Leo I

Leo I papa

Biography

Eminent personality, both "guardian of orthodoxy and saviour of Western civilisation", Leo was originally from Etruria (Tuscany). He became a deacon of the Church of Rome around the year 430 and, in time, he acquired an important position there. This prominent role prompted Galla Placidia, who at that time was regent of the Western Empire, to send him to Gaul to resolve a difficult situation. However, Pope Sixtus II died that same summer, and it was precisely Leo who was called to succeed him, and he received the news of this while he was carrying out his peacemaking mission in Gaul. The new pope returned to Rome and was consecrated on 29 September 440, beginning a pontificate that would last more than twenty-one years and is certainly one of the most important in the history of the Church. Upon his death on 10 November 461, the Pope was buried near the tomb of St. Peter. His relics have been preserved until today in one of the altars of the Vatican Basilica. He was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Benedict XIV.

Works

• Sermones XCVI

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