"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]
History
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]
References
^Gabriel Adeleye, Kofi Acquah-Dadzie, Thomas J. Sienkewicz, World dictionary of foreign expressions: a resource for readers (1999) "Servus servorum Dei", p. 361.
^Ian Robinson The papal reform of the eleventh century p. 326 - 2004 "Gregory bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the archbishops, bishops , dukes, counts and the greater and lesser men in the kingdom of the Germans, greeting and apostolic blessing."
^
Kiminas, Demetrius (1 March 2009). "The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A Short History". The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Orthodox Christianity, volume 1 (1 ed.). Wildside Press LLC. p. 13. ISBN9781434458766. Retrieved 23 September 2023. [...] 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).
^
Kiminas, Demetrius (1 March 2009). "The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A Short History". The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Orthodox Christianity, volume 1 (1 ed.). Wildside Press LLC. p. 13. ISBN9781434458766. Retrieved 23 September 2023. 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.