When
John I died in the prison where
Theodoric had confined him, both the
clergy and the laity were unwilling to
oppose the king of the Visigoths.
Theodoric's choice for John's successor, the
cardinal-priest Felix of Samnium, was
therefore selected as the next pope. He was
consecrated in mid-July of 526. Theodoric
died in late August, leaving his grandson,
the minor Athalric, as his heir, and
Athalric's mother Amalasuntha as regent for
the boy.
Since Amalasuntha was kindly-disposed
toward Catholics, the rest of Felix'
pontificate was a productive one, relatively
free from fear of secular powers. Felix
called the second Council of Orange in 529,
where he put an end to a controversy over
the the nature and efficiency of grace by
condemning Semi-Pelagianism. He also
converted two adjacent pagan temples in
Rome, given the papacy by Amalasuntha, into
the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian.
In the hopes of avoiding a disputed
succession, Felix deliberately named the
archdeacon
Boniface as his successor. He is
sometimes numbered as Felix III, due to the
fourth-century antipope Felix II (who is not
always counted in the papal chronology).
