Hormisdas

Saint Hormisdas was bishop of Rome from 514 to 523. He is remembered because he ended the Acacian schism, which for thirty-⁠five years had separated Rome from Constantinople.

Beginnings

He was born around 450 at Frosinone in Italy. Before entering the clergy he had been married and had a son, Silverius, who later also became bishop of Rome. As a deacon he stood close to Pope Symmachus, whom he succeeded on 20 July 514. One of his first acts was to remove the last traces of a local schism, receiving back those who had belonged to the party of Laurence.

The end of the schism

The schism had begun in 484, when Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople, following Emperor Zeno, accepted the compromise document called the Henotikon to win over those who rejected the Council of Chalcedon. Emperor Anastasius asked for a settlement, but Hormisdas sent envoys and set conditions: the acceptance of Chalcedon and the condemnation of Acacius. The embassies of 515 and 517 achieved nothing, and Anastasius broke off the talks.

With the accession of Justin I in 518 matters changed. On 28 March 519, in the cathedral of Constantinople, Patriarch John II accepted the confession of faith sent by Hormisdas, called the formula of Hormisdas, and unity was proclaimed before a great crowd. The name of Acacius was struck from the diptychs.

Repose

Saint Hormisdas reposed in the Lord on 6 August 523 and was buried in old Saint Peter's, where his tomb was destroyed when the new basilica was built. Western Orthodox calendars commemorate him on 6 August.