Life of Pope Saint Leo

¶ … life of Pope Saint Leo the First (Leo the Great). Specifically it will include a short biography and center on his achievements and accomplishments. Leo the Great is known as one of the greatest Pope's of all times for a number of reasons. In fact, he was the first Pope to be called "Great." One historian writes, "Such a pope was Leo I (440-461). The first to be given the surname of 'Great' as an expression of the people's admiration and gratitude, he signifies for us the high point of the papacy in Christian antiquity" (Schnurer, 1956, p. 118-119). He ruled the Church for twenty-one years and set a mark for other Popes to match, and only one other (Gregory the Great) has earned the term "Great" for his reign.

Little is known about Pope Leo's early life. One early biographer writes, "As to Leo's birth and early years, apart from the notice supplied by the Liber Pontificalis to the effect that he was of Etruscan origin and that his father's name was Quintianus, we are admittedly dependent largely on conjecture" (Jalland, 1941, p. 33). Many historians believe he was born around 400 in Tuscany, Italy, but his family moved to Rome when he was young, and he called Rome his home. He rose in the ranks of the Catholic Church until he served as a deacon. He was influential enough as a deacon for the Roman Emperor, Valentinian II, to send him to Gaul as a mediator to help settle a dispute between two high-ranking officials in the country. When Pope Sixtus III died, Leo was elected to succeed him. He was consecrated when he returned to Rome on September 29, 440. Leo reigned until his death in 461, and accomplished a great many important achievements during his reign as Pope.

One of Leo's greatest achievements was bringing about unity throughout the Catholic Church. Several different cults of "barbarians" and pagans had grown up in Italy and elsewhere as people migrated throughout Europe and blended their own ideologies with Catholic ideologies. The largest of these cults were Pelagianism, Manichaeanism, and Priscillianism. These cults often used pagan religious rites as part of their worship, and Leo worked diligently to punish these cults and force them to conform to Catholicism or face banishment or other penalties. Indeed, there were several edicts by the government that banned these cults from owning property, serving as civil servants, or demanding judgments from the courts. These cults eventually disappeared in Europe, due to Leo's tireless efforts to eradicate them (Jalland, 1941, p. 45-48).

Leo's effort to banish these cults is important because it was the first time the Church used the aid of the state to help banish religious cults. Author Jalland continues, "Hitherto it was the State alone which had initiated the suppression of heterodox belief and practice. Now for the first time the Church, in the person of the Pope, undertook the task of seeking out and of bringing to judgment the adherents of a rival cult" (Jalland, 1941, p. 49). Thus, Leo helped rid the world of many forms of paganism, and evicted pagan cults from Italy during a time when the Catholic Church was growing and changing. He also helped Christianize many of the cults' feasts and celebrations, which ultimately led to the Church's approval of feasting days and religious celebrations such as Easter and Christmas. Three writers note, "The Christianization of the feasts and cultic places of rural paganism was a good risk taken by the church in the early Middle Ages" (McGinn, Meyendorff, & Ledercq, 1985, p. 477). It helped reduce pagan rituals and earn a place for pagans to worship inside the Catholic environment.

To help aid the Church's growth and development, Leo also built and enlarged many Catholic Churches. He made improvements to the basilica of Saint Peter's and Saint Paul's in Rome, and funded improvements in many parish churches, too (Jalland, 1941, p. 52). Many of the improvements he made to these churches still exist today. The basilica in Saint Peter's still has the mosaic Leo commissioned for the area, for example. Leo also restored many churches that had been damaged or vandalized during the Vandal invasion in 455.

Perhaps the most important achievement of Leo's time as Pope was his ability to negotiate with invaders and repel their attacks. In 452, Attila the Hun brought his invading army into Italy from the east. Another historian states, "He swept through the northern regions, causing whole populations to scatter before him; he seized and destroyed the important port of Aquileia, and continued to advance, slowly and implacably" (Daniel-Rops, 1959, p. 97). However, Emperor Valentinian asked Pope Leo to meet with the Hun and persuade him not to continue his attack on Italy. Leo and a group of others rode up to the advancing army and met with Attila. Historian Daniel-Rops continues, "The man of God succeeded where success had seemed impossible. Attila agreed to fall back from Rome on payment of tribute" (Daniel-Rops, 1959, p. 100). Leo's accomplishment not only saved Italy, but served as a message to other pagan sects in the area - the Church was strong enough to repel the most difficult and dangerous invaders.

In 455, the Vandals from Africa invaded Italy and held Rome for fourteen days. A new Emperor, Petronius, had only been in office for ten weeks when the Vandals struck. He fled the city, leaving it to the mercy of the invaders. Pope Leo met with the Vandals' leader and asked him to spare the city from destruction. Instead, the occupied it for ten days, looting and pillaging but sparing the city itself. Biographer Jalland writes, "When Petronius was vainly fleeing for his life, it was the bishop of Rome who had the courage to meet the invader face-to-face. The meeting took place, it appears, outside the city walls on the eve of the barbarian occupation" (Jalland, 1941, p. 415).

Another extremely important aspect of Leo's reign as Pope are the many writings he wrote during his tenure. One of the most important long-lasting writings was on the two natures of Christ, which had not been defined until Leo wrote the definition, and which is still used as Church theology today. Three historians note, "In this famous text, the pope, using a terminology inherited from Tertullian and Augustine, carefully established the integrity of the two natures (naturae) of Christ, and insisted that this integrity requires that each nature preserve fully its characteristics" (McGinn, Meyendorff, & Ledercq, 1985, p. 237). Another writer defines the text even more succinctly. He writes, "If the condition of human nature is lowliness and the condition of divine nature is majesty, then, for Leo, Jesus can be both lowly and majestic at the same time; his lowliness does not diminish his majesty and his majesty does not exalt his lowliness" (Dunn, 2001, p. 71). This definition of the duality of Christ's natures became known as the "Thomus," or the Thomus of Chalcedon, because it was used to help decide the issue at the council of Chalcedon. This may be his most well-known contribution to church doctrine, but he actually wrote many treatises on a variety of Church subjects. His early biographer continues, "For the most part it may be said that what is true of Leo's doctrine of the Incarnation applies also to his treatment of other Christian dogmas. Generally speaking this treatment is confined to the straightforward statement of a principle to meet some particular case" (Jalland, 1941, p. 440). Thus, Leo is remembered for his writings as well as his actions. He was a great theologian, and most of his writings still attest to his wisdom and understand of the Church's mission in life and the world.