Pope Leo II (611 – 28 June 683) was Pope from 17 August 682 to 28 June 683.
He is one of the popes of the Byzantine Papacy.
== Background and early activity in the Church ==
He was a Sicilian by birth (the son of a man named Paulus).
He may have ended up being among the many Sicilian clergy in Rome, at that time, due
to the Islamic Caliphate battles against Sicily in the mid-7th century.
Though elected pope a few days after the death of Pope St. Agatho on January 10, 681, he
was not consecrated till after the lapse of a year and seven months (17 August 682).
Leo was known as an eloquent preacher who was interested in music, and noted for his
charity to the poor.
== Reign as Bishop of Rome == Elected shortly after the death of Agatho,
Leo was not consecrated for over a year and a half.
The reason may have been due to negotiations regarding imperial control of papal elections.
These negotiations were undertaken by Leo's predecessor Agatho between the Holy See and
Emperor Constantine IV.
They concerned the relations of the Byzantine Court to papal elections.
Constantine IV had already promised Agatho to abolish or reduce the tax that the popes
had been paying to the imperial treasury at the time of their consecration, an imperial
policy that had been in force for about a century.Leo's short-lived pontificate did
not allow him to accomplish much, but there was one achievement of major importance: he
confirmed the acts of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680–681).
This council had been held in Constantinople against the Monothelite controversy, and had
been presided over by the legates of Pope Agatho.
After Leo had notified the Emperor that the decrees of the council had been confirmed,
he made them known to the nations of the West.
In letters written to the king, the bishops, and the nobles of Spain, he explained what
the council had effected, and he called upon the bishops to subscribe to its decrees.During
this council, Pope Honorius I was anathematized for his views in the Monothelite controversy
as tolerant of heresy.
Leo took great pains to make it clear that in condemning Honorius, he did so not because
Honorius taught heresy, but because he was not active enough in opposing it.
In accordance with the papal mandate, a synod was held at Toledo (684) in which the Third
Council of Constantinople was accepted.
Regarding the decision of the council, Leo wrote once and again in approbation of the
decision of the council and in condemnation of Honorius, whom he regarded as one who profana
proditione immaculatem fidem subvertare conatus est (roughly, "one who by betrayal has tried
to overthrow the immaculate faith").
In the Greek text of the letter to the Emperor in which the phrase occurs, the milder expression
subverti permisit ("allowed to be overthrown...") is used for subvertare conatus est.
At this time, Leo put an end to the attempts of the Ravenna archbishops to get away from
the control of the Bishop of Rome, but also abolished the tax it had been customary for
them to pay when they received the pallium.Also, in apparent response to Lombard raids, Leo
transferred the relics of a number of martyrs from the catacombs to churches inside the
walls of the city.
He dedicated two churches, St. Paul's and Sts.
Sebastian and George.
Leo also reformed the Gregorian chant and composed several sacred hymns for the divine
office.
== Burial == Leo was originally buried in his own monument;
however, some years after his death, his remains were put into a tomb that contained the first
four of his papal namesakes.
== See also ==
List of Catholic saints List of popes
== References ==
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles,
ed. (1913).
"Pope St. Leo II".
Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton.