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St. Adeodatus I, Pope of Rome
Also DEUSDEDIT I
VI/VII Centuries
The son of a subdeacon, Pope/St. Adeodatus I was born in Rome and had been
a priest for forty years when he was elected to the papal throne in 615.
He was not a hieromonk and was the first priest who was not also a
monastic to be elected pope since the election of John II. During
Adeodatus' three-year reign, the Lombards and Byzantines were at war, and
earthquakes and plagues also distressed the people. Adeodatus was generous
in his aid to the victims of these disasters, as well as to the poor
generally. He was the first pope to use leaden bullæ to seal papal
documents, which have been called "bulls" ever since. When the pope died
in
618, he willed a year's stipend to each priest in Rome.
Karen Rae Keck
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