Hierarch Zachary, Pope of Rome

St. Zachary was born in 679 in Calabria, southern Italy, to a family of Greek origin; he became the last pope of Greek origin in history (before the Schism of 1054). He occupied the papal see from 741 to 752. He actively supported the missionary labors of St. Boniface of Mainz (the "Apostle of Germany") in organizing church life among the Germanic tribes, and helped establish new dioceses in Bavaria and Germany. He successfully negotiated with the Lombard king Liutprand, achieving a peaceful resolution of conflicts and protection of Rome's territories without military confrontation. One of the most important acts of his pontificate was his sanction in 751 for the deposition of the last Merovingian king of the Franks and the proclamation of Pepin the Short — the mayor of the palace who effectively ruled the country — as king, an act that laid the foundation for the alliance between the papacy and the Carolingian dynasty, which shaped the subsequent history of Western Europe. He translated Pope Gregory the Great's "Dialogues" into Greek. He died on March 15, 752.