St. John I

May 18 is the feast of St. John I, Pope from 523 to 526 and the first Pope to be sent to Constantinople. Born at Todi, in Umbria, he was a deacon of the Roman Church when he was elected Pope in 523. The Arian King Theodoric the Great, who ruled Italy from Ravenna, sent him to Constantinople in 525 to persuade the Emperor Justin I to moderate his persecution of the Arians in the East.

John was received with full honours at Constantinople — the first Pope to celebrate the liturgy in the Byzantine capital — and the Emperor granted some of his requests. On his return to Ravenna, Theodoric, furious at the failure of the mission, had him imprisoned. He died in prison at Ravenna on May 18, 526, of the hardships of the confinement.

John was the first Pope martyred by a Christian ruler — the first victim of the conflict between Church and state that would mark the Middle Ages. His body was translated to Rome and lies in the Basilica of St. Peter. From Ravenna, where he died, to Rome, where he is buried, the May 18 feast is the feast of the Pope who died in an Arian prison.