St. Leo I the Great

Leo · 440 – 461

Defended orthodox Christology at Chalcedon and personally confronted Attila the Hun to protect Rome.

Leo took the chair of Peter when the Roman Empire was crumbling and heresies were multiplying. He wrote the Tome of Leo, a clear and forceful explanation of how Christ is fully God and fully man, which became the backbone of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. But what most people remember is the scene outside Rome's gates in 452: Leo walking out to meet Attila the Hun and somehow convincing him to turn back. We don't know exactly what he said. We do know it worked. He did the same with the Vandal king Genseric three years later, though that time he could only negotiate a partial mercy.

Theologian and Diplomat

Leo managed to be both a careful thinker and a man of action. His Tome settled one of the most important theological questions in Church history, and his meeting with Attila saved a city. He understood that the pope had to do more than write letters. Sometimes you had to walk out and face the barbarians yourself.