Pope Gregory I: Encyclopedia II - Pope Gregory I - Servus servorum Dei

Pope Gregory I - Servus servorum Dei

Gregory, among the first to assert the primacy of the papal office, though he did not employ the term "pope", summed up the responsibilities of the bishop of Rome in his official appellation, as "servant of the servants of God". As Benedict of Nursia had justified the absolute authority of the abbot over the souls in his charge, so Gregory expressed the hieratic principle that he was responsible directly to God for his ministry.

Gregory's pontificate saw the development of the concepts of penance that became institutionalized in the later Church, that the purifying penance that the soul was to undergo in Purgatory could be begun in this life, through good works, obedience and Christian conduct, making the travails to come lighter and shorter, for only saints were translated directly to heaven. It was an optimistic outlook, which could make the Christian feel more secure about his future.

Gregory's relations with the Emperor in the East were a cautious diplomatic stand-off. He concentrated his energies in the West, where many of his letters are concerned with the management of papal estates. His relations with the Merovingian kings, encapsulated in his deferential correspondence with Childebert II, laid the foundations for the papal alliance with the Franks that would transform the Germanic kingship into an agency for the Christianization of the heart of Europe consequences that remained in the future.

More immediately Gregory took in hand the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, where inaction might have encouraged the Celtic missionaries already active in the north of Britain. Sending Augustine of Canterbury to convert the Kingdom of Kent was prepared by the marriage of the king to a Merovingian princess who had brought her chaplains with her. By the time of Gregory's death, the conversion of the king and the Kentish nobles and the establishment of a Christian toehold at Canterbury were established.

Gregory's chief acts as Pope include his long letter issued in the matter of the schism of the Three Chapters of the bishops of Istria. He is also known in the East as a tireless worker for communication and understanding between East and West. He is also credited with increasing the power of the papacy. Before his pontificate, the Pope was regarded as the foremost among other high-ranking ecclesiasts, but without any jurisdiction outside his own diocese.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, he was declared a saint immediately after his death by "popular acclamation".

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Servus servorum Dei", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki