Gregory I, Pope, commonly called Gregory the Great, great-grandchild of pope Eelix II, was born at Rome about 5-11. Having received an education suit- able to his rank, he became a member of the senate, and filled other employments in the state. The em- peror Justin II appointed him prefect or governor of Eome (A.D. 57;i). This ofHce he quitted soon after the death of his father, when he came into the posses- sion of immense wealth, the greater part of which he devoted to the establishment of monasteries, six of ■which he founded in Sicily, and one at Rome, dedica- ted to St. Andrew, into which he retired himself, and was soon after ordained a deacon. Pelagius II sent him (about A.D. 578) as his nuncio to Constantinople to secure the favor of the emperor, who had been alien- ated by the ordination of the pope without the impe- rial consent. Ho succeeded in his mission. On his return he assumed the government of his own monas- teiV of St. Andrew, and at the same time was secreta- ry to the pope. On the death of Pelagius, Gregory was chosen pope by the clergy and the people, and, much against his will, tliis election was confirmed by the emperor Maurice (A.D. 590). He was installed as pope Sept. 3, 595.
No sooner was the ordination completed than, ac- cording to custom, the new pope drew up his confes- sion of faith, and sent it to the other ])atriarchs, viz. to the patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. In this confession he professed to re- ceive the four Gospels, the first four Councils, to rever- ence the fifth, and to condemn the Three Chapters. He adds, " Whoever presumes to loosen the persons whom the councils have bound, or to bind those whom the councils iiave loosened, destroys himself and not them." Thus is it apparent that even in the 6th century the authority of the councils was equal to that of tlie holy Scriptures. His first object after his promotion was the better regulation of his own see and household, and especially of the Sicilian churches, wliich the Council of Nice had placed more immediately under the see of Eome than any others; the African Dona- tists and Mauicha;ans also claimed his attention, and
the Jews experienced some degree of favor from hira. He assisted Iheodolinda, queen of the Longobaids, in converting that people to the Catholic faith. He like- wise sent missionaries into Sardinia, and zealously supported the mission to England to bring the British into relations with Rome. It was previous to his ex- altation to the pontifical chair that, seeing one daj' in the slave-market at Rome some Anglo-Saxon cliildren exposed for sale, and being struck by their comely ap- pearance, he is said to have exclaimed, "They would be indeed not Angli, but angels, if they were Chris- tians," and from that time he engaged his predecessor, Pelagius, to send missionaries to England. See Eng- land, Church of. At home he exerted himself strenuously for the restoration of clerical discipline. The celibacy of the clergj' was riveted upon the Rom- ish system by the measures taken by Gregorj'. His course of action invariably was directed to strengthen the power of the Roman see ; and, in fact, he was the father of the medifeval Roman system. He held mo- nastic institutions in great favor, made strict rules concerning them, and granted them special privileges. This feature of his career gained him tlie title of pater monachorum. One of the marked events of his pon- tificate was his contest with John, patriarch of Con- stantinople, who had assumed tlie title of Oecumenical, or universal Bishop (A.D. 595), which Gregory called '■jjroud, heretical, blasphemous, antichristian, and di- abolical" (^Epid. 5, 18), and assumed to himself, in op- position, the title of "Seivant of Servants" (Servus servorum Domini). " Whom, do you imitate," says he, addressing the patriarch, "in assuming that arrogant title? AVhom but him who, swelled with pride, ex- alted himself above so m.any legions of angels, his equals, that he might be suljject to none, and all might be subject to him?" It was then, in the opinion of Gregory, imitating Lucifer for any bishop to exalt him- self above his brethren, and to pretend that all other bishops were subject to him, himself being subject to none. And has not this been for many ages the avow- ed pretension and claim of the popes ? " We declare, say, define, and pronounce it to be of necessity to sal- vation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman pontiff"," •* ^ decree issued by Boniface VIII in the fourteenth century. "The apostle Peter," continues Gregory, "was the first member of the uni- versal Church. As for Paul, Andrew, and John, they were only the heads of particular congregations ; l)Ut all were members of the Church under one head, and none would ever be called universal." The mean- j ing of Gregor}' is obvious, viz. that the apostles them- selves, though heads of particular congregations or churches, were nevertheless members of the Church universal, and none of them ever pretended to be the head of the whole Church, or to have power and au- thority over the whole Church, that being peculiar to Christ alone. This agrees with what he had said be- fore, addressing himself to the patrinrch, viz. "If none of the apostles would be called universal, what will you answer on the last day to Christ, the head of the Churcli universal? You who, bj- arrogating that name, strive to subject all his members to yourself?" For it was not the bare title of universal bishop that tims alarmed Gregory, but the universal power and authority which he apprehended his rival aimed at in assuming that title. Gregory adds : " But this is the time which Christ himself foretold ; the eartli is now laid waste and destroj'ed with the plague and the sword ; all things that have been predicted are now accomplished ; the king of pride, that is Antichrist, is at hand ; and what I dread to saj', an army oif priests I is ready to receive him ; for thej' who were chosen to ! point out to others the wa)' of humility and meekness are themselves now become the slaves of pride and ■ ambition." Here Gregory treats the bishop of Con- I stantinnple as the forerunner of Antichrist for taking I upon him the title of universal bishop.