John III

Pope John III (; died 13 July 574), born Catelinus, was the bishop of Rome from 17 July 561 to his death. Family Catelinus was born in Rome to a distinguished family. His father, Anastasius, was a vir illustris, a high-ranking member of the Roman Senate. He may be identical with the subdeacon John who made a collection of extracts from the Greek Fathers and completed the translation of the Vitae patrum into Latin which Pope Pelagius I had begun. Papacy Catelinus was elected to succeed Pelagius I and was consecrated as pope on 17 July 561. He took the name John on his accession to the papacy. John's pontificate is characterized by two major events over which he had no control. The first was the death of Emperor Justinian I in 565, after which the Eastern Roman Empire turned its attention from Rome and the rest of Italy to pressing problems in the Balkans, from the Avars, Persians and the Arabs. The other major event was the Lombard invasion of Italy, which began in 568. Much of northern Italy was overrun, as well as the central spine of the peninsula, making a shambles of the imperial administration. The Lombards threatened the survival of Rome itself, besieging it repeatedly. Their entrance reintroduced the Arian belief, which threatened the predominance of Catholicism.