Pope John IV dies 642

walwyn jeu, 04/11/2013 - 22:10
mercredi, October 12, 0642

John IV died in Rome on the 12th of October 642 and was buried in the Basilica of St. Peter. He was succeeded by pope Theodore I.

John's papacy coincided with a Slavic invasion of Dalmatia who he attempted to convert to Christianity. He also exhorted the church in the north of Ireland to fix the date of Easter to be that agreed by the rest of the Catholic church. He also wrote to warn them to be on guard against the Pelagian heresy, of the fifth century, that denied original sin and Christian grace. The heresy held that each person had an unimpaired ability to choose between good and evil.

John's condemnation of Monothelitism, a doctrine that Christ has two natures (human and divine) but only one will, as heresy, led to a schism between the Eastern and Western churches.