Saint Martin I, the last pope to be recognised as a martyr, sacrificed his life defending true faith against Monothelitism. Arrested, exiled, and persecuted, his unwavering courage left a lasting mark on Church history.

Saint Martin I, elected on 5 July 649 AD as the successor of Pope Theodore I, was the last pope to be recognized as a martyr. He was also the first pope in centuries to be anointed as pope immediately after his election without waiting for the emperor's approval. The failure to wait for the emperor's approval angered Emperor Constans II, who was unwilling to recognize him as the legitimate pope. Pope Martin I was a strong and courageous opponent of Monothelitism, for which he has to pay a high price.

Three months after his election as pope, Pope Martin convened a synod in Rome. The synod, attended by 105 bishops and several exiled Greek priests in St. John Lateran Basilica, reaffirmed the canonical teaching that Christ had two natures and two wills, human and divine. He rejected the emperor's edict, the *Typos*, which forbade Monothelitism and further discussion of the natures of Christ.

For refusing to accept the decisions of the synod, Pope Martin I excommunicated Bishop Paul of Thessalonica and appointed a new, orthodox Vicar Apostolic in Palestine, the intellectual center of Monothelitism. The Pope sent a copy of the synod's decisions to the emperor and tactfully explained that the reason for the spread of the heresy of Monothelitism in the Church was some patriarchs in Constantinople, not the emperor, and asked him to reject the heresy. However, in return, he was ordered to be arrested and brought to Constantinople.

In the summer of 653 AD, Emperor Constans appointed Theodore Calliopas as the new Exarch and sent him to Italy. As soon as Theodore Calliopas arrived in Italy, he arrested Pope Martin, who was bedridden with gout in the Lateran Basilica. The Exarch also delivered the emperor's proclamation to the Roman clergy declaring that Pope Martin was no longer the legitimate Pope and deposed him.

On 17 June 653 AD, the ailing Pope Martin was secretly smuggled out of Rome and forcibly sent by sea to Constantinople. After being held in solitary confinement for three months, the Pope was tried for treason. During the trial, he was treated not as a Pope, but as a deceitful and treacherous deacon and former papal nuncio. The Pope's robes were publicly stripped and was put into chains. At the end of the trial, the ailing Pontiff was found guilty, sentenced to death, and publicly flogged.

However, the dying Patriarch of Constantinople, Paul II, petitioned the emperor to commute the death sentence of Pope Martin and ordered his exile. After three more months of cruel torture and imprisonment, the Pope Martin I was exiled by ship to Crimea. Enduring starvation and brutal torture, Pope Martin I died on 16 September 655. His body was laid to rest in the Church of the Holy Mother of God.

Not long after the Third Council of Constantinople ended, Pope Martin I began to be venerated as a martyr and saint in both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.