St. Boniface IV
Boniface · 608 – 615
Converted the Pantheon from a pagan temple into a Christian church, giving Rome one of its most enduring landmarks.
Boniface was from Valeria in the Abruzzi, the son of a physician. A student of Gregory the Great, he obtained permission from the Byzantine Emperor Phocas to convert the Pantheon in Rome into a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs. This consecration, around 609, saved the building from ruin and created one of Christianity's most famous worship spaces. Boniface also held a synod in Rome with the participation of Mellitus, the missionary bishop of London, discussing the needs of the English Church.
Making the Pantheon Christian
The Pantheon had been dedicated to all the gods of Rome. Boniface rededicated it to the one God, his mother, and the martyrs who died rather than worship there. It was a powerful symbolic reversal. The building still stands, still functions as a church, and still draws millions of visitors. Few papal acts have lasted so visibly.