A native of Tuscany in Italy, John was elected Pope while
he was still an archdeacon upon the death of Pope
Hormisdas in 523. At that time, the ruler of Italy was
Theodoric the Goth who subscribed to the Arian brand of
Christianity, but had tolerated and even favored his
Catholic subjects during the early part of his reign.
However, about the time of St. John’s accession to the
Papacy, Theodoric’s policy underwent a drastic change as
a result of two events: the treasonable (in the sovereign’s
view) correspondence between ranking members of the
Roman Senate and Constantinople and the severe edict
against heretics enacted by the emperor Justin I, who was
the first Catholic on the Byzantine throne in fifty years.
Spurred on by the appeals of Eastern Arians, Theodoric
threatened to wage war against Justin but ultimately
decided to negotiate with him through a delegation of five
Bishops and four senators. At its head he named Pope
John – much against the latter’s wishes. Little is known for
certain about the nature of the message, which the Pope
bore, and the manner in which he carried out his mission.
What is known is that he succeeded in persuading the
Emperor to mitigate his treatment of the Arians and thus
avoid reprisals against the Catholics in Italy. The Pope’s
visit also brought about the reconciliation of the Western
and Eastern Churches, which had been plagued by a
schism since 482 when Zeno’s Henoticon had been
published. However, Theodoric had been becoming more
suspicious with each passing day. While waiting for the
delegation to return, he ordered the execution of the
philosopher Boethius and his father-in-law Symmachus on
a charge of treason; and as he got word of the friendly
relations between the Pope and the emperor, he concluded
that they were plotting against him. Hence, on the
delegation’s return to the capitol city of Ravenna, Pope
John was imprisoned by order of Theodoric and died a
short time later.