Born in southern Italy in the late 5th century to Amantius and Juliana, his father died and left him an inheritance which, with his mother’s blessing, he sold, giving the money to the poor. 

He became a priest and then, when Bishop Alexander of Capua died, he was elected to replace him and, reluctantly, accepted. 

Immediately he was drawn into an ongoing fight in the battle against Acacianism, a heresy supported widely in the Eastern Church that did not accept that Jesus was both human and Divine, a schism that, unfortunately, was the beginning of a split between the Church in Constantinople and Rome. 

However, in 519 German was sent by Pope Hermisdus to meet with Byzantine Emperor Justin I and was able to negotiate a solution that, at the time, kept the Eastern and Western Church from separating. 

German also had a hand in the process of determining the date for Easter. 

He died in 541 AD.

St. German, please pray for us.