St. Benedict II
Benedict · 684 – 685
Won the right for popes to be consecrated without waiting months for imperial approval from Constantinople.
Benedict was a Roman, trained in Scripture and liturgical chant from youth. His most significant accomplishment was persuading Emperor Constantine IV to allow future popes to be consecrated immediately upon election, rather than waiting for imperial confirmation. This wait had been a chronic problem, leaving the Church leaderless for months at a time. Benedict was personally devout, generous to the poor, and a skilled mediator who restored the exiled King Perctarit of the Lombards to his throne.
No More Waiting
For decades, every newly elected pope had to send messengers to Constantinople and wait months for the emperor to say yes. Benedict ended that. By convincing Constantine IV to drop the requirement, he freed the papacy from one of its most frustrating political chains. It was a quiet victory, but it mattered.