St. Innocent I
Innocentius · 401 – 417
Asserted Rome's supreme authority over all churches and was pope when Alaric sacked the city in 410.
Innocent I became pope in 401 and governed during one of the most traumatic events in Roman history. In 410, the Visigoth king Alaric sacked Rome, the first time the city had fallen to a foreign enemy in eight hundred years. Innocent was away negotiating with Emperor Honorius in Ravenna when it happened. Before the sack, Innocent had been an aggressive advocate for Roman primacy. He wrote to bishops in Africa, Gaul, and the East insisting that all major decisions be referred to Rome. He confirmed the condemnation of Pelagianism, prompting Augustine's famous remark that "Rome has spoken; the case is closed." He also fixed the canon of scripture for the Western Church, endorsing the list from the Council of Carthage.
Rome Falls, the Church Stands
The sack of 410 shook the Roman world to its core. Pagans blamed Christians for abandoning the old gods. Augustine wrote The City of God partly in response. Innocent returned to a damaged city and kept governing. The empire was crumbling, but the papacy was not.
Rome Has Spoken
When African bishops condemned Pelagius and sent their findings to Innocent for confirmation, he agreed. Augustine took that as definitive. The pattern of local councils seeking Roman approval, and Rome treating its approval as final, was now firmly established.