Sisinius

Sisinnius (also spelled Sisinius in some later renderings) was bishop of Rome for a very short time in the early eighth century. The Liber Pontificalis describes him as Syrian by origin (natione Syrus). No reliable source records the city or year of his birth, his family, or the details of his early life. He belonged to the Roman clergy before his election and succeeded Pope John VII. He was consecrated on 15 January 708. Nothing further can be verified about his career prior to the pontificate.

Near-contemporary notices dwell on his physical condition. He suffered from severe gout and was so incapacitated that he could not feed himself. In a pontificate of only about twenty days he is recorded as having consecrated a bishop for Corsica and as having ordered lime to be prepared for the repair of Rome’s dilapidated walls. No synod, doctrinal letter, or lasting legislative act is attributed to him. These limited measures are the only administrative acts that can be documented.

He died in Rome on 4 February 708 and was buried in the basilica of Saint Peter. He was succeeded by Pope Constantine, who was likewise of Syrian origin. Later papal catalogues treat Sisinnius as a legitimate pope, but the brevity of the reign and his illness left almost no imprint on canon law, liturgy, or the politics of Italy, then under Lombard pressure and weakening Byzantine authority.

He is not generally numbered among the canonized popes. No feast day, patronage, or formal cult is securely attached to his name in the principal martyrologies. What can be said of him rests chiefly on the Liber Pontificalis and the sequence of the papal lists; beyond those notices his biography remains obscure.