Honorius, << hoh NAWR ee uhs, >> I (?-638) was elected pope in 625. He patterned himself after Pope Saint Gregory I, who died in 604. Like Gregory, he turned his mansion in Rome into a monastery. Honorius rebuilt an aqueduct, remodeled Roman churches, encouraged missionary work in Britain, and negotiated peace with the Lombard tribe (see Lombards ).
Although Honorius was a superb administrator, he was indifferent to the importance and subtlety of theological arguments. Honorius tried to settle a controversy over the nature of Jesus Christ. He suggested a solution that was rejected almost everywhere in the West and in many places in the East. In 681—43 years after his death—the third Council of Constantinople condemned Honorius’s view and branded him a heretic. Honorius was born into a wealthy aristocratic family in the Campania region of southern Italy. He died on Oct. 12, 638.
