Pope Anastasius II

Pope Anastasius II
Papacy began	24 November 496
Papacy ended	16 November 498
Predecessor	Gelasius I
Successor	Symmachus
Personal details
Birth name	Anastasius
Born	unknown date Rome, Italy
Died	19 November 498(498-11-19) Rome, Ostrogothic Kingdom

Pope Anastasius II (died 19 November 498) was Pope from 24 November 496 to his death in 498. He was an important figure trying to end Acacian schism, but his efforts resulted in the Laurentian schism, which followed his death. Anastasius was born in Rome, the son of a priest, and is buried in St. Peter's Basilica.

The church had been in a serious doctrinal dispute since 484, between the Eastern and Western churches of Christianity, known as the Acacian schism. Pope Felix III (483-492) and Pope Gelasius I (492-496) had generally taken hardline stances towards the Eastern church and had excommunicated many of the major religious figures including Acacius, the Patriarch of Constantinople. Efforts at reducing the problem by Zeno were not recognized by Felix III or Gelasius I and so there was a large schism between the churches. Upon the death of Gelasius I, Anastasius II was named pope largely with support from a faction that wanted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern churches and end the schism.

Upon being named pope, Anastasius II immediately sent two bishops to Constantinople to meet with the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I, who had the same name as the pope, and work on an agreement to end the Acacian schism. Anastasius II indicated in a letter that he was willing to accept the baptisms that had been performed by Acacius and to let the issue be decided by the divine rather than by church authorities and Anastasius I seemed similarly willing to cooperate but wanted acceptance of the Henotikon, the compromise position developed by Zeno. As a signal of attempting to reduce the tension, Anastasius II was rumored to have given communion to Photinus of Thessalonica, an associate of Acacius.

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