The papacy of Pope Honorius I, was marked by controversial theological decisions, notably the heresy of Monothelitism, theological debates surrounding his teachings, eventually leading to condemnation by an ecumenical council.

Pope Honorius I, the 70th Pope of the Holy Church, was one of the few popes in the history of the Church to be condemned and punished by an ecumenical council for failing to defend official teachings of the Church. Pope Honorius I was elected as the successor on 27 October 625, two days after the death of Pope Boniface V.

Without waiting for the emperor's approval, he was consecrated Bishop of Rome on 3 November. According to the Annuario Pontificio, the official directory of the Church, which contains the official list of popes, Pope Honorius began his reign on 27 October. The Annuario Pontificio states that upon his election as pope, Pope Honorius received royal approval for his election from Isaac, the Exarch of the Western Roman Empire, who was in Rome at the time, and was immediately consecrated Bishop of Rome.

In the early seventh century, Patriarch Cyrus of Alexandria, with the consent of Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople, sought to reunite the Monophysites with the Church through a heretical formulation that stated Christ had "one will." This doctrine suggested that Christ's divine nature absorbed the human nature, and both shared a single will and operation. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, strongly objected, arguing that the orthodox belief (dyothelitism) holds that Christ's two natures—divine and human—each possess their own will and operation, leading to the expressions "two wills" and "two operations."

In contrast, the Monothelite position, supported by Sergius, posited that Christ had "one will" and "one operation," with the divine will overshadowing the human. In an effort to avoid further division, Sergius proposed that all parties refrain from using the controversial terms to maintain peace within the Church. To this end, Sergius sought and received the approval for this rule of silence from Pope Honorius. However, the stance ultimately led to significant theological controversy, and the Third Council of Constantinople also the Sixth Ecumenical Council (681), held after Pope Honorius’s death, condemned and anathematized him for his stance in dealing with the Monothelite doctrine.

In the history of the Church, especially during the First Vatican Council, those who argued against papal infallibility and the doctrine of infallibility highlighted the lives and events of Pope Honorius to argue against it. The council however concluded that Pope Honorius had merely expressed his personal opinion on the Monothelitism controversy, and did not issue an official papal decree. As a result, they maintained the doctrine of papal infallibility as Honorius urged a rule of silence, not a rule of faith.

Apart from these events, Pope Honorius' reign was a successful one. He succeeded in putting an end to a local schism in Italy. Like Pope Gregory I the Great, he encouraged monasticism and transformed the papal residence into a monastery. He supported the infant Church in Britain and showed his special affection by granting the pallium to the new metropolitans of Canterbury and York. He wrote to King Edwin of Northumbria congratulating him on his baptism and conversion to Catholicism. He reformed the training of priests, rebuilt the canals of Rome for irrigation, and distributed grain to the poor. He also restored many of the churches of Rome and made them fit for worship.

The papacy of Pope Honorius, rich in resources, ended on 12 October 638 AD.