Rome, year 533 AD. The Eternal City, once the capital of the Empire, now under Ostrogothic rule, prepares to receive a new pontiff. But this will not be just any pope—he will go down in history as the first bishop of Rome to change his name upon ascending the throne of Saint Peter.

His election was not without controversy. At a time when simony—the buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices—was corrupting papal elections, his arrival to the pontifical throne marked a turning point. Why did he decide to abandon his pagan name? What challenges did he face during his brief but significant pontificate?

Born in Rome around the year 470, Mercurius was the son of a certain Praeiectus and served as a presbyter in the Basilica of Saint Clement, on the Caelian Hill. His name, inspired by the Roman god Mercury, was jarring for a Christian leader, so upon being elected pope on January 2, 533, he decided to adopt the name John II, thus beginning a tradition that endures to this day.

Pope John II Mercurius
The Basilica of St. Clement in Rome. Credit: Ninfamania / Wikimedia Commons

At a time when Christianity was still struggling to consolidate itself against old pagan beliefs, a pope named after a Roman god would have been unthinkable. Even so, the inscriptions in the Basilica of Saint Clement still preserve his original name: “Presbyter Mercurius”.

The death of Pope Boniface II in 532 left a power vacuum of more than two months, during which sacred objects were sold and influence was traded to choose his successor. The scandal reached the Roman Senate and the court of the Ostrogothic king Athalaric in Ravenna.

Outraged, the Senate issued its last known decree (Senatus Consultum) against simony in papal elections. Athalaric ordered it to be engraved in marble and placed in the atrium of the old Basilica of Saint Peter. He also established that any electoral dispute should be resolved with a fine of 3,000 solidi of gold, to be given to the poor.

Pope John II Mercurius
John II in an illustration by Chevalier Artaud de Montor (1842). Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

Once elected pope, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent John II a profession of faith that included a controversial phrase:

“Unus ex Trinitate crucifixus est” (“One of the Trinity was crucified”)

This formula, intended to reconcile Christian factions, had been rejected years earlier by Pope Hormisdas. However, Justinian revived it, facing off against the Acoemeti monks (literally those who do not sleep, as they took turns so the community could pray continuously), an ascetic Byzantine sect that considered it heretical. John II condemned the Acoemeti and upheld orthodoxy, informing Athalaric of his decision in March of 534.

One of the most striking episodes of John II’s pontificate was the case of Contumeliosus, bishop of Riez (in French Provence), accused of adultery. Until the Gregorian reform of the 11th century, many bishops were married or had concubines. John ordered the bishops of Gaul to confine Contumeliosus to a monastery.

Pope John II Mercurius
Monogram of John II in the Basilica of Saint Clement in Rome. Credit: Matthias Holländer / Wikimedia Commons

But the problems of his papacy did not end there. At the Council of Carthage in 535 AD, 217 bishops raised a crucial question: could bishops who had fallen into Arianism regain their rank after repenting, or should they be reduced to lay status?

John II did not live to give a definitive answer. He died on May 8, 535, and it was his successor, Agapetus I, who would resolve the dilemma. He was buried in the old Basilica of Saint Peter, as was customary for a pontiff of his time. His reign, though brief (only two years and four months), left a mark:

He was the first pope to change his name, beginning a tradition that remains alive. He fought simony, reinforcing the integrity of the Church. He maintained the balance between Ostrogothic power and papal authority. And he defended orthodoxy in the face of theological controversies from the East.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on April 22, 2025: El Papa que se llamaba como un dios romano y cambió su nombre al ser elegido, dando comienzo a la tradición

SOURCES

Mann, H. (1910), Pope John II, In The Catholic Encyclopedia

Henry Wace, William C. Piercy, eds., Joannes II. Mercurius, bishop of Rome. Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century

Wikipedia, Juan II (papa)

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