Simplicius of Rome

Simplicius of Rome was bishop of Rome from 468 until his death on 10 March 483. In his time the Western Roman Empire fell, and he shepherded the Church of Rome under the new rulers and defended the faith of the Council of Chalcedon.

He was born at Tivoli, the son of a man named Castinus. After ten days of vacancy following the death of Pope Hilarius, he was consecrated on 25 February 468.

In the East the followers of Eutyches had seized the sees of Antioch and Alexandria. Simplicius wrote several times to the emperors, Basiliscus and Leo among them, asking for the restoration of the Orthodox bishops, and he supported Patriarch Timothy Solofaciolus. In 478 he held a synod at Rome that anathematised the heretical bishops Peter Fullo, John of Apamea and Paul of Ephesus. In 476, when Odoacer removed the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, the Church was left largely untouched, and the city remained in the care of its bishop. Simplicius named Zeno of Seville his vicar in Spain and rebuked Archbishop John of Ravenna, who had consecrated a bishop against his will.

He is said to have been the first pope to ordain at times other than December. He is credited with the church of Santa Bibiana, and he dedicated the round church of Santo Stefano Rotondo on the Caelian Hill, the church of Sant Andrea near Santa Maria Maggiore, and one dedicated to Saint Lawrence. He was buried in the basilica of Saint Peter. He is a saint of the undivided Church, commemorated on 10 March, also in English-⁠language Orthodox calendars that include Western saints.