The 133rd Pope
John XIII
Pope John XIII (965-972) – He was a favorite of Emperor Otto I and he would tend to view approvingly at the emperor's policies for Church and State. As a matter of fact, it took the emperor's protective presence in Rome to assure Pope John's acceptance among the people who had earlier rebelled against the authoritarian pope.
At a synod in Revenna in 967, it might be noted that the practice of clerical marriages was opposed and the Papal States reclaimed some lost territories. Pope John's reign was consumed with attempts to navigate the murky waters of relations between East and West. Byzantine influence over parts of southern Italy made episcopal appointments by the pope and ecclesiastical territorial designations a bit dicey. Not even the marriage of the emperor's son. Otto II to a Greek princess mitigated the tension between Rome and Constantinople.
Upon the death of Pope John XIII, he was buried in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls.
Habemus papam