"Servant of the servants of God" ( Latin: servus servorum Dei) [1] is one of the titles of the Pope and is used at the beginning of papal bulls. [2]
Pope Gregory I (pope from 590 to 604), the first Pope to use this title extensively to refer to himself, [3] deployed it as a lesson in humility for the archbishop of Constantinople John the Faster (in office 582-595), who had been granted the traditional title " Ecumenical Patriarch" [4] by a Council convened in Constantinople in 587. [5] Gregory reportedly reacted negatively to the Patriarch's title, claiming that "whoever calls himself universal bishop [the imprecise Latin translation of "Ecumenical Patriarch"],[ citation needed] or desires this title, is, by his pride, the precursor to the Antichrist." [6]
[...] the Patriarch of Constantinople began to be addressed as the 'Ecumenical Patriarch', with the first known use of the title being recorded at the time of Patriarch Acacius (472-89).
A Council held in Constantinople in 587 [...] officially bestowed the title 'Ecumenical Patriarch' on Constantinople Patriarch John IV (582-95). This action caused Patriarch of Rome, Pelagius II (579-90) to sever his connection with Constantinople, while his successor, Gregory I (590-604), sent letters of protest to both Patriarch John IV and Emperor Mauricius (582-602) - but with no results.
Pope Pelagius, who in the first instance opposed this assumption of John the faster, having died very shortly afterwards, the quarrel was taken up by his successor Pope Gregory the Great [...]. [...] and in a letter to the bishop of constantinople who succeeded John the faster, he affirms, that 'whoever calls himself Universal Bishop, or desires to be so called in the pride of his heart, is the forerunner of anti-christ.'
"Servant of the servants of God" ( Latin: servus servorum Dei) [1] is one of the titles of the Pope and is used at the beginning of papal bulls. [2]
Pope Gregory I (pope from 590 to 604), the first Pope to use this title extensively to refer to himself, [3] deployed it as a lesson in humility for the archbishop of Constantinople John the Faster (in office 582-595), who had been granted the traditional title " Ecumenical Patriarch" [4] by a Council convened in Constantinople in 587. [5] Gregory reportedly reacted negatively to the Patriarch's title, claiming that "whoever calls himself universal bishop [the imprecise Latin translation of "Ecumenical Patriarch"],[ citation needed] or desires this title, is, by his pride, the precursor to the Antichrist." [6]
[...] the Patriarch of Constantinople began to be addressed as the 'Ecumenical Patriarch', with the first known use of the title being recorded at the time of Patriarch Acacius (472-89).
A Council held in Constantinople in 587 [...] officially bestowed the title 'Ecumenical Patriarch' on Constantinople Patriarch John IV (582-95). This action caused Patriarch of Rome, Pelagius II (579-90) to sever his connection with Constantinople, while his successor, Gregory I (590-604), sent letters of protest to both Patriarch John IV and Emperor Mauricius (582-602) - but with no results.
Pope Pelagius, who in the first instance opposed this assumption of John the faster, having died very shortly afterwards, the quarrel was taken up by his successor Pope Gregory the Great [...]. [...] and in a letter to the bishop of constantinople who succeeded John the faster, he affirms, that 'whoever calls himself Universal Bishop, or desires to be so called in the pride of his heart, is the forerunner of anti-christ.'