Saint Gregory II

Saint Gregory II was pope from 715 to 731. He sent Saint Boniface to the peoples of Germany, supported the renewal of monastic life, and defended the veneration of holy images when Emperor Leo III turned against them. The Church commemorates him on February 11.

He was born in Rome; the year of his birth is unknown. The Liber Pontificalis, an old collection of the lives of the popes, records that his father’s name was Marcellus and that he himself was brought up from childhood in the papal palace. Under Pope Sergius I he became a subdeacon and treasurer of the Roman Church, and he also had charge of the library. As a deacon he accompanied Pope Constantine on his journey to Constantinople in 710, where he answered the questions of Emperor Justinian II.

He became Bishop of Rome on May 19, 715. He began by repairing the city walls, restored Roman basilicas, and brought life back to abandoned monasteries. After his mother’s death he turned the family home into the monastery of Saint Agatha. With his encouragement Petronax of Brescia settled at Monte Cassino and rebuilt the abbey of Saint Benedict, once destroyed by the Lombards.

In 716 he received in Rome Duke Theodo of Bavaria, who sought to have the Church in his country set in order. Two years later the Anglo-Saxon monk Winfrid came to the pope, eager to preach the Gospel to the pagans. Gregory received him kindly, gave him the name Boniface, and on May 15, 719, entrusted him with the mission among the peoples of Germany. On November 30, 722, he ordained him a bishop and by letter commended him to the protection of Charles Martel. So began the mission of the Apostle of Germany.

His pontificate fell in troubled times. Rome was still subject to the emperor in Constantinople, and Italy was threatened by the Lombards. When Emperor Leo III imposed heavy taxes on Italy, the pope opposed them. Imperial officials made attempts on his life, but the Romans rose to his defense. About 726 the emperor turned against holy images. Gregory rejected his decrees and warned the faithful against them. Yet when Italy in revolt wanted to proclaim an emperor of its own, he restrained it, hoping for the ruler’s conversion.

From Liutprand, king of the Lombards, he obtained the return of the captured fortress of Sutri, handed over as a gift to the apostles Peter and Paul. When the king stood with his army before Rome, the pope went out to his camp and persuaded him to withdraw from the city. In 730 the emperor forced Saint Germanus, patriarch of Constantinople, to resign, and Gregory did not recognize his successor, who had adopted the ruler’s views.

Gregory II died in February 731, after almost sixteen years as pope, and on February 11 he was buried in Saint Peter’s Basilica. The Church has venerated him as a saint for centuries, without a formal canonization. The Roman Martyrology remembers him as the pope who, in the difficult times of Emperor Leo the Isaurian, defended the Church and the veneration of holy images and sent Saint Boniface to preach the Gospel in Germany.