Saint Gelasius I, was a pope from 492 to 496. He was born in Italy. Succeeding St. Felix III in March 492, Gelasius combated the Acacian Schism that had arisen in the East under Patriarch Acacius as a result of Rome’s refusal to accept the Henotikon. During that long, bitter struggle, Gelasius maintained papal authority, making him one of the great architects of Roman primacy in ecclesiastical affairs. He was the first pope to be called ‘Vicar of Christ’.
His doctrine that both sacred and civil power are of divine origin and independent, each of its own sphere, was then the most progressive thinking on the subject; had his formula been established, the subsequent history of the papacy probably would have been different. After a brief yet dynamic ministry, he died on 19 November AD 496.