Agatho of Sicily (d. 681)

Pope Agatho, a native of Sicily, died on January 10, 681, after a brief yet consequential ministry. Serving the church from Rome during a season of doctrinal confusion and imperial pressure, he became known for clear-minded courage and a shepherd’s concern for ordinary believers. For Agatho, the church’s peace could never be purchased by trimming the truth about Jesus Christ.

The Monothelite Controversy

The Monothelite teaching claimed that Christ had only one will. Though often presented as a “compromise” to heal divisions in the empire, it threatened the heart of the gospel by weakening the Lord’s real humanity. If Jesus did not possess a truly human will, then He did not fully enter our condition to redeem it, nor did He obey the Father as the Second Adam in our place. Scripture insists on the true incarnation: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us… full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Third Council of Constantinople (680–681)

From Rome, Agatho sent a carefully argued confession and faithful legates to Constantinople, where Emperor Constantine IV convened what is now called the Third Council of Constantinople (the Sixth Ecumenical Council). Agatho’s message was plain: Jesus Christ is one Person in two natures, divine and human, and therefore possesses two wills—divine and human—working in perfect harmony, with the human will freely aligned to the divine. The Gethsemane prayer shows true humanity without sin: “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Agatho did not live to see the council’s final decrees, but his witness strengthened the council to condemn error and confess Christ rightly.

Lasting Significance

Agatho’s heroism was not the bravado of politics, but the steadiness of faith. By insisting on the full humanity of the Savior, he helped secure comfort for the church: “So He had to be made like His brothers in every way… to make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). His stand still encourages believers to worship a Savior who truly became like us, truly obeyed for us, and truly redeems.