Leo II of Rome

Leo II of Rome was bishop of Rome from 17 August 682 until his death in the summer of 683. His ministry was short, but he is remembered because he received and made known in the West the decisions of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, which confessed the two wills of Christ. The Church commemorates him on 3 July.

He was born in Sicily, the son of a man named Paul. A Greek who also knew Latin well, which was rare in Rome at that time, he is described by his contemporary biographer as just and learned. Tradition shows him as an eloquent preacher, a lover of church music and merciful to the poor. After the death of Pope Agatho on 10 January 681, Leo was elected on 16 April, but was consecrated only on 17 August 682, probably because of Agatho's negotiations with Emperor Constantine IV about imperial consent to elections.

The Sixth Council, held at Constantinople in 680 and 681, had condemned Monothelitism and some of those who tolerated it, among them Pope Honorius. Leo confirmed its decisions and sent them to the bishops and to the Visigothic king in Spain, asking them to accept them. He explained that Honorius was condemned not for teaching heresy but for not opposing it energetically enough. In response to this mandate, the synod of Toledo in 684 accepted the decisions of the Sixth Council.

He put an end to the attempts of the archbishops of Ravenna to break away from Rome. In response to Lombard raids, he moved the relics of some martyrs from the catacombs into churches within the walls. He dedicated two churches, and he is credited with reforming Gregorian chant and composing several hymns for the Divine Office.

He reposed in the Lord in 683 and was buried in the basilica of Saint Peter; some years later his remains were moved into a tomb that held the first four popes named Leo. An English-⁠language Orthodox calendar commemorates him on 3 July, and the Roman Martyrology counts him among the saints.