Pope St. Gregory III

Pope Gregory III (Latin: Gregorius III; died 28 November 741) was the bishop of Rome from 11 February 731 to his death. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by Byzantine iconoclasm and the advance of the Lombards, in which he invoked the intervention of Charles Martel, although ultimately in vain. He was the last Pope to seek the consent of the Byzantine exarch of Ravenna for his election, and of Syrian origin, the last non-European pope until the election of Pope Francis more than 1,271 years later in 2013.

Gregory was the son of a Syrian named John. He was elected pope by popular acclamation on 11 February 731, but was not formally consecrated as bishop of Rome until 18 March, after having received the approval of the Byzantine exarch of Ravenna. He was the last pope to seek the exarch's ratification of a papal election. He is remembered on December 10.