Saint John I

John I was from Tuscany, born around 470 — in Siena according to some, in the castle of Serena near Chiusdino according to others. He was elected pope on August 13, 523, seven days after the death of Hormisdas, and he was already very old and frail. We know nothing about how he governed: the only two letters bearing his name are almost certainly fakes. But we do know about the journey that cost him his life. The Eastern emperor Justin I had issued a very harsh edict against the Arians, ordering their churches to be handed over to the Catholics. In Italy the ruler was Theodoric, who was an Arian: he feared that his fellow believers in the East would be crushed and that the Italian Catholics would strike a deal with Constantinople behind his back. So he forced the pope — old and sick — to travel to Constantinople and get that edict revoked. John went. In Constantinople he was received with enormous honors: he was the first pope to set foot in that city, he crowned the emperor, he celebrated Easter in Hagia Sophia. He obtained almost everything, except one thing: that those who had become Catholic could go back to being Arian. Theodoric considered it a betrayal. On his return he had him arrested in Ravenna, and there John died in prison on May 18, 526, worn down by hardship. If your name is John, today is your name day.