The Synod of Rome (964) was a synod held in St. Peter’s Basilica from 26 to 28 February 964, for the purpose of condemning the Synod of Rome (963) and to depose Pope Leo VIII.
After Pope John XII had been deposed in 963 by the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I in the Synod of Rome, Pope Leo VIII had been elected as his successor. However, once Otto had left Rome, the Roman nobility rebelled and drove out Leo who sought sanctuary with the emperor. John XII quickly returned and convened a synod for the purpose of ruling Leo’s election as uncanonical.
The council met on 26 February 964, and it proceeded to hold three sessions. Present were John XII, sixteen Italian bishops (eleven of whom had been present at the synod of 963 which had deposed John), twelve cardinal-priests (most of whom had also been present, including the future Pope Benedict V), as well as a large number of the lower clergy present in Rome at the time.
John opened the first session, addressing the council in the following terms:
”You know, dearly beloved brethren, that by the power of the emperor I was expelled from my see for two months. I ask you then if, according to the canons, that can be called a synod which was held in my absence in my church on December 4 by the Emperor Otto and his archbishops and bishops?”
When the synod declared that the previous synod was not carried out in accordance with canon law, the previous synod was condemned. Next, the actions of Sico, Bishop of Ostia, in rapidly ordaining and consecrating Leo VIII, were condemned, and he was asked to present himself at the third session for judgement. John then passed a sentence on Leo:
”By the authority of God Almighty, of the Princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, of the ecumenical councils and by the judgment of the Holy Spirit pronounced by us, may Leo, one of the employees of our curia, a neophyte, and a man who has broken his troth to us, be deprived of all clerical honours ; and if, hereafter, he should again attempt to sit on the apostolic throne, or perform any sacerdotal function, let him be anathematised along with his aiders and abettors, and, except in danger of death, not receive the sacred body of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”