Saint of the Day: John I, Pope and Martyr


John I served as Pope from 523 – 526. A Tuscan by birth, he was a deacon at the time of his election. The Arian King Theodoric sent him as his ambassador to Emperor Justin in Constantinople for the purpose of lessening the restrictions placed upon the Arians.

On his return, he was captured by the king, who was displeased at the outcome of the embassy, and cast into prison at Ravenna where he died (most likely from starvation) a short time later. As pope he was responsible for introducing the Alexandrian computation of the date of Easter; it came to be accepted throughout the west.

John was the first of twenty-three popes of that name, and the only one to be canonized a saint.
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