

Christendom and to assess Innocent's handling of the various crises 

with which he was confronted.

His first letter was addressed to Anysius of Thessalanica.

The ties between Anysius and Rome were unusually close, since he had 

demonstrated in the past, as he was to do again under Innocent, that 

he was willing to lock to Rome for guidance on all major matters. 

This willingness an Anysius' part led Innocent to develop the concept 

of the papal vicariate which he was able to impose, more or less

successfully, on Rufus, Anysius' successor. It is a development which 

was to prove fruitful for Innocent's successors in other areas of the 

West.

In conformity with his policy of encouraging the Western churches 

to look upon Rome as the source of discipline and doctrine, Innocent 

was anxious to encourage the habit of consultation of Rome in cases

of doubt or disagreement. He therefore replied fully to such enquiries 

and requested that his replies be given the widest circulation. His 

letters to Victricius of Rouen, to Exsuperius of Toulouse, to the

Macedonian and Dacian bishops and to Decentius of Gubbio are thus most 

instructive as to current Roman practice in liturgy and church order. 

They are also found in a very large number of canon collections, which 

suggests that Innocent's aim was successful.

The African Church was, outside Italy, by far the most highly 

organised of any diocese in the West. As a result, the Church there 

did not find it necessary to call on Rome in all cases of difficulty. 

For example, the decisive act in the Donatist controversy, in 411, was

played out without Roman participation. But matters of faith were 

different. Suds questions could not, of their very nature, be settled 

by one part of Christendom acting alone. When, therefore, Pelagius' 

opinians seemed to be gaining ground in the East, the Africans condemned 

them unequivocally and reported their decision to Innocent, asking him

to add his authority to theirs. Innocent chose to regard their letters 

as a consultation, and replied confirming the stand they had taken. 

The Africans were thus put in a subordinate position, to which they 

could scarcely object without harming their campaign against Pelagius. 

But that they by no means accorded to Rome authority to intervene in 

African affairs or to dictate to than on matters of faith, is amply 

shown by the experience of Zosimus and Boniface after Innocent's death.

The Eastern church had never accepted Roman primacy in a 

jurisdictional sense. Rome's help had, nevertheless, been called upon 

repeatedly in the previous century by one side or another in times of 

conflict. So when John Chrysostom was exiled, his supporters besought 

Innocent's aid. Rome's long-standing friendship with Alexandria prevented 

him from taking sides initially, and he called instead for a council of

both East and West to examine the issues at stake, a council at which his 

representatives would play a leading part. But the government of Arcadius 

had already committed itself to persecution of the Johannites, and refused 

even to consider Innocent's request. The latter had no option, therefore, 

but to declare for John's cause, and after John's death in 407 to insist 

on his recognition in the liturgy as rightful bishop of Constantinople.


 

Innocent's firmness and patience were rewarded when Alexander of Antioch 

acceded to the Roman demand in 413, but Atticus and Cyril still remained 

out of communion, perhaps even after Innocent's own death in 417.

The pre-eminence enjwed by the Roman church throughout the West 

was naturally reflected in its wealth and power in the City. The

endowment of its numerous basilicas as well as the number and organisation 

of its clergy are sufficient testimony to this. Further, the social 

position of the bishop was given a powerful boost when in Innocent's 

generation the resistance of the pagan aristocracy collapsed and its 

members found their way into the Church. Innocent's role during the 

sieges of Rome by Alaric and his membership of the Senate's embassy to 

Ravenna foreshadow the part played by Leo before Attila.

Again and again we are led to compare Innocent with Leo as we watch 

him at work. But Innocent recognised that only time could bring to 

completion the hierarchic structure of church government under Rome's 

headship, the foundations of which he was so carefully laying. 


 Pope Saint Innocent I is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, with feast day on March 12.
 

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***|
 Let us end by hearing some words from Pope Saint Innocent I himself. This is a short letter he wrote to Saint John Chrysostom when he was in exile. We hear his kindness and encouragement towards Saint John in his time of need.
 
 
 ALTHOUGH the innocent man ought to expect all good things, and to crave mercy from God, nevertheless we also, counselling resignation, have sent an appropriate letter by the hands of Cyriacus the deacon; so that insolence may not have more power in oppressing, than a good conscience has in retaining hope. For thou who art the teacher and pastor of so many people needest not to be taught that the best men are ever frequently put to the test whether they will persevere in the perfection of patience, and not succumb to any toil of distress: and certainly conscience is a strong defence against all things which unjustly befall us: and unless any one conquer these by patient endurance he supplies an argument for evil surmising. For he ought to endure all things who trusts first of all in God, and then in his own conscience; seeing that the noble and good man can be specially trained to endurance, inasmuch as the holy Scriptures guard his mind; and the sacred lessons which we deliver to the people abound in examples, testifying as they do that nearly all the saints have been continually oppressed in divers ways, and are tested as by a kind of scrutiny, and so attain to the crown of patience. Let conscience itself console thy love, most honoured brother, which in affliction supplies the consolation of virtue. For under the eye of the Master Christ, the conscience, having been purged, will find rest in the haven of peace.


 ***
 ALTHOUGH the innocent man ought to expect all good things, and to crave mercy from God, nevertheless we also, counselling resignation, have sent an appropriate letter by the hands of Cyriacus the deacon; so that insolence may not have more power in oppressing, than a good conscience has in retaining hope. For thou who art the teacher and pastor of so many people needest not to be taught that the best men are ever frequently put to the test whether they will persevere in the perfection of patience, and not succumb to any toil of distress: and certainly conscience is a strong defence against all things which unjustly befall us: and unless any one conquer these by patient endurance he supplies an argument for evil surmising. For he ought to endure all things who trusts first of all in God, and then in his own conscience; seeing that the noble and good man can be specially trained to endurance, inasmuch as the holy Scriptures guard his mind; and the sacred lessons which we deliver to the people abound in examples, testifying as they do that nearly all the saints have been continually oppressed in divers ways, and are tested as by a kind of scrutiny, and so attain to the crown of patience. Let conscience itself console thy love, most honoured brother, which in affliction supplies the consolation of virtue. For under the eye of the Master Christ, the conscience, having been purged, will find rest in the haven of peace.