Pope Saint John I

John was born in Tuscany and was an elderly archdeacon of the Roman Church when he was elected pope in 523. Italy was then ruled by Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, an Arian Christian who had long tolerated Catholics. But when the Byzantine emperor Justin I began to take measures against Arians in the East, Theodoric forced Pope John to travel to Constantinople to plead for them.

John was the first pope to visit Constantinople, where he was received with great honor: the emperor prostrated himself before him, and John celebrated Easter in the cathedral of Hagia Sophia. He obtained some concessions but would not ask that Arians who had become Catholic return to heresy. Theodoric, angry at the results and suspicious of the pope's warm welcome in the East, had him arrested on his return to Ravenna. Weakened by the journey and mistreatment, John died in prison there in May 526. His body was brought to Rome and buried in Saint Peter's.

John I is honored as a martyr because he died in the custody of a ruler hostile to the Catholic faith. His relics rest in Saint Peter's Basilica, and his feast keeps the red vestments of a martyr.