Now that Silverius was dead, the Byzantine army in Rome pressured the
clergy to recognize Vigilius as his legitimate successor. This they did,
giving Theodora what finally seemed to be complete victory. However, as
Pope, Vigilius underwent an extraordinary turnaround. The former
ambitious, greedy and murderous heretic began to detach himself from
Theodora and speak out forcibly in favor of orthodoxy: “Formerly I spoke
wrongly and foolishly; now I assuredly refuse to restore a man who is a
heretic. Though unworthy, I am Vicar of the Blessed Peter the Apostle, as
were my predecessors, the holy Agapetus and Silverius.”
Theodora was furious, and had Vigilius arrested and brought to
Constantinople in January 547. There, he was imprisoned and endured
constant pressure to submit. After Theodora died in 548, Justinian
continued the pressure, leaving the Pope in confinement for a further seven
years. An ecumenical council held in Constantinople in 553 once again
anathematized Monophysitism, but also in the so-called “Three Chapters”
condemned Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret of Cyr for alleged
Nestorianism, though they had both been acquitted at Chalcedon as free of
this heresy. For his initial opposition to this latter action, Vigilius was
exiled for six months to an island in the Sea of Marmara, but on being
brought back to Constantinople, condemned the doctrines described in the
“Three Chapters” and was thereupon allowed by Justinian to return to
Rome. However, while in Sicily during the return journey, Vigilius died
(January 7, 555). Though Monophysitism continues to this day, it remains
mostly confined to the Egyptian, Syrian, Armenian and Ethiopian Orthodox
Churches of the Middle East.
Themes for study:
Nestorius and the denial of the unity of Christ in one divine Person;
The Council of Ephesus;
Eutyches and the denial of Christ’s true humanity;
The Council of Chalcedon.
Further reading:
Anne W. Carroll, Christ the King: Lord of History, Second Edition,
Trinity Communications, 1986, pp. 112-116;
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